Short in Ford Jubilee?

[jackofalltrades]

Short?

My Ford Jubilee tractor ( with12 volt conversion ) is making a buzzing sound when attempting to start.

I just put on a new distributor, it started up right away and Iran it for a while. It was having difficulties getting up hills. ( it was had this problem prior to new distributor as well.) I parked it. Next time I went to-start, it shows full voltage, but when I hit start button it buzzes then voltage drops to almost nothing.

Someone said it probably needs a new solenoid. _but it just ran fine earlier. Is there any way to test the solenoid to see if a new one is required?

I thank all who reply in advance for your assistance!

 

[leroy in ne]

Start by cleaning battery cable connections including ground to tractor end.

 

[olddavid]

Look for a bad connection at the battery posts etc. Edit: (Leroy beat me to that one). Check the voltage at the battery posts (not the clamps) when you try to start it. If it drops to zero, the battery is likely dead or bad. If it stays at 12 volts your battery cable connections may be bad. Will it jump start? If so, check the charging circuit as well as the battery. With the tractor running you should have 13-14 volts at the battery posts. How long was it just sitting there? Batteries will discharge over time. The buzzing solenoid is a classic low voltage symptom. If it will jump start or at least turn over it's not the solenoid. As far as trouble going uphill check for fuel flow to the carburetor. Also check to see if the governor is working.

 

[showcrop]

Classic battery connections. It is not enough that terminals look nice and clean. They must be shiny and clean. Arcing can take place in a poor connection. A product of arcing is carbon which is an insulator. Carbon in the connection is invisible if the surfaces are not shiny.

 

[DaveBN]

Take the cable from the solenoid to starter off and see if the solenoid clicks normally. Maybe your starter is bad or jammed in the ring gear. Do check and clean all connections as stated above.
Let us know what you find.
Dave

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Short?

My Ford Jubilee tractor ( with12 volt conversion ) is making a buzzing sound when attempting to start.

I just put on a new distributor, it started up right away and Iran it for a while. It was having difficulties getting up hills. ( it was had this problem prior to new distributor as well.) I parked it. Next time I went to-start, it shows full voltage, but when I hit start button it buzzes then voltage drops to almost nothing.

Someone said it probably needs a new solenoid. _but it just ran fine earlier. Is there any way to test the solenoid to see if a new one is required?

I thank all who reply in advance for your assistance!

If you think your solenoid is bad simply use jumper cable. Attach one end to the + of the battery and the other end to the starter.
That eliminates the solenoid and all bad connections.
I would also connect the midtrontics voltmeter to the battery to test the battery at the same time.

 

[old]

Short?

My Ford Jubilee tractor ( with12 volt conversion ) is making a buzzing sound when attempting to start.

I just put on a new distributor, it started up right away and Iran it for a while. It was having difficulties getting up hills. ( it was had this problem prior to new distributor as well.) I parked it. Next time I went to-start, it shows full voltage, but when I hit start button it buzzes then voltage drops to almost nothing.

Someone said it probably needs a new solenoid. _but it just ran fine earlier. Is there any way to test the solenoid to see if a new one is required?

I thank all who reply in advance for your assistance!

Jump across the big post on the solenoid be sure it is out of gear. If it spins over the solenoid is bad if it still buzzs check all battery cable connection

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

A bit of advice: You generally can not determine if a battery connection is bad from a quick visual inspection. Take them all apart and clean them thoroughly with a wire brush. Cover your bases. If the battery cables have repair ends on them, take them apart as well. If you cant' get shiny copper on the cable then cut the end off and strip a new bit to see if it's any better.

 

[used red MN]

I echo the checks for the battery cable connections. All though your description doesn’t necessarily support this due to volt meter readings but I am questioning this. Was a volt meter installed during the 12 volt conversion? If so does it always read the battery voltage? If so that is connected incorrectly and is drawing down your battery. It should connect to the ignition side of the key switch so it is only energized when the key is on. The statement that a battery will discharge overtime is true. Many batteries in tractors that have minimal electrical equipment set 2-4 months or more and still start. However, one wire alternators are known to have parasitic draws. To check this disconnect the ground battery cable, connect a 12 volt test light with an incandescent bulb (not a LED) between the terminal and the battery post, if that bulb lights up then you have a draw somewhere. Disconnect the wire from the alternator and see if the light goes out. If it does the alternator has a parasitic draw.

