John Deere D140 Solenoid

[Astro_Guy]

Earlier ths week the D140 wouldn't start or turn over. I suspected the battery which is now five years old, so I put it on the charger for a few hours. Nothing but a loud click. Next I tried jumping it from a much larger battery. Again, nothing but a loud click. At this point the solenoid became the chief suspect.

Today I bypassed the solenoid with a jumper cable and it fired right up. Next I mowed for 45 minutes before parking it in the driveway to blow it off. I put it back on the charger for safe measure, went inside and ordered a new solenoid from my local dealer. After letting it charge for twenty minutes the charger was giving me the thumbs up. Just for s#1ts and grins I hopped on, turned the key, and it started. Any thoughts on why that would be?

In any event, I still suspect the solenoid and plan to change it. It came to $20 with tax.

 

[tnt_motorsports]

Sometimes electrical components act funny when they are warmed up. I’d let it cool down and see if it starts again. If not put a heat gun on the solenoid for a bit and see what happens. The other option could be a bad connection on the solenoid.

Just my $0.02

 

[fantastic]

A 5 year old battery probably took out the solenoid. Get a new battery especially if yours has an electric PTO.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Sometimes electrical components act funny when they are warmed up. I’d let it cool down and see if it starts again.

Okay, it's supposed to be 40 degrees overnight so I should be able to test that theory in the morning. If it does start I will just set the new solenoid aside for the innevitable failure of the existing one.

A 5 year old battery probably took out the solenoid. Get a new battery especially if yours has an electric PTO.

It does have electric PTO, and there was a weak start recently. Recently was two weeks ago as opposed to the most recent successful start about four days ago. I'll be putting this machine away for the winter just after Thanksgiving, so a new battery can wait until next April. For the remainder of the season I can put the charger on it an hour or so before starting it.

This is season nine for this machine. The original JD battery was rated for only 195 CCA and lasted four years. The current battery is rated for 230 CCA and was purchased at Walmart for under $30 in the spring of 2019. If we assume that it has run its course then it cost me only $6/year.

 

[fantastic]

Okay, it's supposed to be 40 degrees overnight so I should be able to test that theory in the morning. If it does start I will just set the new solenoid aside for the innevitable failure of the existing one.

It does have electric PTO, and there was a weak start recently. Recently was two weeks ago as opposed to the most recent successful start about four days ago. I'll be putting this machine away for the winter just after Thanksgiving, so a new battery can wait until next April. For the remainder of the season I can put the charger on it an hour or so before starting it.

This is season nine for this machine. The original JD battery was rated for only 195 CCA and lasted four years. The current battery is rated for 230 CCA and was purchased at Walmart for under $30 in the spring of 2019. If we assume that it has run its course then it cost me only $6/year.

I'm all for getting the most life out of a battery but we must remember it might come with consequences. I have an old 2017 350 cca battery that slowly made its way to my backup mower an LT155 w/non electric pto but It's pretty much toast & takes longer for it to start getting fuel vacuum due to not cranking over fast enough. I won't buy a new one since the K51 just went out on it. Facebook marketplace it goes...

TractorData shows your engine is a B&S 40. What is the 40 part mean? I have a 15 year old B&S 24HP ELS (Extended Life Series) w/177 hours but they are hard hours. I cut my grass once every 2 weeks & mulching (Cutting over already cut grass). Does yours have an hour meter?
https://www.tractordata.com/lawn-tractors/001/0/6/1066-john-deere-d140-engine.html

 

[wag123]

A bad battery can take-out a starter solenoid and/or starter. I have seen it many times and I have had it happen to me. I continue to tell people this but I get blown-off like I don't know what I'm talking about.

 

[Astro_Guy]

TractorData shows your engine is a B&S 40. Does yours have an hour meter?

Actually it is the B&S 44 with 724 CC displacement, not that that matters. It has an hour meter and passed 265 hours today. It averages 30 hours per year. The oil [15w-40 RT6] reached 50 hours today and I believe the filter [Fram TG3614] may be approaching 70 hours. Both will be changed like for like towards the end of next month when leaf cleanup is compleete.

Getting back to the original topic, the starter motor itself could also be on its last legs.

 

[Astro_Guy]

A bad battery can take-out a starter solenoid and/or starter. I have seen it many times and I have had it happen to me. I continue to tell people this but I get blown-off like I don't know what I'm talking about.

