Help - 1872 won't start and might be eating batteries

[maddog784]

Something is telling me you don't have a good ground. If you have some extra heavy wire (8- or 6- awg) you can ground directly from the battery to the engine. If this gets it cranking normally, it would tell you that between your engine and your battery that the one of the numerous connections (engine to engine mounting plate to frame to battery box to battery) is not clean. If you can clean some of these points, you may be able to fix your problem. Di-electric grease may also be of benefit here. Also, if you've done any starter work and twisted the bolt on the back of the starter, it will go to ground and give you troubles. Take the back end of the starter off and re-align the bolt to fix that problem. Just fixed this problem over the weekend on one of mine.

Good Luck!

[ol'George]

If it were mine,
I'd use a good set of jumpers( heavy gauge) from a vehicle battery, paying attention to polarity, put a + lead on the starter post.
Then touch the neg jumper to the starter body, if it cranks properly you have electrical connection problems etc.
If it don't crank properly, you have either a starter problem or mechanical engine problem.
it is that simple.

[LiamD]

A little late and just a question. This would have nothing to do with your voltage issue. Are you sure the cylinders aren't full of fuel. If it ran when you first got it and then the issue started ( no pun intended) I would pull the spark plugs and see if it turns over freely and without any clunks.
Worth a try, I've had it happen with ore that a couple CC's

Mike

[jnichols07]

The beast lives. Turns out I had three problems, two I have solved. One I am working on. Problems 1 and 2 were bad gas and a junked carb. I got rid of the old gas, got some new gas and put some Startron in with it, and removed & cleaned the carb. Started right up with a jump. I am still having electrical problems.

Do you know if the battery meter on the dash should be pulling volts even with the key off? If the answer is no, then that's my problem.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by jnichols07

Do you know if the battery meter on the dash should be pulling volts even with the key off? If the answer is no, then that's my problem.

Although a bad ammeter will cause issues, just because it doesn't return the needle to center when it is off doesn't mean that it's bad. (Yes, it should read 0 or be in the center, when the key is off.) If the meter was bad, then nothing would work as battery voltage is fed to the key through it. If you are having electrical problems, the best way to find them is with a DVOM. The wiring diagram for your machine will be in the Chassis Service manual. You need to either test and find the problem, or be more specific on the problems you are having so we can offer assistance on testing procedures.

[jnichols07]

So the problem I have is that my battery isn't holding a charge. I initially replaced the battery, the battery cables, and ran a new wire from the solenoid to the starter motor. Still losing volts when it's off though. (I have installed a battery switch as a temporary fix and that seems to be keeping the battery from running out of power overnight).

Last night, I hooked a test light to the negative of the battery and put the probe on the ammeter and the light came on. I tested for volts with one end of the probe on the battery and the other on the positive side of the ammeter. It read 10 volts, which is what the battery was at. This was with the tractor off and the key out.

I'm sure i have a wiring problem or a ground short somewhere, I just don't know where. I'm thinking the issue would be with the key, but this ammeter thing seems promising. I can't see why it would pull current with the key out and engine off.

Also, the ammeter seems broken. It stays at zero even though I know the battery charges. (If I jump start the tractor and run it for a while and then test the battery it gets back to 12-13v pretty quick). The ammeter stays in the middle the whole time.

I do plan to check the ammeter wiring, but if it's normal for it to be hot even with the tractor off, it might just be another rabbit hole. Regardless, I'm just happy to have it running just in time to start mowing.

Any ideas or thoughts are appreciated.

[R Bedell]

it's normal for it to be hot even with the tractor off,

YES.

Since the Ignition Switch has to ground the "kill wire" from the engine to stop it, I would look at that Switch first.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by jnichols07

but if it's normal for it to be hot even with the tractor off,

I know Roland just said it, but I'll say it also. YES, that is normal.

I too agree the problem is more than likely in the key switch.


As a test, disconnect the negative batter terminal. Install a test light between the negative cable and the negative battery terminal. Key off, the light should be out. If it is on, then you have some sort of parasitic draw. Using this set-up unplug things until you find the system that has the short. NOTE: If you unplug the ignition switch and the light goes out, it does not necessarily mean the switch is bad, it just means that the problem is in a circuit that feeds off the switch. To test the switch itself, use a DVOM. Same with all components, (PTO switch, safety switches, ect.)