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Gound wire on to battery is hot


KVANDY12

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Bought a 3410S simp. trans and motor run good but couldn't start it from the key switch. Wires to reg. were backward ,so I put them on the right treminal by the book. Hooked up the battery, got my test light and checked the wires the gound wire from motor to battery lights up, starter generator doesn't turn over. there are 3 plugs for dead switch which are all by passed from the dead switchs, but there are ownly 2 dead swictch for this tractor. I'm stumped as to the problem as why the ground battery cable is hot. Could it have something to do with the 3 dead switchs, and the way they are wired? Is there a short in one of the wires to cause the ground? Bought a new switch from al,so it should be the right key switch. This model has a generator light, not an amp meter. Any idea, all help needed. Ken
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If you had the test light on the ground of the battery with the ground cable connected and the light lit then the ground cable or a connection is no good, if the ground cable was not connected nothing is probably wrong on that aspect if I understood correctly. May need a little more detail if the problem persists.
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Ray, I think he's referring to the "dead-man's" switch or "safety-interlock" switch...same thing either way. Ken, I think you need to clarify what you mean by "the gound wire from motor to battery lights up, starter generator doesn't turn over." If you run a test light lead (positive/red) to the positive post on the battery, and the negative/black lead to the ground, you will get it to light up. You need to check the safety switches first, they can drive you crazy when they go bad. As a test, pull the plug off the safety switch and jumper accross it (run a small wire loop connecting both terminals of the plug as if the switch were good)and see if your starter will turn. If all safety switches are jumpered and still no juice to the starter, you'll have to test the solenoid. I don't have a diagram handy, but basically you run a test lead from the positive terminal of the solenoid to the other side of the solenoid where the thick wire runs to your starter. You are basically by-passing the two smaller top terminals. If the starter turns, you have a bad solenoid. I have a repair manual somewhere that walks you through testing voltages step-by-step at each terminal, maybe another member can post that information. Hope this helps solve your problem.
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Unless I'm misunderstanding, you must have the battery hooked up if you know that the starter/generator won't turn. If the battery ground wire was "hot", it would have created some serious arcing while hooking it up, and would have AT LEAST burned the insulation off of the cable if you did hook it up. To me, it almost sounds like you are using a continuity tester rather than a test light. With the clip of the tester on a good ground and the point on the ground cable, you'd be completing the circuit IN THE TEST LIGHT to light the bulb, with the power coming from the light's battery, rather than the tractor's battery. It would have nothing to do with the ground wire being "hot". Pat
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Ok. all safty switchs are jumpered, none are connected to the safety switchs that are on the tractor. Battery gound cable is gounded to the motor which is connected to the neg. side of the battery. I gound the test light to the tractor frame, touch the battery neg side where the gound cable is bolted to the motor, the test light come on. I jump the starter generator with jumper cables and it will start the motor by touching terminal on the S/G.
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Engine is grounded,but the frame isn't.Try running a seperate wire(10GA.or so)from the battery - to a frame bolt.
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quote:
Originally posted by KVANDY12
I gound the test light to the tractor frame, touch the battery neg side where the gound cable is bolted to the motor, the test light come on.
You should not get a light when it is connected between the battery neg. and the tractor frame. With a neg. ground system the frame and the neg. battery post should be electricaly the same point. You should have no difference in potential between the two. In which case goatfarmer has the right idea. It may require something larger than a number 10 wire though to carry the current of the starter. Cleaning the motor mounts may help as well. Keep us posted.
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The test for battery draw is to disconnect either the negative post or the positive post on the battery and connect a test light between the battery cable and battery post if the light is on there is a current draw/short to ground. If the Ground cable has a bad connection (high resistance) or it self is bad (open) and there is another circuit on or shorted to ground then connecting the test light between the negative battery post and ground will cause the test light to light. With all circuits turned off and key/ignition switch off and no shorts to ground anywhere the test light will be off. A clock circuit in a car will light the test light.
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I'm thinking 10GA will be sufficient to ground the frame,shouldn't be any starter draw on it.
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