Bit o Help trouble shootin JD 310D fuse issue

[islandlogger]

The day was going well enough, was supposed to be a "one day" job, client wanted a clump of Five dandy Doug Firs felled and limbed out and bucked into short wood for one of my saw mill "competitors" (he is the clients brother so I won't  complain lol) at any rate got the trees all down and limbed out and my helper dealing with the slash while I started yarding and decking the wood....round bout two oclock "pop" the ole Hoe won't engage forward or reverse, check the fuse sure enough the 10A FNR fuse had blown....no biggy, had spares on hand so popped another in and back at it....for all of five mins..."pop" same fuse. Now I'm gettin edgy, job needs to get done and just a few hours of day light to go. So I have a quick look for the cause but can't determine anything with a quick once over so with the vague hope that I just happened to have a few funky fuses I pop my nxt to last spare in and carry on, twenty or so mins later just when I'm thinkin to myself I'm good to go....."pop" there she bloody goes again n now I'm effing and blinding and pretty much dead in the water. Wasn't dark but dark enough to not be able to really go properly thru all the maybe's...the client agreed to the "adopt a hoe" program for the night and felt very sorry for me  :-\ it's nice to have sympathetic clients!!
Any thoughts on what I should shoot for first come morn?? Solenoid maybe going? Or...?? And...?? But...??
Thanks folks and hope you all had a more productive day!!

islandlogger

[kiko]

I dont know much about a 310d. If it has the decluth button on top of the f/r shifter , the wires run through the shifter and are likely going to ground inside the shift leader or at the hinge point at the bottom of the shifter

[mad murdock]

Is your f/r lever in the same position each time it blows? If so mebbe it is a solenoid? Hope you get it figgered out!

[islandlogger]

The tractor has a shuttle shift on the column and gear shift on floor, the gear shift has a de-clutch button but all seems sound there on my limited light inspection. Otherwise to answer the other question: I would reverse up to my log lay, drop the bucket, put engine in neutral, hit the park brake and choke my turn THEN when I jump back in and try to engage nothing is there, so I cant say for sure the exact moment the fuse popped, after I reversed or when I tried to engage again....and it happened once when last gear used was forward....bit of puzzler
But that's my rainy day project today...we will see...

Thanks folks!

islandlogger

[beenthere]

Can you rig up a 12v lightbulb to put in place of the fuse using some jumper wires? Then watch the brightness of the bulb while checking wires and levers to see if you can detect the short. That has worked for me a few times.
One was a wire above the headliner of a nearly new car that had a bare spot and was driving me nuts to find.

[Jeff]

Can you rig up a 12v lightbulb to put in place of the fuse using some jumper wires? Then watch the brightness of the bulb while checking wires and levers to see if you can detect the short. That has worked for me a few times.
One was a wire above the headliner of a nearly new car that had a bare spot and was driving me nuts to find.

That is exactly how I used to trouble shoot shorts in the sawmill pantagraph. They could be a nightmare to find, especially those that would effect the 1 amp fuse in the control panel. You could use the light to troubleshoot instead of blowing the fuse. Our longest breakdowns were always electrical issues. Never fixing them, just finding them.

[islandlogger]

Thanks for all the thoughts and well wishes folks!
The culprit was/is a solenoid, it's shot but I think the replacement is only North or South of a $100 bucks so I'm not sweatin it TO hard....the bad news is I have to leave the States to spend the holidays with extended family in England and I leave tomarra. My client was Very quick to volunteer for a extended "adopt a hoe" program and said it would be nice to spend Christmas with sumthing Yeller in the woods  :D gotta love a good hearted client!!
BTW that light bulb idea is great, hadn't heard that one before and makes all kinds of good sense!! I'll put that away in my knowledge bank....gotta love the forum!!

Kp logging ladies and gentleman!!

islandlogger

[Autocar]

Yes the light bulb is a very good idea, never gave that a thought. I also will log that in my repair memory  . But then maybe I should just right it down my repair memory dosen't work all tha time  :D.

[JD350Cmark]

Lonnie,

I had a similar issue several years ago on 96 310D.  I've been trying to recall exactly what occured, but all that I remember is the parking brake being very slow in releasing, then not wanting to release at all, blowing fuses and the de-clucth button on the floor shifter went bad.  All of this happen at the the same time.  I do not know what fuses blew, nor do I have any other info as to how I resolved it at the time... :-\ sorry..  This probrably does not help.

Try checking with Dustin in the shop at Pape in Mt. Vernon.