Yes. IIRC the first symptoms of the impending failure of the original battery had more to do with engaging the electric PTO than actually stating the motor. With a weak battery the PTO refused to engage. There are no such symptoms this time. The weak start I had experienced two weeks ago occurred after starting and stopping the motor at least six times in twenty minutes.

Your point is well taken, but I just don't see the need to replace a battery now when it is about to spend the winter in an unheated shed where temperatures could reach zero degrees. Based upon yours and other comments I do think that I will replace the battery and solenoid at the same time. For now let's see if it starts tomorrow morning at 40 F.

 

[CarbonToast]

On my JD gt242 I actually had a short to ground on the solenoid trigger wire. The symptom was a gradual slowness of the solenoid to engage on. Seemed like a bad battery until one day it wouldn't go at all. After some diagnostic I found I was outputting 12v from the ignition but only getting 9-10v down by the solenoid.

 

[fantastic]

Actually it is the B&S 44 with 724 CC displacement, not that that matters. It has an hour meter and passed 265 hours today. It averages 30 hours per year. The oil [15w-40 RT6] reached 50 hours today and I believe the filter [Fram TG3614] may be approaching 70 hours. Both will be changed like for like towards the end of next month when leaf cleanup is compleete.

Getting back to the original topic, the starter motor itself could also be on its last legs.

Woops, I was looking at the wrong "Year Range" selected on tractordata.

 

[Lubener]

Earlier ths week the D140 wouldn't start or turn over. I suspected the battery which is now five years old, so I put it on the charger for a few hours. Nothing but a loud click. Next I tried jumping it from a much larger battery. Again, nothing but a loud click. At this point the solenoid became the chief suspect.

Today I bypassed the solenoid with a jumper cable and it fired right up. Next I mowed for 45 minutes before parking it in the driveway to blow it off. I put it back on the charger for safe measure, went inside and ordered a new solenoid from my local dealer. After letting it charge for twenty minutes the charger was giving me the thumbs up. Just for s#1ts and grins I hopped on, turned the key, and it started. Any thoughts on why that would be?

In any event, I still suspect the solenoid and plan to change it. It came to $20 with tax.

The solenoid is basically a high current switch. Switches do go intermittent (starters do too ). A volt meter would have gave you a sure answer to the problem. Your new solenoid should fix your problem for good.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Sometimes electrical components act funny when they are warmed up. I’d let it cool down and see if it starts again.

It got down to 39 degrees last night so I went out this morning to test this theory. Wouldn't you know it fired right up. It occurred to me that the loud click I was hearing may have been the electrical PTO engaging, which would prevent the engine from starting. Perhaps that switch is getting flaky.

 

[wag123]

It got down to 39 degrees last night so I went out this morning to test this theory. Wouldn't you know it fired right up. It occurred to me that the loud click I was hearing may have been the electrical PTO engaging, which would prevent the engine from starting. Perhaps that switch is getting flaky.

You could be right. The PTO should not be engaging during the starting cycle.

 

[Astro_Guy]

The solenoid is basically a high current switch. Switches do go intermittent (starters do too ). A volt meter would have gave you a sure answer to the problem. Your new solenoid should fix your problem for good.

How would you suggest that I test that? Either way, I plan to replace the solenoid before the next cut.

 

[Astro_Guy]

On my JD gt242 I actually had a short to ground on the solenoid trigger wire. The symptom was a gradual slowness of the solenoid to engage on. Seemed like a bad battery until one day it wouldn't go at all. After some diagnostic I found I was outputting 12v from the ignition but only getting 9-10v down by the solenoid.

So what was the root cause? Was there a break in the insulation? Bad crimp at the connector? Something else?

 

[CarbonToast]

So what was the root cause? Was there a break in the insulation? Bad crimp at the connector? Something else?

If I remember right I think it was a dirty/bad connection to the battery feeding the ignition switch.

 

[RAVL]

Tractor is running. Bad contacts at the ignition switch and the ground cleaned up with CRC and steel wool. Started it without plus to make sure the carb float bowl hadn’t jammed, flooding the engine, and then put plus back in. Started after a few tries. Now onto the deck, where the blades are as dull as can be and the belt looks questionable.