 

[jackofalltrades]

Thank you all, you suggestions were all well appreciated and helpful.
I was able to determine that both starter and solenoid were good, and as most had suggested bad connections were the main culprit. I had clean the posts a degree beforehand, but after advise I clean them more thoroughly and other connections as well. Now starts up just fine,... but will not stay running.

Odd how quickly the problem arose it had only been sitting (outside) 3-4 (rainy) days.

So I was next on to my original intended goal of trying to get it to run well when going up hill.

I was wanting to see if I could adjust timing at the distributor to give better performance going up hills.Now it starts easily, then when I think it is running ok, it dies before I am able to walk over to the distributor. Figuring it must be fuel related, I reset carburetor to the recommended staring specs,but it does not seem to have helped … if anything it seems may have aggravated things.

Any continued assistance most appreciated!

 

[used red MN]

I suggest you test your fuel delivery to the carb. Get a pint jar, something that will measure a pint. Open the carb bowl drain and let it drain about 5 seconds. This lets the fuel that is held in the carb bowl drain so the test is not thrown off. Then begin catching the fuel for a timed two minutes. Should fill the pint measure in those two minutes. If it does not run enough fuel out of the carb drain to fill it recheck it at the line disconnected from the carb. Here you can immediately start the test on this line. If it has good flow there it is possible that the fitting that the fuel line connects that screws into the carb has a fine screen on it that can plug. Pull it out and check it. Some models have them and some don't. If the flow is not good enough out of the line you have to figure out where it is getting blocked. It may be the screen on the outlet to the sediment bowl in the tank. Take a good flashlight and look in the bottom of the tank to check for an abnormal amount of debris in the gas The 2 minutes for a pint calculates to be 3:75 gph, this is what your tractor consumed when tested under full load. This will assure you have adequate fuel to operate the tractor under full load. You will probably never do this unless you participate in a plow day.

 

[jackofalltrades]

I suggest you test your fuel delivery to the carb. Get a pint jar, something that will measure a pint. Open the carb bowl drain and let it drain about 5 seconds. This lets the fuel that is held in the carb bowl drain so the test is not thrown off. Then begin catching the fuel for a timed two minutes. Should fill the pint measure in those two minutes. If it does not run enough fuel out of the carb drain to fill it recheck it at the line disconnected from the carb. Here you can immediately start the test on this line. If it has good flow there it is possible that the fitting that the fuel line connects that screws into the carb has a fine screen on it that can plug. Pull it out and check it. Some models have them and some don't. If the flow is not good enough out of the line you have to figure out where it is getting blocked. It may be the screen on the outlet to the sediment bowl in the tank. Take a good flashlight and look in the bottom of the tank to check for an abnormal amount of debris in the gas The 2 minutes for a pint calculates to be 3:75 gph, this is what your tractor consumed when tested under full load. This will assure you have adequate fuel to operate the tractor under full load. You will probably never do this unless you participate in a plow day.

Thanks for the advise! I tried it out and only had 4 oz. of liquid in the jar after the two minute had passed. I could not see over by the fuel cock, but the interior of the tank looked good, shiny metal, no rust etc., but there was some notable debris here and there in the bottom.

I attempted to remove the fuel cock to drain and clean the tank, but it is not budging, it seems it will break off before it starts to come loose.

Only other thing I could think of would be to shoot some compressed air up through the fuel cock to attempt to dislodge debris.... of course that would only be a temporary fix.

Any better ideas?

 

[showcrop]

Thanks for the advise! I tried it out and only had 4 oz. of liquid in the jar after the two minute had passed. I could not see over by the fuel cock, but the interior of the tank looked good, shiny metal, no rust etc., but there was some notable debris here and there in the bottom.

I attempted to remove the fuel cock to drain and clean the tank, but it is not budging, it seems it will break off before it starts to come loose.

Only other thing I could think of would be to shoot some compressed air up through the fuel cock to attempt to dislodge debris.... of course that would only be a temporary fix.

Any better ideas?

I have had good success cleaning a lot of debris from tanks by siphoning.