240U still not starting

First off I have to admit I have not worked on it that long at a time yet, but I still can not start the darn thing. At first it would not even begin to turn over... solenoid would "lightly" click and nothing. Figured it was just too darn cold... 5 degrees at the time. Put the charger on the battery to warm it up, still nothing when it was real cold. Battery and cables are not very old, maybe 2 years. Yesterday at about 20 degrees, it started, ran a few seconds, maybe 10 and died. Started, ran about 4 or 5 seconds and died. Started, ran maybe 2 seconds and died. Ah-ha, ice in the system. Bought some Heat and poured it in and figured I'd see if it starts at about 35 degrees... nothing, just like at first, just click. Cleaned the battery connections, still nothing and battery shows it's charged. New solenoid when the starter was rebuilt less then 2 years ago, and I hear it click, but doesn't sound like a real solid click. Yesterday when it did crank over and started for a short time, it cranked really strong, like it normally would.
My health does not allow for me to work on it for very long at a time in the cold... maybe just wait until warmer weather and grade the ruts out from the mud.

Make sure it is out of gear and also if you can lock the clutch pedal down. Then use a jumper cable and go from the battery to the starter and see if it spins over. If it does then you know you have a bad solenoid or bad connection. Also pull the carb drain plug and make sure you have a good steady flow of gas. Catch it to look for water/dirt etc. As for health understand that well

Could be a bad battery, take it out & have it
tested under load. As it quiting after it starts,
sounds like a fuel issue, don't know if the 240U
are cold blooded, more choke for a longer time ?

Those engines are cold blooded. Start it without the choke or pull out choke briefly, leaving it out for several revolutions will cause flooding. When it starts pull out the choke a little to keep it running. Batteries lose their charge fast when cranking in cold weather.

start at battery- do a load test or try another one.
check your cables and ground and for voltage at starter.
do the screwdriver trick on solenoid. go from S terminal to the main positive and engine should crank. sounds like a defective solenoid. have seen this very same thing on a brand new tractor.
check your push button starter switch.

Have you loosened up the starter it just may be locked to the flywheel. Just take the bolts loose and while its out maybe use some wd-40e drive check the teeth on the flywheel if they are bad mite need to split and replace the ring gear.

Thanks for the ideas. I'm actually thinking there are 2 things, one, when it did start, it died more quickly each time, makes me think this is ice in the fuel. As for not spinning over, that's more tricky. May still be a bad connection at the battery or a bad solenoid, as I probably did not take time in the cold to clean them real well. Since it did spin over well yesterday, and did for some time as I kept trying things, I can't think it's a bad battery, but I suppose it could be.
As for choking, this tractor has never started well when choking, except very quickly at times. does best starting near idle and slowly increasing rpm until it warms up slightly. Will pull the plug in the carb to see if I get water or ice, if I get it to spin over again. Also supposed to get at or near 50 tomorrow which will help both me and the tractor.

BTW, this has been converted to 12V w/12V field windings in the starter. It has always started really quickly since my auto-electric shop installed those windings. Before it would crank a few seconds before firing.

Check the air cleaner cup for ice.

(quoted from post at 10:26:39 02/13/14) Check the air cleaner cup for ice.

Click to expand...

Should have thought of that... thanks, probably needs checked anyway.
Might not work on it today as I'm not feeling too good.

Choke and ice in the air cleaner cup have NOTHING to do with it turning over.

If it just clicks, it's almost always CONNECTIONS. Big cables and little wires.

Do the battery cables have those lame repair ends on them? Take them off, and you'll probably see they're all corroded inside.

Get yourself one of these too:

As I said, I think I have 2 problems, one is the not cranking, which probably is a connection problem. I do have a couple of those battery terminal cleaners and used one, but it was about 5 degrees that day and I didn't spend much time on them.
The other is the one day when it did start, it ran for about 10 seconds and died. Re-started and ran 4 or 5 seconds and died. Re-started and it ran maybe 1 or 2 seconds before dying. That almost has to be a fuel problem. When I get to feeling better, I'll re-clean the terminals as that's probably where the first problem is. No replacement ends on the cables, put new heavy cables on with a new battery 2 years ago, starter re-built with 12V field coils near the same time. has been starting great ever since. Also new points and plugs about that time. All that was done within 3 or 4 months around 2 years ago. I dumped a bottle of Heat in it yesterday which should help if I ever get it going and the Heat circulated. The oil bath thing might be it also instead of a fuel problem.

Running a short time is likely to be a fuel problem and you need to pull the carb drain plug and make sure you get a good steady flow of gas for a few minutes. Catch it to look for water/dirt etc. The not turning over is probably cable connection problems and if you use jumper cables fro mthe battery to the starter stud you can see if it is in fact a starter going bad also

Still feeling like crap today, so this snow will all be melted before I get it running. Winter's not over, so will probably need it again. all this water is going to make for a muddy driveway, so even if we don't get more snow, I'll need it to grade the ruts back in. First day I feel good, I'll figure it out.

Check the fuel flow from the tank. There may be some blockage. Hal