New Holland TC 18 intermittent clicking when starting

[mr2step]

Hey all. I thought I would post this thread so that it helps others. I have a 10 yr old NH TC 18 tractor that will give me intermittent starting issues. It will work perfectly one day then I park it in garage and need it the next day and when I go to start it, I get a loud click and that's it. I was frustrated. However, here is what I found to be the problems and hope it helps others. It appears to be either an electrical short OR a PTO switch short. What I did was disconnect each of the battery terminals and look the wires themselves and the screws and holders. They were getting rusty, though they were still tight. I then looked at the negative terminal (black) where it attaches to the tractor itself and did the same thing. Now, leave the negative side unattached as you move to the positive side.Again, there was some slight rust between the contacts so again I took sandpaper and lightly rubbed the rust off until new metal was showing. I did the same thing on the positive side where it connects to the starter solenoid. It's VERY IMPORTANT to leave the black side un attached otherwise you might get shocked trying to unscrew the nuts on the solenoid if using a ratchet. This side showed signs of aging too. I reattached all the wires to the appropriate places and voila! Tractor started right up! So, if you ever get a clicking and the dashboard lights come on, THAT is the first place to check.

 

[Down South]

Good deal
Rust is good, its usually corrosion (white/green) since its cleaned apply a heavy coating of grease.
This prevents the oxygen and hydrogen from corroding the terminals.
Doesn't hurt on the sol/tractor end either.

DS

 

[Luremaker]

Thanks for the tip. I had a similar problem with my 2003 TC18 a while back. I too cleaned the wire connections and greased them but unfortunately I needed a new battery.