1250 Mystery

[wj-ihc]

My dad was trying to get a 1250 that we acquired running a while back and was having some electrical problems. It kept wanting to ground between the throttle cable and the frame, where the cable runs though a hole in the steering column. When he'd hit the key, sparks would fly. If I remember right, he had the battery cables off and cleaned the ends, had the wires off the starter and cleaned them, and he had the ground cable for the engine off. Part of the time when he hits the key nothing will happen. We have tried different solenoids. Where would be the next good place to start looking for issues? Could bad motor mounts cause any problems? Hour meter? Other??

[Matt G.]

I'd start by looking for a short circuit if it's trying to ground through the control cables.

[R Bedell]

Simply run a 4GA ground cable from the Motor Block to the Frame.

[wj-ihc]

Originally Posted by R Bedell

Simply run a 4GA ground cable from the Motor Block to the Frame.

I'm pretty sure it already has a heavy ground cable from the engine to the frame. I believe it wraps around the front of the engine and bolts around the pivot for the front axle.

[R Bedell]

I believe it wraps around the front of the engine and bolts around the pivot for the front axle.

I don't understand this...!!

[wj-ihc]

Originally Posted by R Bedell

I don't understand this...!!

I believe there is a ground cable that bolts to the right side of the engine somewhere around the starter, and it then runs to the right front of the engine and bolts to the support that the front axle is eventually pinned to. If there is not already a wire in this location, then dad must have rigged one up there in an attempt to ground the engine. Hope that clarifies it a bit. lol

[darkminion_17]

Will it start when the sparks are a flyin"?
I had a similar problem and I traced it to a cut starter wire rubbing against the drive shaft.That was on a 123,but the wiring is routed differently on that.

[RChristensen]

Any time it tries to ground through the throttle cable on a quieline you do not have a good ground from the engine to the frame. The early Quietlines had a ground from the side of the engine by the starter and grounded on the bolt holding the front grill to the frame. The later Quietlines had a ground from the rear of the engine and grounded to the frame under the metal gas tank heat shield where it mounts to the frame.

The intermitten starter problem is normally caused by a bad PTO switch. If you wiggle the PTO switch while engaging the starter it will usually make contact and start.

[wj-ihc]

Originally Posted by RChristensen

Any time it tries to ground through the throttle cable on a quieline you do not have a good ground from the engine to the frame. The early Quietlines had a ground from the side of the engine by the starter and grounded on the bolt holding the front grill to the frame. The later Quietlines had a ground from the rear of the engine and grounded to the frame under the metal gas tank heat shield where it mounts to the frame.

The intermitten starter problem is normally caused by a bad PTO switch. If you wiggle the PTO switch while engaging the starter it will usually make contact and start.

That is the cable I was trying to describe. It should be good to go. If I remember right, it was very random, occasionally it would roll over, then be dead. I suppose I will just have to start tracing wires and checking continuity. Maybe make a few jumper wire to bypass switches. Thanks for the info guys.

[Mlamar]

My ground runs from the engine starter bolt to the closest bolt holding the grill to the frame.