885 Won't Start

hollywd75

Member
Hi everyone, new to the forum. Looking for some advice on a 1975 David Brown 885 that I bought about a year ago. It was pretty well maintained by previous owners. Last night I went to mow my pasture and it wouldn't start. Usually it starts after 2-3 tries, very reliably. First try I do no choke, and it did try to turn over. Went for try #2 and ready to add choke. Nothing - totally dead except for a click. Light on the dash does come on. I tested battery and it read 12.75. I don't feel like it's the battery.

I am not a mechanic. I did a little googling on engines not starting. Possibly a solenoid? Or a starter? Is there any way to tell before I start ordering parts? ( Installing them will be another issue.. ) Looks like a solenoid isn't very expensive, but the starter is more. I have an I&T manual but it isn't very helpful to a non-mechanic. And the owner manual doesn't cover this.

Last couple times I used it I felt like it had less power. Would a bad spark plug make it not start suddenly like that? Previous owner told me it would tend to burn out the plug nearest the gas tank faster than the other two. He had tried a different type of plug on that one to see if it did better. I tried to follow wires and it looks like plugs may be up under hood on top of engine? I wasn't able to get the hood off, think I need another pair of hands since it has to be lifted straight up.

Any advice appreciated! My pasture really needs to be mowed, ugh.
 
(reply to post at 06:29:28 08/10/17)

Hi:

If you get a click when you turn the key to start then that usually means the solenoid or the starter. Sometimes when you turn the key five or six times you get lucky and the starter will engage. Spark plugs will not affect this.

Solenoid is usually the first guess as to why the starter clicks. Usually caused by a worn bushing allowing the solenoid to contact the case to cause a ground short. Relatively inexpensive to fix. The starter also has bushing which if worn cause the armature to ground to the case. Usually this causes a very slow spin on the starter.

Testing is a bit challenging. For the starter you take a booster cable connected to a 12 v source and connect the positive lead directly to the starter. This should cause the starter to spin, If it spins slow then starter need to be rebuilt. If fast then problem is usually solenoid.

Let us know how you make out
 
pcrh: Great info, that is very helpful. The solenoid is inexpensive, maybe I'll just order one. Won't hurt to have it on hand regardless. Hopefully they aren't that difficult to repair/replace.

RGMartin - I'm not sure, I'll need another pair of hands to hold the key to help me check that. I live alone so easier said than done sometimes. It should increase when 'on' right?

Sounds like I may have to enlist some help. I'll check with my neighbor, he restored a 1950 Farmall C that came with my house. I loved it but sold it to him because I was pretty sure I'd kill myself on it on my hilly pasture. It still ran but needed a ton of work.

Thank you!
 
if your 12.7 goes down to anything less than 10.5 when trying to crank, you have a battery/cable/ground issue.

if it stays 12 or so it sounds like a solenoid.
 
Someone at work is going to loan me a heavy duty charger/ jump box to try. In case the battery is still bad even though the voltage seems ok. Can't reach it with cables. Crossing my fingers.
 

Thanks, that is good to know! Will check battery again and probably order a solenoid in case. They are pretty cheap.
 
I think that I would go to the battery , take the cables off , and clean the terminals , and the cable clamps . And when putting them back
on , make sure they are tight , and making good contact, before I would go spending any money. You could also get your buddy to come and
pull start your tractor , just to get it to run .
 
I removed battery cables, cleaned everything, and put the heavy duty charger on it. It took awhile, but success! I was able to get it to start. When cleaning I found the date sticker, the battery is from 2010! So I have learned to not always trust the multi meter. The old battery was an Interstate with cold cranking around 800. Obviously that worked well for this tractor. There aren't any Interstate's locally so I'll probably go to Tractor Supply, I would think they'd have something suitable.

Thanks so much for your help everyone, all this info was very helpful. I'll know what to look for if I have similar starting issues again. Hoping to get some mowing done this weekend!
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top