JD 4430 problem....

[allen57]

Just another tip on corrosion. If you have braided ground straps, check to make sure they aren't "eaten up". I had a 2350 that started giving me trouble and drug when starting. Changed a battery because I though it went bad. One was always low and the other was always hot. Ended up seeing a whiff of smoke comming off the ground cable one day when it was damp. When I examined the cables one strap looked OK but was frayed and wasn't "as solid" as it should have been. Only thing I can figure is that corrosion over the years left oxidized metal that wouldn't carry the current as it should. Changed it and haven't had any more trouble.

Oh, the bad strap was on the battery that was always hot. The "bad" battery was doing all the work.

 

[John SD]

FWIW, I'm not a JD guy. I have a Ford 9600 which is the blue competitor from the same era of the 4430. In winter the Lucas (British built) starters on the Fords are adequate at best combined with a 4DLT 12V battery. Since I have two tractors that use this same starter I keep an extra starter around just in case. If you crank too long on these Lucas starters they will get hot and start smoking.

If you've determined your battery and cables and connections are clean and in good condition it might be time to take the starter to a good automotive electrical shop for a rebuild. Otherwise as others have said, must be the nature of the beast with this era of Deere.

My Ford is outside and starts good as long as it has been plugged in. When it is below 0 I leave it plugged in 24/7 but probably wouldn't need to. Above 0 it will start after an hour of being plugged in. It has dual 600 watt soft plug heaters.

 

[Steve]

What other methods do folk have to keep them starting?

for the corrosion use : OX-GARD, made by GB Electrical Inc.
use it on all the battery connections and any bolts..
clean the connections, paint or smear in on, tighten the bolt or crimp the connector.. (leave the excess grease on bolts, if will not cause a short)...

works better then grease. and helps solve some of the other issues, such as dissimilar metals and keeps the corrosion down alot..

As the temperature goes down, so does battery capacity, add in thicker oil and "In effect, an engine is about five times harder to start at 0 degrees F than at 80 degrees F" and if the tractor is also draining the batteries a bit overnight it will compound the problem..

on some a battery cutout helps. but the warmer the battery is, the more power it can provide to the starter motor to crank the engine

tips... trickle charge the battery over night as well as plugging in the block heater for a few hours..

 

[salt grass flats]

I start two 4430's every morning and one starts very quickly and the other acted just like yours. Put new batteries in and cleaned all conections (ground and hot) and it turns over about twice and starts.
sounds like your starter needs rebuilt, probably been hot two many times and culd be gragging the armature. Had a 4020 starter rebuilt and it will now start without plugging in with a shot of ether. I would use the ether injector on the dash and start cranking and give a very short quick shot, wont knock then. Good Luch

 

[McGee213288]

OK...I did change out both batteries...they show 950 cranking Amps...I have also rebuilt the alternator....this is what I believe I'm going to do...I'm going to get the starter off and take it to be rebuilt...while that is going on...I will replace the cables..looks like they will be easier to get to with the starter off .. :roll: ..

We are quite primitive here...no barn...I could get it close enough to the house to plug her in with an extention cord...BUT I have NO idea if the block heater works or not...remember now...we are not talking bout below 32F. ..

I also have no idea if this tractor has been a hard starter in the winter, as this is the first winter I have had it...it has been treated poorly..and shows it..but the engine does run well...We had to fight for this poor ol' thing...Thank Goodness the Judge saw what was happening and did award this tractor...or we would of had none... :shock:

Thank ya'll ...

 

[Silver]

OK...I did change out both batteries...they show 950 cranking Amps...I have also rebuilt the alternator....this is what I believe I'm going to do...I'm going to get the starter off and take it to be rebuilt...while that is going on...I will replace the cables..looks like they will be easier to get to with the starter off .. :roll: ..

We are quite primitive here...no barn...I could get it close enough to the house to plug her in with an extention cord...BUT I have NO idea if the block heater works or not...remember now...we are not talking bout below 32F. ..

I also have no idea if this tractor has been a hard starter in the winter, as this is the first winter I have had it...it has been treated poorly..and shows it..but the engine does run well...We had to fight for this poor ol' thing...Thank Goodness the Judge saw what was happening and did award this tractor...or we would of had none... :shock:

Thank ya'll ...

The place you are taking the starter too should be able to bench test it to see if in fact it does need to be rebuilt. You could save yourself some money if it doesn't need rebuilt and the problem is elsewhere. Good luck!

 

[JD6320]

one easy fix is to go to a lighter grade of engine oil or even synthetic oil for winter/cold weather use.

 

[Cedarcreek]

We are quite primitive here...no barn...I could get it close enough to the house to plug her in with an extention cord...BUT I have NO idea if the block heater works or not...remember now...we are not talking bout below 32F. ..
Thank ya'll ...

The others covered everything I would check about the starter. To check the block heater you can plug it in for a hour or so and the block next to the heater should feel warmer. I just looked on the JD website at the parts book and they are the same as what is used on a 4440 that I'm used to.
Hope that helps.

 

[Silver]

We are quite primitive here...no barn...I could get it close enough to the house to plug her in with an extention cord...BUT I have NO idea if the block heater works or not...remember now...we are not talking bout below 32F. ..
Thank ya'll ...

The others covered everything I would check about the starter. To check the block heater you can plug it in for a hour or so and the block next to the heater should feel warmer. I just looked on the JD website at the parts book and they are the same as what is used on a 4440 that I'm used to.
Hope that helps.

