wrote in message ...
On Tue, 5 Apr 2016 10:20:37 -0700, "Snuffy \"Hub Cap\" McKinney"
wrote:

Out of the blue, I turned the ignition key and the started jerked and stopped. Next turn solenoid clicked only. After that no sound on turning key. No radio, panel lights, headlights, etc.

My guess at this point is that there is a bad negative ground.

No ongoing symptoms before today. Battery is new and checks out as fully charged. Voltage OK at the solenoid relay on the inside wall.

Searched last night for a main fuse or fusible links. Wiring diagrams show them but do not tell where to look for them. I assume close to the battery -- will spend some time now looking and TS with a meter.

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

I just had a similar thing happen to my old Case backhoe. I turn the
key and the solenoid only clicks. Checking the voltage at the starter
when I try to start it the voltage dropped to about 2 volts. I
suspected that the starter motor had shorted out internally. I was
gonna pull it to test it and then my son gets down low so he can see
the bottom of the starter. He found that the heavy copper strip that
goes from the solenoid to the starter motor had been bent such that it
was touching the motor housing. So there was my short and it only
occurred when I attempted to start the backhoe. I figure a branch must
have somehow poked its way up far enough to hit the starter motor when
I was using the machine in the woods the other day.
Eric

Thanks Eric. I'll check that here today. I replaced the solenoid & starter last week. Always careful with connections but as the wife says, I don't always notice everything....