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john deere 425 garden tractor problem

10 years ago

My JD 425 suddenly will not start. It has no electrical power at all. When I turn the key I normally hear the fuel pump running before starting the engine. There is no sound at all. I have checked both fuses and they are fine. I made sure the PTO switch was off and the brake was set. The battery terminals are corrosion free and I have a full 12 volts on the battery. I checked for loose or disconnected wires and there were none. Everything under the hood appears to be fine electrically. The tractor ran fine just before shutting it off. When I went to restart it moments later there was nothing. Any ideas, advice or help is appreciated.

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Comments (8)

mownie
10 years ago
Do you have any dash lamps that normally light up when the key is turned to the RUN position before you turn the key to the START position? If so and none of those lamps are coming on now.......your key switch may have gone defective, or the wiring connector on the back of the switch may have become loose.
The absence of the fuel pump operation may also be an indicator of a problem with the key switch, but not proof of a key switch issue.
Be cautious in using terms like "Everything under the hood appears to be fine electrically" unless you are checking things with a 12 volt test light or a DC volt meter. The naked eye is a poor judge of things electric except for identifying burnt or broken wires.
There may also be a relay involved in supplying 12 volt power to the primary circuits on this machine. Failure of a relay, or a defective control circuit for the relay.......can mimic other types of component problems.
You are going to have to begin checking the circuits using a test light or a volt meter, beginning at the fuse and working next to the key switch for battery voltage. Hopefully it will be nothing worse than a defective key switch or the connector on the back of it.
johnrosettie
Original Author
10 years ago
I also failed to mention that the red and green LED's show no power on the printed circuit board. To answer your question about lights on the dash, there are none. Would this be indicative to no power going to the circuit board at all when the key switch is on?
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This is my first time on here, so I don't exactly know how to post so here goes. My JD-425 has a flooding problem. Sometimes it runs ok, and sometimes not. When I turn on the ignition, the fuel pump starts (as normal) and I can usually start it. Then, after running for a while, it begins flooding. This is between 15 minutes and half an hour most of the time. I can keep it running if I go full throttle and have the tractor under load, like mowing grass, but there is so much gas entering the carb that there is a bit of black smoke as well. If I stop it and remove the air cleaner, and look into the carb, there is gas everywhere. Here is what I did so far... The carb was new 3 years ago. But I removed it, and took it apart (did this 3 times). Each time I took it apart and put it back together, I know I did it right because the machine started and ran as noted above. I thought it just might be plugged or something. The first time I took it apart I also replaced the electric solenoid valve, just to be sure. And I know it works, because I saw it operating with the carb disassembled. Then, I thought it might be that the float valve was leaking or perhaps the floats had a hole and was full of gas. All was good. When the carb was back together, I blew into the fuel hose when the carb was full of gas and proved that the float valve was working. Hmmm. There is a manual in-line fuel shutoff valve, so what I did was throttle it back so that it would take 30 seconds to to let about an ounce of fuel out. Full blast, the pump actually pumps a lot of fuel. This time, I was able to keep the machine from flooding too bad. And was able to mow the 1 acre of grass I have. Today, however was different. It ran for about 5 minutes, then began to act up. I turned it off, removed the air cleaner and looked into the carb. When I turn the ignition switch on, (not engaging the starter) I can see tons of gas coming out of every carb orifice, flooding into the engine gas everywhere. This is without the engine running. The only thing I can come up with is that the fuel pump for some unknown reason has too much pressure behind it. Another wierd thing is that when I turn a sharp corner, under the flooding condition, the flooding gets noticably worse. Any ideas anyone? Is there a pressure regulator somewhere in the fuel pump line? Thanks.
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bill_kapaun
10 years ago
According to my schematic, this has a fusible link.

Look for the RED wire between the + terminal on the starter solenoid going to the key switch B terminal.
There should be a section that is smaller diameter.

Any fuses are on the "other side" of the key switch.

Mownie offers good advice about checking the connector.

What's the serial#?
There's different schematics before/after 70000.
Diesel or gas?
krnuttle
10 years ago
I dont know the wiring but I know there are times when things looks right, but you forgot something basic. Like my brother who left his car on the interstate for a couple of days because it would not start. When the tow truck came I realized the car was in drive and is designed not to start.

Or the spring I took the battery that I had on the charger in the garage to the shed and put it on the tractor. It would not start,after running around for an hour, and a "few" curse words I realized I had left the mower blade engaged, and it was designed not to start with the blade engaged.

Just a comment.
johnrosettie
Original Author
10 years ago
Serial number is SKA617U1G2RA. This is Gas.
johnrosettie
Original Author
10 years ago
OK, I pulled out the key switch and used my meter to test for voltage. There is none. I do have power to the one of the two fuses on the circuit board. It is the top fuse that provides power to the switches on the machine. The bottom fuse provides voltage for the lights as I understand. There is no voltage for the lights fuse present.
bill_kapaun
10 years ago
I could send you a link to the tech manual, but you have your email disabled.
I can't post the link here.
vstatealum
last year
If you still have that link id love to have it. I am currently having the same problem.

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