Question
Hi Jim! Thanks in advance for your help.

Toro ECX timer
6 zones

When starting up the system this year, zone 1 would come on immediately once the water was turned on. The timer was not talking to the valves, and there was no way to advance from one zone to another. After doing some research, we cleaned all the valves (found debris, but no change), replaced the timer (no change), and switched the wires around (no change)... In that order.

We replaced the valve for zone 1, and now the controller is allowing us to manually move between zones, but it will only run if the bleed valves are open, and will not advance through zones on it's own.

Any further troubleshooting suggestions would be great!

Answer
Hey Jamie, it sounds as though the solenoids are activating okay, but the valves are still not operating. This is what I am going to assume from your question. If this is correct, and when you bleed the valves they are working, then you need to replace the diaphrams in the valves.Go to www.irrigationtutorials.com, and this website will show you how to replace the diaphrams. Good luck and have a great day.