Starting issues

[Ellis Kinney]

My neighbor has a John Deere # 2640. It has an unusual starting issue. The tractor has a rebuilt starter and solenoid. When the tractor is hot, and only then it does not start. Sometimes a click and sometimes nothing. Wait an hour and it starts fine. Starts cold always. Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks, Ellis

 

[Jim.ME]

Here are some things to check:

Are all the connections clean and bright? Where is the ground cable attached to the tractor? If it is still grounded inside the battery box, replace the cable and run it to one of the starter's mounting bolts (or at least to a place on the cast part of the chassis. You can use a good booster cable from the negative battery post to a good spot on the cast chassis to aid the existing ground cable, as a test.

Use a clamp over DC ammeter on the positive battery cable to see what it shows as starter draw when trying to crank the engine. Check it at an initial cold start and again when it won't start to have a comparison. If the solenoid only clicks it shouldn't show much draw.

When hot with the tractor in neutral, or park, can he use a wire to jump from the battery terminal of the solenoid to the solenoid start terminal and have the starter crank? That would indicate the issue is in the wiring ahead of the starter.

It is always possible the starter is weak and/or heat soaking.

I see you say it only clicks, just putting this out there. If there is a leak in the high-pressure side of the hydraulics rocking the steering wheel can help reduce load on the starter, if it turns. Does he rock the steering wheel when cranking?

 

[Fordy20]

I had GTO cars that did the same thing. The wire from the switch to the solenoid (located on the starter which was under the manifold) was to small and would build up resistance from the heat. Bigger gauge wire solved the problem.

 

[Tx Jim]

Many yrs ago JD offered a starter control relay kit to help solve those starting problems. Relay part # is RE164448 @ $29.88 or relay kit is RE42993 @ $101