And if the block heater isn't working or isn't enough a circulating heater is easy to install and does a far better job in less time. Like the name suggests, they actually circulate the warm coolant through the engine so it's warm all over. Combined with an oil pan heater and battery warmers there is practically nothing you can't start at any temperature
Ether is something you never want to use if you don't need it, and should be used sparingly if required.

 

[Anonymous]

Yep-- some periods of the winter around here- almost everything is plugged in when it isn't running...And one of those periods looks like will be hitting about tommorrow night- with Wed. night predicted to be 25-35 Below again
Some of the contractors that have to leave and start their equipment way out in the boonies where they don't have access to a current bush to plug in- have quick connects on their pickups & service trucks cooling system- and their equipment- so they can hook right into the cooling system of the tractor/equipment and warm them up with the circulating warm water so they will start....

 

[McGee213288]

Yes...I was wondering how to tell if the block heater was working...Thank-you. ..

And Yes Silver..the folks that rebuild stuff for us will let us know if it is ok..

JD I have always been told never to switch between Synthetic and regular oil...when the residual of one meets the other it forms a grit...whether in the engine or the transmission.....This was hammered into me at the Mack House when we ran big trucks outa the steel mill in Midlothian, TX... but I could try the lighter weight oil...I'm just loading and putting out hay...it is not like I'm putting a lot of strain on the old girl..

 

[Silver]

Yep-- some periods of the winter around here- almost everything is plugged in when it isn't running...And one of those periods looks like will be hitting about tommorrow night- with Wed. night predicted to be 25-35 Below again
Some of the contractors that have to leave and start their equipment way out in the boonies where they don't have access to a current bush to plug in- have quick connects on their pickups & service trucks cooling system- and their equipment- so they can hook right into the cooling system of the tractor/equipment and warm them up with the circulating warm water so they will start....

I've seen those setups, and heard people claim they were hard on equipment. They say as the hot water hits those cold cylinder heads and such things have a way of cracking where they're not supposed to.
Around here contractors use ProHeat and Wabasco to heat their engines and hydraulics. They are basically a circulating heater that runs off the diesel in the machines tank. They have timers to set for whenever you want them to come on. Even in 40 below if the heater is on for about 45 minutes the machine will be at operating temp before you start it.

 

[Trinity man]

Check the cables sometime corrosion get into the cables and it looses power there. Here and handly website that help with parts for your tractor.

http://jdpc.deere.com/jdpc/servlet/com.deere.u90490.partscatalog.view.servlets.HomePageServlet_Alt

 

[sid]

one thing that will help on the 20 series and the 30 series is to diengage the hydrolic pump. This allows the engine to turn more freely. To do this whip the sterring wheel back and forth while cranking.

 

[McGee213288]

one thing that will help on the 20 series and the 30 series is to diengage the hydrolic pump. This allows the engine to turn more freely. To do this whip the sterring wheel back and forth while cranking.

:shock: ...How would that stop the pump???...Are ya pullin' my leg??

 

[Trinity man]

one thing that will help on the 20 series and the 30 series is to diengage the hydrolic pump. This allows the engine to turn more freely. To do this whip the sterring wheel back and forth while cranking.

:shock: ...How would that stop the pump???...Are ya pullin' my leg??

That works on my 4020.

 

[George]

We have had 2) 4230s, 1) 4430 2) 4630s 1) 4440 2)4650s 1) 4850 as well as 1) 4010 1) 4020 1) 8630 and 1) 9710 ( International - - -I know it's not green but it is one heck of a tractor 400 HP and triples all around, it really tears up the ground! ) so I feel I have a little experience.

On all the 30 series tractors I have thrown out the 6V batteries ( wired in series to give 12 V ) and replaced with two group 31 12V batteries ( same as in most Semi trucks ) and changed the wiring so that each battery has a positive wire to the starter and the ground wires are also run to a starter mounting bolt. You must realize that in the 1970s battery tech was not as good as it is now. If you put two 900 Cold Cranking Amp batteries in parallel you end up with 1800 CCA going to the starter!

If you have a good starter man around you can have "hi torque " fields put in the starter for about $40.00 and between these two things you should have a reliable tractor for several years. We still feed hay with a 4630 purchased in 1973 - - -no one will pay anything for it and so we had it repainted last summer and it keeps us from having to feed hay without a cab ( 4010 or 4020 ) or having to put hours on one of the 4650s

 

[RSL]

Our 4430 that was hard starting in the cold. Our 4240 was also difficult until we did an engine rebuild this summer. Ether really tears up piston rings. My advice is to spend $100 and put in a circulating heater. Plug it in an hour before chore time and it will start like summer. (or get a big steel box that fits under the tractor and put a propane torch under it).

 

[cowman52]

Couple of ideas-- Crankcase heater, water heater can be installed in water lines between cab and radiator- put ablue tarp over the engine and a heat lamp or 2 ander the tarp-- compression is good and cold air just not enough heat can be generated by just compressing the air so fuel ignites

 

[Northern Rancher]

When I had a tractor-I tried to stack everything I could in my favour-syn oil-recirculating heater and good batteries. I'd rather harness a team than mess with a froze up diesel. We bale graze now so we can get by with an older dually with a bale bed. Synthetic hydraulic oil makes a big difference in the cold weather too. If you can plug your tractor in I'd for sure be doing that-in -40 I used to put the charger on for awhile before I tried to start it too-we always hoarded in the engine with a old swather canvas too.