Bobcat 742 with old Ford gas engine. New battery and even with jump box, will only get 2-3 slow turns on the engine before it quits. Not near enough starting power to get it to fire. I have a push button start on it. Wondering if it is either the wiring on the button or the starter is weak/bad? Starter sounds like it is engaging well/like normal, but once it engages at the engine, it will barely spin it. Didn't have enough time to dig into it yesterday, but wanted to see if anyone had dealt with this or had some suggestions on what to check? Connections and ground seem good on the battery and to the starter. Started/ran fine last time I ran it 1-2 months ago. Just want to try and pinpoint a few things to check the next time I get out to check it over. Thanks in advance for any insight.
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I think I'd try jumping the solenoid on the starter to bypass the wiring and push button, but would re-check the battery cables and the battery voltage first. You ran it after you last started it. Possibly the battery developed a partial internal short, partially draining itself, and pulling power from the jump box to re-charge itself when using that in conjunction instead of all the jump box power + battery power going to the starter ..
I would also check voltage/amps at starter
on older machines, many times corrosion gets under he insulation and effect voltage flow, or corrosion on connections, also effecting voltage flow
and make sure you load test battery and not just take a voltage reading off it!
on older machines, many times corrosion gets under he insulation and effect voltage flow, or corrosion on connections, also effecting voltage flow
and make sure you load test battery and not just take a voltage reading off it!
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Check and make sure your auxilliary hydraulics are not engaged, your starter won't have enough power to turn the engine over with them engaged.
ward
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Also with the ignition off just check how hard it is to turn the engine over by hand, I had a dozer that dropped a valve but had run fine until it was shut down, took the starter off and to a shop to have it rebuilt and they told me it was fine, went back to the jobsite and could hardly bar the engine over.
I have a 732 with the ford motor and it cranked slow, very hard to start and nearly impossible when it was cold (guess what; Minnesota, it gets cold). A new battery didn't spin the starter any better, and even though the shelf-test of that starter was "ok", I replaced it and problem solved. This was a handful of years ago, but I was able to order one from NAPA for a very reasonable price.
yes, thankfully I bought one a few years ago. dug it out of the barn the other day and going to go put it on after doing some of the preliminary checks mentioned above.
