Jubilee won't crank

[Brown Co. guy]

I was planning on working up the garden, but couldn't get even a groan out of the Jubilee (12v conversion). The guy at the parts store said the old battery tested OK, and I can get the starter/engine to turn over if I connect the battery directly to the starter. The starter switch is making contact, so I thought it must be the solenoid. Got a new solenoid, but no luck. Have voltage at the solenoid, but it is clearly not closing the contacts to the starter cable. I'm not real sharp on this electrical stuff, so I figure I must be missing something, or working off a bad assumption. Any ideas? Thanks,

 

[8nfeller]

had siminar issue and it was the battery ground cable. I cleaned all the conections and it started right up

Doug

 

[Bruce (VA)]

There are two schools of thought when it comes to getting a non-running tractor to start. One way is to just start replacing every part you can get to until it starts or you run out of money. The other way is to take a step-by-step approach to solving the problem, working from most likely to least likely. The trick to fixing these tractors (or trouble shooting any piece of equipment) is to be systematic about it. You need to isolate the problem step by step and work from most likely to least likely. You have solved half the problem by determining that the battery is good & starter is good by jumping directly to it. You were on the right track, but you stopped the analysis to quick.

You have voltage at the starter, but not enough current.

What's between the battery & the starter?

Two posts, two cables & two connections.

Clean the posts & terminals at the battery & the connections at the block & the starter. If that doesn't work, replace the cables.
50 Tips

 

[trucker 40]

A test light really helps when working on something electrical.Get a test light,go from connection to connection until you find where it doesnt light up.
In this case,since you have fire to the solenoid,it could be the wire from the starter switch that goes to the solenoid,or maybe the starter switch.If you put your test light on the solenoid connection for the wire from the starter switch,push the button,and it doesnt light the test light,will tell you that is where to look.If it does light the test light it means for some reason its either not getting a connection at the solenoid,or it could be a bad solenoid.

 

[R Geiger]

make sure you have the correct solenoid for your tractor. They make different types. 8Ns is the type that you ground the small terminal. Other types require power to small terminal.

 

[lha]

Just replaced cables on mine,and turns lots faster,and with more "authority"---lha

 

[Caryc]

Don't make the mistake of thinking that a regular Ford solenoid will work on your tractor. A car solenoid won't work.

I had starting problems on mine. A friend happened to be looking at the starter when I tried to crank it. He saw a small arc at the battery cable terminal.

So, I thought if I was going to remove it and clean up all the connections, I might just as well go ahead and replace the solenoid with a new one. I went to Nappa and set it down on the counter and the guy said, "Ford solenoid right?". So that's what I got. I took it home and installed it and no matter how I hooked it up it wouldn't work.

I put the old (cleaned up one) back on and it fired right up. I've since acquired the correct replacement solenoid for a spare.

 

[Bob]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but IIRC, you need the same "oddball" starter solenoid used on 8N's.

Is that what they sold you?

<img src = "http://www.gondtc.com/~blweltin/Bob/8NSolenoid.gif">

 

[Caryc]

(quoted from post at 11:03:20 05/31/10) Correct me if I'm wrong here, but IIRC, you need the same "oddball" starter solenoid used on 8N's.

Is that what they sold you?

I had been told by someone that a solenoid is a solenoid and that a regular Ford car solenoid would work so that's what they sold me. I didn't even tell them that it was for an 8N. By the way I'm talking about a 12 volt system here if it makes any difference.

Is that Napa part number the one that I should have gotten?

What they sold me was Standard Tru-Tech SS588T

 

[Bob]

Yeah, it IS the same as a Ford car starter solenoid... from about 1953, NOT the same as a Ford car solenoid from the more modern era.

See if you can con them into exchanging the SS558 for an SS559, which has the CORRECT internal connections for the one-terminal shorts-to-ground tranny-top starter switch your tractor has.

It ain't gonna work with the one you have!