John Deere X300 won't crank(hour meter won't even show up)

[rlwatts]

John Deere X300 won't crank. Installed new battery today. When key is turned there is no sounds at all and neither the headlights nor hour meter come on. Last started in December and worked fine. What are the possible problems?

 

[Darryl G]

Is the new battery actually fully charged? It could have been sitting around for months in the off season and discharged.

Also check/clean/tighten connections and make sure brake is on, PTO switch off etc.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Fuse blown .
This will happen if the battery is hooked up backwards.
A bad battery cable or cable connection , remember they have 2 ends.

 

[gtroberson]

How did this work out? I am having the same issue. Battery good, cables good. Stopped suddenly will not restart.

 

[Deleted member 97405]

gtroberson, check your fuses first and report if any are blown. Thanks!

 

[gtroberson]

Let me back up and fill in the full timeline. Mower was running doing some clean up work around yard. Engine started sputtering, then shut off. Immediately suspected low on fuel, added some to tank, then no response when trying to restart. No solenoid click, no hour meter display, nothing. Found blown fuse in starting circuit. Did not have any at the time so waited to pick some up.

Follow up attempts to start have resulted in another blown fuse. Replaced again. Also noticed the ECU (AM141075) was overheating and starting to melt the resin.

I am hearing there have been some issues with the ECU in the past, wondering if a failure in it can result in blowing the fuse. I have a new ECU but trying to confirm no other circuit issues before I swap it out.

 

[mikebarber]

I keep seeing more and more "1 WAY" streets around various forums

 

[Alex B]

Hi, I'm new here. I recently purchased a used 2009 x300. I was able to do 2 mows this year so far and today I experienced the same issue discussed here. I tried to do a cold start and it wouldn't start, I opened the hood to check if anything looked out of order and everything looked good at first glance so I put hood down and attempted to crank one more time. This time, the engine wouldn't even crank. Lights would come on and engine hours meter was also on but no crank. My neighbor helped me jump start with a car battery but no result. However, the engine hours meter now wouldn't come on at all. I took battery off and took to auto place to have it checked. The cold crank amp was coming up at 260 and the battery was measuring at 12.6 volts so it appears to be in good shape.

Just started to look at different posts online and this one is the one that describes my issue the closest. I've checked the 3 different fuses and they are all good, no cracks in them. I'm down to a couple of guesses (ECU, a starter relay or the starter selenoid). Can someone shed some light on what I could check on next before I have to reach out to the dreaded dealer for help? Thank you, any assitance is greatly appreciated!

 

[bertsmobile1]

For less than the price of a visit to a mower shop you can buy the JD technical manual for your mower.
I can not stress just how detailed & well written these books are, far better than any mower mechanic text books used in colleges.

 

[Alex B]

For less than the price of a visit to a mower shop you can buy the JD technical manual for your mower.
I can not stress just how detailed & well written these books are, far better than any mower mechanic text books used in colleges.

Thank you. I downloaded the technical manual and it does have a lot of information including step by step troubleshooting. A bit overwhelming I could say but that's only after reading it for an hour or so last night. I'll try to tackle a bit more today but this may take a while.