9 volts when it should be 12 volts. That's a 25% loss--I would consider it
to be significant. If the battery is at 12 volts can you go directly from
the battery to the starter terminal using another lead (disconnect the
original lead to get it out of the system). For example, use a jumper cable
to make the connection. If the voltage still drops to 9 then consider it a
battery problem. If so, can you use the jumper cables to go from your car
battery to the tractor battery to verify?
MLD
"PaulD" wrote in message
ps.com...
Ok, here is the update. I measured the voltage at the starter engine
terminal. I did it a bunch of times. I measured sometimes slightly
below 9 volts, sometimes slightly above. There was definitely a
voltage drop. Was the drop large enough to be significant?

I also noticed that every once in a while I got a voltage spike at
about 14 volts for a very brief instance. I am not sure whether the
spike was just a multi-meter error or whether it has some significance.
I also tested the voltage drop where the starter cable is attached to
the solenoid (?). I got similar readings there.

I did your suggestion regarding compression. I got alternating puffs
and suction from both cylinders. Its hard to tell whether they were
both similar. Seemed like they were.

My son said that the engine slowly faded before stalling out.

Finally, two other things I observed. First, I did try to get multiple
readings. As I did so, I noticed that the starter engine casing did
get hot to touch. I did not have my helper crank for more than a few
seconds at a time. Is this something one would expect when cranking
the starter a number of times or is it an indication of a problem.
Second, at one point the starter gear stopped popping up to engage the
flywheel. I gently moved it by hand a few times. This seemed to
resolve the problem.


Ether Jones wrote:
PaulD wrote:
I've got a busy day ahead so I may not get to this for another day
or two. I did think that the spark plugs looked questionable, so I
will go ahead and replace them.
I would comment that since that battery was recharged, the engine
is cranking better. Again, it is weak cranking, but it is much
better
than what I previously described as "barely cranking" at all.

Was the engine cranking strongly right up to the point when the
stalling episode occurred, or was the cranking speed deteriorating
slowly over the period preceding the stalling episode?

One thing that I had not mentioned before that may be relevant.
Before all this occurred, I occasionally had the following happen. I
would turn on the engine and it would not crank. I waited a few
seconds and tried again. The engine started, no problem. This was
very intermittent

This can be a sign of a weak battery, or bad cable connections, or a
starter motor starting to go bad. You said you had the battery
checked out, so I will assume they checked it properly and it is OK.
The troubleshooting procedures mentioned in the previous post should
help isolate it to either a cable problem or a starter problem.

However, as long as you have the plugs out, you should try one more
thing to help eliminate another possibility (valve problem). Make
sure the plug wires are far away from the spark plug holes and well
grounded so that there are no sparks. Have a helper crank the engine,
and put your thumb over each spark plug hole. You should feel
alternating compression and suction in each hole, and they should feel
the same. If they feel different, or you don't feel both compression
and suction, you've got a more serious problem inside the engine.