The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Hi, I turned my fordson super major off the other night, next day I put the battery in to use it but (on mine the earth lead goes to positive on battery) well when I went to connect the earth lead to battery positive terminal it sparked.. I checked ten times to make sure the battery was the right way ..fiddled around a bit but soon as I touched the earth lead to positive all I got was spark spark...I am thinking maybe the starter motor stuck but not sure as all I did was turn it off the night before... My key doesn't work , I start it by holding up a button on the selenoid and push down on the starter lever as I have done for 8 years...any info would be appreciated...

Hi,

Looks like your electrical system is not in "ex factory" condition. If you don't use any electrics on the tractor easiest is to disconnect (cut of all wires) everything, including generator. just an earth lead, a cable from negative to solenoid and one from to solenoid to starter. If it then still sparks your solenoid or starter is in trouble.

A decent solution is a good repair, which in my experience, starts with a new wiring loom and most times new regulator box and a dynamo and starter check up.

rgds

Dear young150

You infer that you disconnect the battery when you leave the tractor, so does this indicate that the charging system doesn't charge whilst running the tractor? You didn't say how big the sparks were on connecting the earth lead. Big, fat crackly ones indicate a heavy current drain/short, which could be starter motor or solenoid, as they are the only heavy current electrical items. Disconnect the heavy lead at the front of the starter and touch the earth battery terminal to see whether you still get sparks. That should indicate whether it is starter motor, or solenoid. Another possibility is stuck contacts within the regulator and a light tap on the regulator housing sometimes can free this. Finally isolate the feed to the ignition switch to see whether a wire has decided to short to earth due to cracking insulation. The feed to the ignition/lighting switch must be live in order for the starter lever to operate the starter because it engages the switch on top of the starter Really a matter of isolating each circuit and finding the guilty party. Using a multimeter, or test lamp and some careful checking through the system should take you to what is basically an unwanted contact to earth. I agree with Emiel that it sounds like your electrical system is pretty ropey, which is why it is a good idea to disconnect the battery when you leave the tractor.

Tim E

If it's small sparks I have seen where someone existing the tractor has bumped the light switch, lights are usually in operable on a machine of this age but can be a good source of shorts

I recommend disconnecting everything, then connecting only one thing at a time until the sparks appear. It does sound like a starter/solenoid problem though.
Sandy

Dynamo field coils is a likely candidate, especially if ignition switch / and / or regulator relay have welded contacts.

Easily checked, take the small wire off the back of the dynamo.....