New to me 446 Case

[550Doug]

I recently picked up a Case 446 garden tractor without a mower, and it has the Onan B43M engine. The previous owner has passed away so I'm asking my questions here.
It runs great and I like the high clearance from the large rear tires. It does freewheel going down slopes but at the bottom of the slope the engine dies and won't start. I found that it blows a 20 amp fuse from the ammeter to the battery side of the solenoid. So I replace the fuse and it fires right back up. I also notice that the ammeter will read around 15 amps when the engine is at half or 2/3 throttle. So it looks to be overcharging at 20 amps when freewheeling. I suspect that the voltage regulator is non standard as it does not appear in a parts manual.
So what is going on with blowing a fuse when freewheeling?

I will also post this in the Tractor Talk forum.

This post was edited by 550Doug on 09/30/2022 at 04:27 pm.

 

[DoubleO7]

Sounds like an early model if it freewheels on slopes.
You might want to upgrade with a holding valve or a travel control valve.
Later models had them.

 

[wore out]

Many years ago a friend took his older, smaller CASE LGT to his lake house and found out about the downhill thing the hard way when it took off down the slope and into the lake!

 

[kencombs]

The free wheeling issue can be controlled fairly easily. The keys are engine speed and the retard position of the lever. Keep the engine speed near full throttle and move the lever toward reverse, past neutral into the retard area when going downhill and the tractor momentum starts to overrun the desired speed. It works and is covered in the owners manual. But not everyone has a manual nor reads it. Or swap in a later valve with the builtin hold function. I've had both and don't really see a big issue.

 

[kencombs]

The charging issue is not related to freewheeling. Most important electrical issues on the Case is grounding at the regulator and the ignition switch with associated connector. It carries all the load and charging current. Often wear out and / or loose connection due to overheated pins/sockets.

 

[kencombs]

Forgot to add, the most common cause of blowing fuses is the wire to the headlights, as it often gets worn and pinched. Overcharging will not blow the fuse as it doesn't protect the alternator or regulator output.

 

[kevinstuff]

Look close at wires around engine , and headlight The 3 wires coming out of the bottom of Left hand fan shroud , these are the leads to the alternator , inspect them closely .When my 446 freewheels , I push the Lift Handel forward which is down for attachments So depends what kind of attachment

You have on , to use it that way . You most likely have wires shorting out on frame somewhere. Especially going down hill

 

[Ande]

M9 holding valve, Barneveld Impl.

 

[Ande]

You will do well with this one, I think I have 10