Skidsteer making me nuts

[cheyenne]

I have a Gehl 4635SX skid steer that won't turn over. Brand new battery. starter & solenoid just rebuilt last week. I have checked & cleaned every connection on the machine. Put the key in, buzzer buzzes then stops as it should. Turn the key on it just goes thunk. This is making me nuts. Any suggestions      Cheyenne

[Fla._Deadheader]

 What was just rebuilt ?? Can you get it to turn by other means, to be sure it's not bound up

[olyman]

also. are all batt and starter connections spotless?? if so,you still can have corrosion in one of the ends. you may have voltage, but no amperage.

[okmulch]

My CAT loaders do this every once in a while after a rain. When the key is turned on the lights come on but when you try to start  there is nothing and all the lights go out. I open the back door and In the engine compartment up on the side of the frame  there are some wires that go into some kind of breaker or several different connections. I wiggle these wires and presto it starts right up. It also helps when I clean all of the cedar needles off of them too.
Don't know if it is the same problem, but just a suggestion.

[Handy Andy]

  My wife's car battery went bad one time, so I went and bought a new battery and put it in, and it kindof acted like that.  Lights worked, but hit the starter and just click.  And guess what, it was the battery.  Guess the new one had been on the shelf too long.

[Ironwood]

Hydrualically froze? You seem really knowlegable, but could they fuel have filled the cylinder to the point that it wont turn over? I had this happen once on a gas engine, unlikely on a diesel (W/ pumps and all) but just an idea.

 Ironwood

[Kevin]

I would be putting a volt meter at the starter and checking for voltage when the key is turned.
If it doesn't have the 12+ volts there then chase it back towards the battery.

[tyb525]

On my chevy truck the battery is a side-post style. Sometimes one of the terminals will work itself loose to where it gets enough juice to turn on the lights but once you try to start it, it's dead. Once I tighten the nuts on the terminal posts the problem goes away.

[ScottAR]

Ohm your battery cables...  Could be broken inside or have a
bad connector.  Check for voltage drop at solenoid too.  Had
a tractor only sending 8volts to the "go" wire and it wouldn't
start either 

Almost forgot...  Take the belts off the motor and give it a try.
On cars with Serpentine belts sometimes the A/C compressor
or water pump etc. will lock up and the starter can't overcome
the drag. 

Just some ideas...

[CLL]

My chevy diesel would do the same thing if one of the battery cables was loose, especially the ground

[IMERC]

put a manual start button on the start relay...
ignition on...
hit the button....

do it from the cab and not fron outside in case it starts...

if it turns over you have a bad ignition or safty or dead man...

[mike_van]

I'd go with bad battery connection too, stumped me for awhile on my F350.

[ladylake]

 If it's thunking when you try to start it, sounds like the starter is trying to turn it over. As mentioned froze motor or hydraulic pump, bad starter drive.   Any safety switches?    Steve

[jeffreythree]

Check your ground connections.  Ran into this quite a few times on various forklifts and loaders.  Corroded ground connections or bad negative cables were causing to much resistance to get the things started, but enough to light everything up.

[cheyenne]

Well I finally figured it out. I went through this thing from top to bottom, Had a mechanic fron the dealer look at it, said the engine was siezed. Had a local heavey equipment repair business look at it, Said the engine was siezed. Had a friend check all the relays with an ohm meter, all fine. So I go and play with it for two hours, nothing, I say it can't be a siezed engine it's only got 900 hours on it. O.K. lets start from scratch. It's got to be electrical. Pull the battery, which is brand new, clean all the posts, AGAIN, put it on the charger, Pull the cables, AGAIN, clean the clamps AGAIN, Well I'm looking at the clamp on the positive cable, all shiny & new & I say what the hell pull it off & take it apart. Well I take it off, take the clamp bar off & turn it over, Whala a little rust, very little, the inside of the clamp & the end of the cable is grey, so I clean them all up neato spiffy. I say this can't be the problem, What the hell put it back together see what happens. Turn the key on *****lights***** bells*****whistles*****turn key to start *****veeerrooooom*****She purrs like a kitten. Just proves never take anything for granted or believe a mechanic that says it's a siezed engine........Cheyenne

[IMERC]

EXCELLENT!!!![/shadow]

[mike_van]

Good for you! I got a Johnsered for free once - Guy took it to the dealer, wouldn't turn over, dealer said "needs bearings, cheaper to buy a new one" Well, long story short, the little brass screw that holds the throttle plate on fell out, got sucked into the cylinder, ever time it came to TDC, it stopped.  "Just proves never take anything for granted or believe a mechanic that says it's a siezed engine........Cheyenne"   You Betcha!

[T Red]

Did the dealer or heavy equipment repair actually look at the machine and check it out?


If they did that's two places I would not visit again.

[cheyenne]

Yes they did........They only cut their own throats........Cheyenne

[isawlogs]

 I am sitting here wundering what would of happened if you had sent it to the dealer, them change the motor , and it still not firering up .. and finding after that , the electrical issue ... Or having them change the motor nut they find the electrical issue before , what they would of done ...    Voila la question

[isawlogs]

 Oh , I am darn happy ya got her fixed up 

[IMERC]

you know they would never admit they were wrong and would have covered their tracks...

[easymoney]

i bet if you had had the dealer to replace the engine he would not have told you when he found what was really the problem. i was talking to a fellow that ran a garage and wrecker service one day he told about a fellow that called him for a tow one day said the transmission had gone out on his car. when he checked the car he said he found a transmission cooler line broken. he replaced it and filled the transmission with fluid and the car ran fine. he charged the customer for a transmission rebuild. the customer said that the transmission worked much better than the old one.

[Woodchuck53]

Hey Cheyenne, I've been reading the post on electrical problems and really enjoyed yours. I go home tomorrow and plan on removing all the fittings and terminals again and checking for hidden corrosion. Then crossing the fingers and hitting the key again. Will post when I get back and tell all what I find so maybe it will help us less mechanical. Chuck

[James P.]

 What was just rebuilt ?? Can you get it to turn by other means, to be sure it's not bound up

ok I find it hard to believe that a mechanic would say an engine is seized without actually trying to turn the motor over by hand. Unless you think they were just trying to sell you a motor. well glad you figured it out.

[Woodchuck53]

Hey Cheyenne, I fixed mine also. Bought a $4.00 condenser on the way home, rechecked the gap on the plugs and points and it fired right up. Is this a great Forum or what? I have a couple more issuses with it but all in all it is a strong machine and will do what I need. The price was right and over this winter I will tweek it up a little and try to get some paint on it too. Glad you got yours running. Hope this helps others. Chuck

[metalspinner]

I just went therought his same thing last week with a 70's era Mustang skid steer.  For days we were searching for the problem.  It turned out to be the safety switch in the seatbelt.   Very frustrating.