Major problem

Axell

Member
Location
Scandinavia
Think I have bought myself a series of problems with this super major.
Now it wont start.
A couple of days ago The negative terminal of one of the batteries suddenly smoked and melted a bit when I shut down the tractor. It started fine after recharging. The plus terminal had come too close to the tank.
Now a couple of days later it will not crank. The solenoid clicks when I push the starting lever and also when bridging the two terminals on the starter or when hooking up a new and good battery directly to the starter.

The light are still working apart from right rear light.

Any other way to test the starter?

Does this sound like the solenoid is ok and it is the starter has fried?

Is there a guide somewhere to repair a starter motor if it is possible to repair?

Btw, the engine is not stuck. I can turn the fan?

One odd thing is that when testing with a multimeter on the two terminals in the switch above the starter(2 red wires) it shows 12,6v. Is that ok?


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This post was edited by Axell on 02/06/2023 at 01:15 pm.
 
Clean all the cable contacts good , test battery . Make sure cable is grounded to frame .

I cant see to well blowing up photos but the cable doesnt look that healthy in photo ,time for heavy duty replacement . Make sure the
cables are rated for and battery is rated for your tractor.
 
Excellent advice from Dennis there. Can you post pics of the rest of the electrical system? Is it still generator/- Ground?

Don't think there should be voltage on the one side of switch that goes to the solenoid mounted by the battery, maybe a bad solenoid. Unhook the switch and test if see if it is working. The starter lever engages the starter drive and then the switch, the switch engages the solenoid and it connects Battery to starter to start. I think it goes something like that. You mentioned a terminal came close to the tank, just curious is it a side post battery?

I would be disconnecting the battery when not running it.

This post was edited by JLMac on 02/06/2023 at 05:02 pm.
 
There are two batteries. Dont know why the former owner chose this setup. It means more connections which can create problems.


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Anyway, I tried hooking up a battery with jumper cables directly to the motor and it spun. Just couldnt spin when engage to the motor. Guess those cables has too much resistance. I cleaned several of the connections a bit and hooked a charger with 75 amp boost. And the tractor started. What is odd is the I could start it easily with the old batteries. Have done it several times. An intermittent connection.
But what a relief. The engine start very easy. One turn. And the throttle just on idle and here it is zero celsius.

The generator seems to work. The battery says 14.4v when running and 12.6v when everything turned off. Or am I wrong?
 
Two batteries is good, more cranking amps. But you have high maintenance cables there. I would install a new ground cable, it should connect to the transmission to bell housing bolt down by the frame. They are great cold weather starting tractors.
 
Original configuration for the Majors was two six volt batteries,(and they were big) connected in series. A bit of advise. Don't start that
thing from the ground. In warm weather, they will start quicker than you can jump. If you have to, make darn sure it is in neutral. We
don't need to loose any Major enthusiasts.
 
When those tractors and others were designed and built there were no 12 volt batteries in use and still when theu started to be avaiable they did not have enough power for the big jobs. My late John Deere A's had the same 6 volt battery set up for 12 volts. I think the first 12 volt batterys in cars started in 1954 and most did not go to 12 volt untill 1955 and I know Majors were built before then.
 
The original Major in 1952 came with a single 12v battery that filled the space behind the fire wall and was a very heavy lump to move. Power Majors had two large 6 volt batteries linked to give 12 volts, simply because this was lighter and easier to handle. Nuffield tractors in the late 1940's had a wooden cased 12 volt battery. We changed to 12 volt batteries in cars and trucks in the late 1930's but the US hung on to 6 volt electrics far longer.
 

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