Solenoid click, no crank, Deere 214 with Kohler

I have a 214 Deere with Kohler engine. It won't crank (most of the time). It was running one morning but no crank the same afternoon. It has done this sometimes go, sometimes no several times. Starter engages and engine cranks when I jump to hot post on starter so I know engine is free and starter engaging. I tried two batteries, both that show 13+ volts on multimeter. (One is a 650-CCA car battery, almost new, and it starts my cars and trucks so I know it has power for a one-cylinder Kohler.) Connections are all clean and cables work well when everything is working. I'm getting 13 volts at one big post and also at the small post on solenoid. I get nothing at the other big post (solenoid to starter) when I hold the key at the "start" position. It just gives one click when I turn the key to start. (Not rapid clickclickclick like a low battery.) I've had everything disconnected three times now, and everything work sometimes after reassembly but then fails the next time I try to start. Does this sound like a finicky solenoid not internally connecting between the two big posts? If not, what? I appreciate advice before I start replacing parts.

If you have batt. voltage on one big post on sol. and the small one in start position , Yes I'd say it's a solenoid problem. Lightly rap it with something with key to start position.

Sounds like a bad solenoid try a new one.
GB in Mn

Contacts inside of the solenoid are worn to the point that the contact disc can no longer make contact.

Kohler starter with the solenoid mounted on it can be quickly repaired if the machine is needed quickly.

Remove the battery cable then the first nut on the lead that goes into the starter and remove the lead.

Remove the other nut that holds the starter post in the solenoid. Use pliers and push the bolt in just enough to turn it 180 degrees and pull it back out (you should feel when it goes into place). Replace the nut.

Do the same for the starter lead post.

Reconnect the starter lead and then the battery cable to the solenoid.

Try it out. This trick can get you out of a jam and allow you to get many more hours out of the starter. It it a good idea to get a new solenoid for when it stops working again. For if it does it again the solenoid will be junk.

Have an old 1990 Checy S10 that I use on the farm and the starter has lasted 6 six years so far after flipping the post on the solenoid to get out of a jam.

"Kohler starter with the solenoid mounted on it can be quickly repaired if the machine is needed quickly."

That dosen't apply to his 214, tho.

JD made what they called a clicker kit to fix that. I still have a new 1 in the bag out in the shop. They work.

Better idea than what I have done numerous times which is to drill out the rivets if phenolic/plastic bodied, pull out the contact mating surfaces and rearrange parts for clean surfaces to touch.

should have a separate solenoid.
not one on the starter

I would say a bad key switch would be the first thing I would try. Those are bad for not carrying high current over time. Also it could be any of your safety switches too. The one on the gear shifter being the usual bad one. Take the battery out and then the bottom of the battery box. Then take a good pair of jumper cables and hook the battery up. Jump right across the solenoid. Fi you have good cranking then check the crank circuit out. That would be Key switch, safety switches and battery voltage supply to the key switch.

Really look the key switch over. They are bad about corroding on the back side and then causing the trouble your having.

solenoid #14
Neutral safety switch # 28
Key switch #9

To everyone who offered suggestions, thank you. After multiple tests with a meter and a test light, I was confident I had a solenoid problem. I replaced it (less than $12) and also rebuilt the ignition switch, which a distant previous owner had messed up by cutting and twisting and removing wires. I put it all back together, and the 214 fired up after very few cranks. Again, thanks for all advice so I could get going again before more snow arrives.

"It just gives one click when I turn the key to start." That was your clue that the problem was in the solenoid, not in the drive to the solenoid. Had it been that you wouldn't have heard the initial click, which was the internal solenoid sucking the plunger down to bridge the input-output contacts, chasing the signal control circuit would have been your agenda.

Yup. That one click took me back to my 283 Chevy days, when a single click indicated solenoid issues. So I focused there, but it was easy to use a meter and light to make sure juice was flowing elsewhere. As I said, someone in the past had done an interesting job of cutting out safety switches, cobbling wires together, etc., and half the wires going to the engine side of the key switch were barely attached to the female connector. Once I got the little clips out of the plastic housing, it was a simple job to rewire with new color-coded wiring to match the original. Now all the safety switches except the missing one from the seat are working again. The original solenoid is held together with crimped tabs. I'll probably try to unbend the tabs, clean up the internals and reassemble as a spare. (Maybe not worth the effort when a replacement costs less than $12, but it's just an interesting quick winter project.)

Winter project/busy time, yes. I did it the first time to understand why it quit....what's inside the box. after that I either did it for a spare or did it because I had no replacement.