# Solenoid for my 916H



## skunkhome (Nov 30, 2008)

My '82 916H just stopped cranking last week. The dash tower is so tight on these tractors and Simplicity chose to bury the solenoid in the bottom of it making troubleshooting next to impossible without taking everything apart. I jumped to the wrong conclusion and condemned the started. Well $60 later I find I was wrong. I finally took everything apart. The ignition switch checked out fine. I have power to every circuit at the right time, ignition, starter, and accessories. The safety switches check out as well as the 20a main breaker. I finally decided to change out the solenoid with one I had. It apparently was also bad as it doesn't click when it gets a charge at the trigger pole. The old one I pulled out I bench tested and it did in fact fail to function when I applied a trigger charge. After whacking it a few times it now functions as it should but I'm not about to bury it back down in the bottom of that dash tower where I can't tap it with a hammer if it misfires again. Why couldn't they have just mounted it on the engine like they did in my 3414s? I can trouble shoot the electrical in it without removing anything from the tractor. In the mean time I'm looking for a new solenoid I can pick up locally. 


Would this new solenoid replace the one on the top without issues. I noticed the terminals are 1/4" instead of 5/16". Is it too light to carry the load of a 1982 Kohler starter?


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Hey skunkhome, 

If you are concerned about the new solenoid, return it and get one with 5/16" terminals. 

Or alternatively replace the solenoid with a heavy duty pushbutton starter switch, mounted for easy access.


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## skunkhome (Nov 30, 2008)

I really don't want molest my tractor by boring a 1" hole in my sheet metal.


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## skunkhome (Nov 30, 2008)

Well I'm at at total loss. I put in the new solenoid and it clicked once and nothing else happened. I checked for voltage at starter, full voltage at start but no go. All circuits have voltage: Ignition, accessory, but light do not work. My first replacement solenoid works great in the bench. It has to be somewhere in the wiring. As far as I'm concerned I'm done with this puzzle for the summer. At 97° and 90% humidity it just too hot to be bothered. I could have retired the whole dang thing in the time I've been messing with it.


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Defective keyswitch??


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## skunkhome (Nov 30, 2008)

*Well this is embarrassing.*

Well I'd bet you'd never guess. A light suddenly came on between my ears! I went back out and attached a jumper cable to the cable clamp on the negative pole of the battery and then to a stud on the head of the engine. It cranked when I turned the key and fired up almost immediately. A wise man once told me to always be sure you have a good ground before you start trouble shooting. See all the time I was relying on the negative battery cable to provide me the ground I needed while in fact the cable itself had failed. Enough power was making it through the cable to run my tests both for voltage and continuity but couldn't pass enough current to even light the headlights. The cable was pristine with no signs of fraying, corrosion or abuse. A $6 battery cable fixed the problem. I was going to strip the old cable to determine what was going on but I have already misplaced it.


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