a3910 wires

[r1952]

I bought a 3910 ,nice tractor . I have been on lots of sites and see a lot of the same problems. I'm not a mechanic nor an electrician .what I would like to know is what makes inteligent people (aka) previous owners take wires around the ignition and instrument panel that I assume worked for years and cut , unhook things and tear the hell out of a wiring harness . Isn't there a componet in the electrical system that goes bad and causes people to do this ? Please help me . thanks ray

 

[Harry in Ky]

There are probably as many answers to that question as there are wires to cut. One must understand that the Ford 3000 (on which your tractor was based) had a very simple electrical system by comparison. A key switch, a light switch, some warning lights, gauges, and a generator/regulator package. Two inline fuses, one for lights, one for the instruments. That's pretty much it. The 3600 which came next was only slightly more complex, but with the 3x10 series the system began to expand. More components, more circuits, more things to go wrong. Farmer Jones wasn't about to pay someone to solve his problems, so he just employed the snip snip here, snip snip there principle until he got what he wanted working working. In many cases he didn't have an accurate wiring diagram, (couldn't read or understand it anyway) so this was/is the result. I admit I'm as guilty as anyone, and no doubt you will be too before you're done.

 

[TractorTech]

Agree with Harry in Ky about complexity of 3910 wiring, but also, Ford tended to give several schematics for the same tractor that are not the easiest to read.

But, I have stood with very experienced mechanics that were lacking in electrical trouble shooting or able to read a schematic. One mechanic that I managed coined the term ‘swapnostics‘ for the swap parts until the problem goes away method.

Simple DC electrical theory is not understood by many able mechanics which ends in pocking around with a simple 12vdc probe and hacking of a good harness.