TN70 New Holland ????

[fieldman12]

My tractor will occasionally not start up. I turn the key and nothing happens. It will sometimes later start just fine after sitting. Is it the starter, ignition, or one of the safty switches on the tractor? I also noticed my fuel gauge will sometimes not work untill I lightly tap on the panel. Has anyone else had these problems? I have not called my dealer or really looked into it myself yet. i just wondered if anyone else had seen this with their tractor.

 

[bgott]

Do any of your dash lights come on when you cut on the key?

 

[fieldman12]

I don't remember any dash lights coming on that I can think of.

 

[jinman]

Fieldman, this sounds like the classic dirty battery cable connection when you describe the starting issue, but tapping the dash to make the fuel light work sounds like a loose connection. Intermittent problems are the nightmare of all troubleshooters. Yours sounds like a loose connection, plug, or dirty terminals. Cleaning the terminals is pretty easy and could eliminate that from the equation. I'd do that first, and if the problem comes back, start jiggling wires to see if I could reproduce the problem. Optionally, of course, you could take it to your dealer. But, if they don't find the problem, you are right back where you are now. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[MikePA]

I agree with jinman on the battery cable as the cause for the failure to start. Regarding the fuel gauge...Last year I was operating my TC25D in some very dusty conditions and the dust worked its way behind the dash panel. The dash lights quit working. I removed the screws that hold the instrument panel in, pulled the panel out enough to see a plethora of dust bunnies (didn't disconnect anything) then blew the dust off everything. Dash lights started working again. Might be something to try.

 

[jinman]

I got my "thinking cap" working a little better and I have one thing to add about your fuel gage. I used to build aircraft instruments (both servo-driven and meter movements). Sometimes trash or dust could get into a meter movement and cause it to stick. When we were aligning the meters, we would roll a screwdriver handle lightly over the edge of the meter face enough to slightly vibrate the movement and ensure the best alignment. It could well be that your fuel gage problem is totally unrelated to the starting problem. It just may be a sticky meter movement.