520h intermitent electrical problem

[2fast2pass 0]

Hi I have a 520h the dash light's and gage's and head light's are intermittent and will not turn over.I have cleaned and inspected the 9 pin white connector it looks good and replaced the fuse block with 3 individual fuses and still no luck.The seat switch and pto switch seem to be working and the relay under the battery is clicking if anyone could help I would appreciate it. Thanks

[dsholler 54]

can you jump the starter? Bypass the solenoid/relay and just go from the battery to the starter terminals and see if that works.. at least then you will know that it is in the circuitry(although that is a pretty good guess from the blinking dash and gauge lights).  IF they are  all blinking at the same time and you can reproduce it, I would start tracing the power from the battery to the gauges... I know I have a key switch and a circuit board between there on my 414, but I am not sure what else the 520 has.

 

Not that this is always true, but every one of these odd electrical gremlins that I have discovered has been caused by faulty grounds. Again, need to check the wiring diagram, but I know that on the 414 the dash circuitry, the battery, and the starter circuit were all grounded to a bolt on the tower, that was held in with a clip instead of a nut... and which had a habit of loosening up with vibration and causing it to fail to start sometimes.

[dsholler 54]

I realized in re-reading my post that I made lots of assumptions.. .first was that when you say it won't start, you mean that you turn the key and the starter does not function.

Second is that there is a correlation between the gauges not lighting up and the starter not functioning. If this is the case, the suspicion of a loose ground wire or other major connection is greater, because it is likely that nothing is getting energized when that happens.

However, if the flickering is a separate issue from the not starting, I think you may want to focus on the not starting first.

[Save Old Iron 1,566]

 

However, if the flickering is a separate issue from the not starting, I think you may want to focus on the not starting first.

Another assumption. He may want to cut grass at night which would make having dashboard illumination a primary concern.

[dsholler 54]

Hey, don't laugh.. He might want to sit in the driveway at night having a beverage and a cigar and looking at the dash lights....

[2fast2pass 0]

I got the light's and gage's to light up and  cleaned all the ground's and replaced all three relay's and still do not have power to the blue wire on the starter I guess I will ohm the 9 pin connector but it is clean and look's good hopefully that is the problem. Thanks for all the help.

[Save Old Iron 1,566]

What year is the 520H?

 

I do believe it makes some difference in the wiring of the tractor.

 

I will be happy to help out and get you started in the right direction.

 

Dan made a few good suggestions in his earlier posts. Let's start by leaving the ignition key in the OFF position.

 

Remove the BLUE wire from the trigger terminal of the starter relay (the one you cannot get 12 volts to)

 

Place a jumper wire from the battery (+) terminal to the terminal on the starter relay previously connected to the blue wire.

 

The starter relay should click and the engine should exhibit strong cranking speed.

 

Let's try that one step first, as it will tell us about the health of the starter relay and the starter motor. Also, the starter relay is about the only common item in the start circuit for 1990 and 1991 up models.

[2fast2pass 0]

I think the tractor is either a 1990 or a 1991 I will try the jumper to the starter tomorrow thanks for the help.

[Save Old Iron 1,566]

the reason the year is important is the difference in wiring for the start circuit is vastly different from a 1990 to a 1991 model.

[Save Old Iron 1,566]

Relay location for 1991 and newer

[Hodge71 664]

Following this topic very closely as I just started having the same exact symptoms and problem with my 1996 416H

[boovuc 1,090]

I too would like more troubleshooting on this "issue".

I picked up a great 416-8 from an RS member years ago with the same starting problem. (And this guy knows his Wheelhorses).

He couldn't figure it out and I thought I did by basically taking every single connector, ground and terminal off the machine, cleaning, applying dielectric grease after spraying contact cleaner on everything while it was apart. It started a few times but then.......click, click, click, click, then it would turn over rapidly and start.

I took the solenoid from the spare P220 I have and swapped it. Click, click, click, click, click, click, click then it would turn over rapidly and start. Then the whole starter swap out. (Same result). All the safety switches were checked and by-passed. Click, click, click, click, click, click, click then it would turn over rapidly and start. Same with the switch. (Ahh, you get the idea). Now I haven't switched out the relay under the battery. The 416 I have is a 1992. The 520-H I have is a 1991 and it starts like a champ. Should I swap out the relay? I can't find a short in the harness and I have replaced the lead to the starter/solenoid. This tractor is a great mower but the nagging starter issue drives me nuts. (OK..more psychotic than I usually am).

What do you think?

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,031]

416-8 wiring

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/files/file/2108-tractor-1992-1997-416-8-416-h-wiring-detailedpdf/

 

These diagrams make following a circuit a lot easier.

 

Garry

[WH nut 553]

I too would like more troubleshooting on this "issue".

I picked up a great 416-8 from an RS member years ago with the same starting problem. (And this guy knows his Wheelhorses).

He couldn't figure it out and I thought I did by basically taking every single connector, ground and terminal off the machine, cleaning, applying dielectric grease after spraying contact cleaner on everything while it was apart. It started a few times but then.......click, click, click, click, then it would turn over rapidly and start.

I took the solenoid from the spare P220 I have and swapped it. Click, click, click, click, click, click, click then it would turn over rapidly and start. Then the whole starter swap out. (Same result). All the safety switches were checked and by-passed. Click, click, click, click, click, click, click then it would turn over rapidly and start. Same with the switch. (Ahh, you get the idea). Now I haven't switched out the relay under the battery. The 416 I have is a 1992. The 520-H I have is a 1991 and it starts like a champ. Should I swap out the relay? I can't find a short in the harness and I have replaced the lead to the starter/solenoid. This tractor is a great mower but the nagging starter issue drives me nuts. (OK..more psychotic than I usually am).

What do you think?

Change out the relay. Thats style relay is known for clicking but not always making contact. And beside you have changed everything else so have narrowed it down to the relay.

[2fast2pass 0]

Well I figured out the electrical problem it was all in the fuse block and then my dad went to the parts store and got the new relay's and they sold him the wrong one's I put in the original relay's and it works fine know thanks for all the help everyone.

[jcarter433 1]

Glad to hear you figured it out. I had a similar problem with my 88 520 hc.  I had a faulty female plug at the key switch that caused very weird electrical issues with the starter making me think the starter was bad.  It would also cause the engine to cut out randomly, after taking the plug off the key switch and bending the terminals to make the connection with the key switch tighter and spraying the plug with wd-40 it solved my problems.  A new female connector is in my future!