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I have a 2 year old John Deere 2305 subcompact. In case you're not familiar with it, it has a 3 cyl. 24 hp Yanmar diesel engine. Until today, it's been 100% reliable.
It's always been garage/barn-kept. I've also been pretty religious about routine maintenance -- actually complying with the recommended service intervals (I treat my tractor better than my car).
We're expecting a snow/ice storm here in the Mid-Atlantic tonight, so it's time to convert from mowing configuration to plowing configuration. The tractor started fine at 3:00 this afternoon. Although the weather was cold (about 35 deg. in my garage), it only cranked one or two extra times more than usual firing up. I let it warm up for about 5 min at moderate RPM, pulled it out into the driveway, and then shut it down to remove the mower deck.
After detaching the mower deck, I fired it back up -- this time it started immediately, like usual. I raised the draft arms, then shut the engine down again. I pulled the mower deck out from under the tractor and then spent about 15 minutes rearranging my garage to make room to stow the deck.
When that was done, I placed my chains over the rear tires. Then I fired the engine back up. Again, it started immediately. I rolled it forward a couple of feet, put it in neutral, set the parking brake, and turned the throttle down to a slow idle. I finished installing the chains, and then turned my attention to some other chores in the garage. It's been a few weeks since I used the tractor, so I thought I'd let it run a bit (the only benefit of which was probably psychological).
About 20 minutes later, I was about to put the tractor back in the garage when I remembered that it was low on fuel. I shut it down and filled up the tank. I spilled a few drops of fuel in the drain pan around the filler neck, so I popped the hood to clean up. While I had the hood up, I noticed that the screen in front of the radiator had a bunch of old grass stuck to it. I pulled out the screen, cleaned it off, and replaced it. Then I closed the hood.
I hopped back in the seat, turned the key, and nothing happened. I double-checked that everything was correct for starting: parking brake set, transmission in neutral, PTO off, throttle about 3/4 open, and my butt in the seat. Everything appeared to be in order. I turned the key again. Nothing. No "clicks," no cranking, no lights on the dashboard -- nothing.
I wondered if maybe I'd bumped something when I'd been under the hood. I popped the hood again and did a quick visual inspection, especially around the radiator screen. Nothing was obviously out of place.
Then I did something really unusual. I got the manual for the tractor and read the troubleshooting section. I checked everything under "Engine will not start" -- here are the results:
1. 2 speed range lever not in proper position. (It was.)
2. PTO engaged. (It was not.)
3. Engine throttle not pushed forward. (It was.)
4. Fuel shut off valve closed. (It was not.)
5. Stale fuel / improper fuel / fuel level. (It was full of fresh, correct fuel.)
6. Wrong engine oil viscosity. (No.)
7. Cold start system not being used or malfunctioning. (Given that the engine was warm, this seems irrelevant.)
8. Plugged fuel filter. (It looked OK to me.)
9. Plugged air intake filter. (No.)
10. Dirty or faulty fuel injectors. (I didn't check this one, but it seems unlikely to me.)
11. Blown fuse. (I checked the 40A main fuse and the four accessory circuit fuses -- all were OK.)
12. Failed fuel solenoid. (I didn't check it -- I don't know where it is.)
13. Other electrical problem.
#13 prompted me to run through the troubleshooting items under "Starter will not work." Here are the results:
1. Loose or corroded battery connections. (They're fine. I cleaned them anyway, just to be sure.)
2. Blown fuse. (Already checked. See above.)
3. Low battery output - check electrolyte level. (I removed the caps and checked -- the level was fine.)
4. Neutral start switch faulty or not adjusted properly -- see your John Deere dealer. (I don't know how to check this. I guess I'll have to see my John Deere dealer, unless someone here can help me.)
5. Range transmission lever not in neutral postition. (It was.)
6. PTO engaged. (It was not.)
After doing all this troubleshooting, I decided to try starting the engine again (on the theory that mechanical problems sometimes magically solve themselves if you leave them alone for a while). This time the dashboard lights lit up when I turned the key through the "Run" position -- but they went out when I turned the key all the way to "Start" (and again, nothing happened). I turned the key back to the "Run" position and the dashboard lights came back on. About 2 seconds later, I heard a strange buzzing sound coming from underneath the dash. I turned the key to the "Off" position. The buzzing stopped. I waited a few seconds, turned the key, and paused at the "Run" position -- the dashboard lights came on and the buzzing started. Then I turned the key to the "Start" position. The buzzing stopped and the starter clicked a few times! The engine did not crank, though.
This made me wonder if the battery might be weak, so I hooked the tractor up to my starter/charger for a boost. When I turned the key to the "Start" position, I got a bunch of clicks out of the starter, but no cranking. I disconnected the starter/charger.
I started to wonder if a safety interlock could be the problem -- I've run into this with other tractors. I tried starting it while jiggling the transmission lever, pressing harder than usual on the brake, and leaning back hard on the seat (thinking that any of these things might be enough to engage a misbehaving interlock switch). No luck. I don't actually know where any of the interlock switches are actually located, so I couldn't do any further checking.
I decided to pull the dash off to look for any disconnected, broken or frayed wires underneath. None found. However, while I had the dash off, I decided to try starting the engine. When I turned the key to "Run" and heard the buzzing sound, I was able to clearly hear it coming from the glow plug relay.
The freezing rain started at that point and I couldn't feel my fingers, so I quit. Now it's starting to snow and I'm basically screwed. It's a good thing tomorrow is Sunday.
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to provide all the information. I'm having a hard time sorting this problem out, probably because I'm cold, tired and pissed off. Any thoughts?