1989 310-8 Garden Tractor, Electrical Help Needed

[71_Bronco 1,072]

My co-worker has a 1989 Wheel Horse, 10 horse power Kohler, 8-speed manual trans. He is telling me he is having issues with starting it.

He has replaced the syloniod, and has made sure all of his saftey switches work. He cannot start the tractor with the Key, however if he jumps the sylonoid, it starts fine.

When the tractor is running, the amp-metter does not work, and none of the dash-lights come on. He has checked the battery, and he has checked the connections and they look okay.

He replaced the sylonoid recently, and is wondering if maybe he put it on backwards or something, but he thinks it is good.

He also just told me that when the tractor is running, if he turns the key to the "off" position, the tractor will stop running.

I was thinking the ignition switch was bad, but would that explain why the amp-meter is not working? Also, he is saying the ignition switch is brand new as well.

If you guys could provide any help at all, it would be greatly appreciated. He is of an older generation, and isn't too tech-savy, so I offered to help him out by posting on here.

[rmaynard 14,863]

First of all, I hope he installed the correct ignition switch. Second, the 310-8 solenoid needs to be grounded or have a ground connection. I think the original solenoid used the body as ground and had a small lug on the front for +12 volts (start). Some of the newer ones have two lugs, one for +12 volts (start), and the other for ground. Also, the 310-8 has an oil safety switch that activates a relay. If that relay does not close when the key is on, then no power is applied to the solenoid coil. That could mean a bad oil switch, bad relay, or bad wiring.

I have uploaded a copy of the 1989 310-8 wiring diagram to the electrical section of "FILES".

[71_Bronco 1,072]

Thanks for the start. If I recall correctly, he did say something about the oil sensor, but I can't remember exactly what he said about it.

I asked him if he had the right ignition switch, and he said it was exactly the same as the one he replaced it with, so not sure if that helps. If he had the wrong switch, it sounds weird that turning the switch off would kill the tractor, but yet it would not make it start.

So to the solenoid, if it is a newer one, will he have to ground it in order for it to work?

I will print out the wiring diagram for him tomorrow at work and maybe that will help.