Kubota G1800 electrical problem

[patwguinness]

Gentlemen;

This is my first time to post and I think I have a doozy of a problem for you.

I was performing routine maintainance on my Kubota G1800 (purchased in 1992); changing belts, fluids, and filters, etc. After I finished, I closed the hood and was putting tools away. When I turned around there was black smoke coming out from under the hood. I threw the hood open as fast as I could and found that the plastic covering on the throttle cable was on fire and the metal part of the cable was bright orange. By the time I got the flame put out, the throttle cable had burned completely in two.

I checked all the wiring from the battery, back and under the dash, to see if there was any bare wires or any obvious shorting, and I couldn't find anything. I changed the 2 PTO belts at the front of the tractor in front of the battery, so I did have the battery out. I also changed one of the battery clamps. And that's the only electrical thing I did.

I don't know what's causing the problem, but I know where part of it is showing up. When I close the hood and when the hood comes in contact with the tractor frame, you can see an electrical spark. And obviously, that's not supposed to happen! Where the hood hinges to the frame, it's attached with a nut, a metal washer, and a rubber washer on each side. Does that rubber washer work as some kind of an insulator and maybe I put them on wrong?

Anyway, if anyone has had this problem before, and can tell me how to fix it, it sure would be helpful! Thanks, guys!

 

[ozzie tractor]

i had a similar thing years ago to, so bear with me because my memory is a bit rusty. i think it was a g5200, which had the battery under the dash, what happened to it was when the bonnet shut it pushed the deck engage cable, which had lost a fair amount of its plastic coating, onto the battery terminal, or something like that. (like i said, memory of exactly what happend is hazy). but when you opened the bonnet it all looked good. this destroyed the deck cable, it went up in a lovely shower of sparks i can tell you. just check this, because if the deck cable is being pushed onto the battery, it may be running electricity up to the dash, now if the dash is not earthing very well to the chassis, it will find an earth, which may well be staright through the throttle cable. this also could explain the sparkes when the hood is shut. the hood may be suppling an earth also.