Ford model 1920 starts run fine then wont start just clicks.

   / Ford model 1920 starts run fine then wont start just clicks. #1  

fishing1

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Joined
Apr 28, 2013
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2
Location
Ohio
Tractor
Ford model 1920
Help.

I have a Ford model 1920 tractor it will start and run fine. Then out if the blue wont start. It will click and lights come on but wont start. This has been going on for some time so I had a new starter/solenoid put on same thing it'll start 10 times in a row then click. Then had a new ignition switch put on same thing starts and runs fine then click. Alternator has been rebuilt, battery is fine. I'm clueless. Please help while I still have some hair left.

Thank you!!!!!
 
   / Ford model 1920 starts run fine then wont start just clicks. #2  
Have checked battery cable terminals including where ground cable attaches to tractor? Have you checked batt. voltage?
 
   / Ford model 1920 starts run fine then wont start just clicks.
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Have checked battery cable terminals including where ground cable attaches to tractor? Have you checked batt. voltage?


Hi, I have not checked either but i will certainly do that.

Thanks and I'll let you know the outcome.

Thank you!!
 
   / Ford model 1920 starts run fine then wont start just clicks. #4  
Hi, I have not checked either but i will certainly do that.

Thanks and I'll let you know the outcome.

Thank you!!

That is exactly what I would suggest also. The ground strap is often overlooked.
 
   / Ford model 1920 starts run fine then wont start just clicks. #5  
My 1920 was having similar problems. I replaced battery with new 'marine" Everstart and did not solve the problem. I then replaced the original starter with one I bought on eBay (import) and had the original starter rebuilt at local shop for 'backup'. The import worked great until the solenoid cable connection started throwing sparks. Removed import and installed original that had been rebuilt. Took import to starter shop and they repaired the cable connection. Meanwhile, the rebuilt original starter worked for a few weeks and then started having same issue again, clicking but not starting. Removed rebuilt original and reinstalled repaired import. Repaired import starter still in service for about 6 months. Meanwhile, original starter checked out 'good' at starter shop??? Starter shop said original starter is much more sensitive to low starter voltage than import and tractor wiring loses may be dropping voltage below minimum to fire original starter. Original starter will not fire with any less than 12V. Right now, I am keeping the import on the tractor to postpone chasing down the voltage drop problem. I had wiring problems in the dash repaired last year, caused by varmints chewing on the wiring harness, which is a likely source of voltage loss. Fortunately, the starter change-out is a simple 10 minute job on the 1920!
 
   / Ford model 1920 starts run fine then wont start just clicks. #6  
Originally Posted by Harry in Ky
The multiple starter issues/swaps indicate to me you probably don't really have a starter problem at all. Most likely it's insufficient cranking signal from the start switch. I've seen this quite often on tractors with a few years on them, and it's a simple fix. Pick up a Bosch type relay at any parts house(preferably one with the mounting tab with a hole in it) and find a convenient place to mount it where it's out of the way and semi protected but still near the starter. Use at least a 14 gauge wire and run a wire from the battery positive cable on the starter post through the relay to the start terminal on the starter solenoid. Then use the signal wire from start switch to power the relay. This way the 9.10, or 11 volts the safety start circuit provides will merely have to energize the relay(which only requires about 9 volts). You get full battery voltage to the start terminal and it will most likely be the last of your starter swapping.
 
   / Ford model 1920 starts run fine then wont start just clicks. #7  
check the safety switches too....
 
   / Ford model 1920 starts run fine then wont start just clicks. #8  
Brother, I feel your pain... I too have a 1920 and it has done exactly the same thing to me twice now. Each time it was due to corrosion in the battery terminal connectors. The wire-brush terminal cleaners won't fix this; the corrosion layer is hard and has to be filed off. Take a half-round or rattail file and work the inside of the cable connector until it is bright, then polish with emery cloth; then use the flat side to work the battery terminal post until it is bright all the way around, top to bottom, and then polish it too. Do this on both pos and neg terminals. Reconnect and see what happens.

Symptoms: Turn on headlights, have someone watch while you turn key to start position and then back to off. If headlights are bright, go dim in "start" and then go bright again in "off" - you probably have terminal resistance. (Headlights are bright because there is 12V and they only need a few amps; but the starter motor pulls 300+ amps, so the lights dim and the motor won't turn, because the corrosion is choking off the current.)

Diagnosis: Disconnect battery cable, test continuity with voltmeter, one probe at solenoid connection (or frame ground for the ground cable) and the other touching the inside of the connector. Should be 0.5 ohms no matter where you touch the inside of the connector. Corrosion will increase resistance and you will see this right away in the voltmeter readings.

Had exactly this problem yesterday, cleaned off battery terminals with emery cloth and wire brush, no luck. Went at it with files this morning, reconnected and voila! She starts!
 
   / Ford model 1920 starts run fine then wont start just clicks. #9  
My 1920 was having similar problems. I replaced battery with new 'marine" Everstart and did not solve the problem. I then replaced the original starter with one I bought on eBay (import) and had the original starter rebuilt at local shop for 'backup'. The import worked great until the solenoid cable connection started throwing sparks. Removed import and installed original that had been rebuilt. Took import to starter shop and they repaired the cable connection. Meanwhile, the rebuilt original starter worked for a few weeks and then started having same issue again, clicking but not starting. Removed rebuilt original and reinstalled repaired import. Repaired import starter still in service for about 6 months. Meanwhile, original starter checked out 'good' at starter shop??? Starter shop said original starter is much more sensitive to low starter voltage than import and tractor wiring loses may be dropping voltage below minimum to fire original starter. Original starter will not fire with any less than 12V. Right now, I am keeping the import on the tractor to postpone chasing down the voltage drop problem. I had wiring problems in the dash repaired last year, caused by varmints chewing on the wiring harness, which is a likely source of voltage loss. Fortunately, the starter change-out is a simple 10 minute job on the 1920!

This sounds like classic symptoms of the battery terminal-connector corrosion problem. If you check voltages they will look fine, until you try starting, then they drop; because the corrosion chokes off the current. File and polish the terminals and the connectors until they are bright, and see if that fixes the problem. If not, maybe your battery cables are bad and need replacing. Starter is about the last thing that should go bad!
 
   / Ford model 1920 starts run fine then wont start just clicks. #10  
UPDATE: I am in my 5th week of a new work-around for my starter problems. Before mounting the tractor, I grab the main battery cable near the starter connection and slightly bend it in multiple directions which seems to 'seat' the cable connection (under the rubber boot) at the screwed terminal better. Maybe some type of corrosion build-up or maybe where the cable terminates inside the cable terminal. Don't know for sure by I plan to continue this practice to hopefully avoid changing out the starter again.
 
 
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