F/NH 1715 starter safety relay question

[Kosmo]

Hi all,

Continuing the reassembly of my 1715 after a crazy few months with clutch replacement and came to the instrument panel wiring harness and noticed that a blue connector was just hanging loose. Odd thing was it had a jumper wire connected to one of the contacts but just hanging loose on the other end. I apparently didn't notice it when disassembling as I only marked connections I removed. Anyway, after some investigating of the wiring diagram, I've identified it as the starter safety relay socket and the relay itself seems to have been removed from the instrument panel bracket. Since I'm no electronics expert and my ability to follow an electronic diagram accurately is not guaranteed, my question is this. Is this safety relay required for engine starting or will it just not prevent an engine start if the clutch is not pressed or the shifter not in neutral. Bottom line is that jumper that has been jerry rigged necessary? Has it been starting fine since I owned it with the jumper disconnected or was one end most likely knocked out during the disassembly process. I'm assuming, since the connected end of the jumper goes to the keyed ignition switch, the other end was meant to attach to the starter pin of the socket. I'd appreciate any knowledge on this issue. Thanks!

 

[Kosmo]

Hi all,

Continuing the reassembly of my 1715 after a crazy few months with clutch replacement and came to the instrument panel wiring harness and noticed that a blue connector was just hanging loose. Odd thing was it had a jumper wire connected to one of the contacts but just hanging loose on the other end. I apparently didn't notice it when disassembling as I only marked connections I removed. Anyway, after some investigating of the wiring diagram, I've identified it as the starter safety relay socket and the relay itself seems to have been removed from the instrument panel bracket. Since I'm no electronics expert and my ability to follow an electronic diagram accurately is not guaranteed, my question is this. Is this safety relay required for engine starting or will it just not prevent an engine start if the clutch is not pressed or the shifter not in neutral. Bottom line is that jumper that has been jerry rigged necessary? Has it been starting fine since I owned it with the jumper disconnected or was one end most likely knocked out during the disassembly process. I'm assuming, since the connected end of the jumper goes to the keyed ignition switch, the other end was meant to attach to the starter pin of the socket. I'd appreciate any knowledge on this issue. Thanks!

No takers? OK, here's a picture. They sometimes drum up some interest.

 

[kirkawilson]

My NH 1920 (circa 1998) has a neutral safety switch that is a mechanical switch on the shifter that prevents starting with the tractor in gear. Don't know if it's the same switch as your starter safety relay but if so, the switch was likely bypassed because the neutral safety switches are problematic on our tractors as reported by many folks. In fact, my entire wiring harness has been problematic due to a "Tommy Tweaker" pervious owner and rodents chewing the wires since I owned it. My unsafe final fix for starting was to bypass the harness completely and 'hot wire' a push button to the starter solenoid. Sounds like you are not to that point yet but if your tractor starts fine after reassembly, I would not change any wiring and keep the jumper wire in place. The loose end was most likely connected to another terminal wire in the connector. This likely bypasses both the clutch and gearshift safety switches which means your tractor will start in gear so be careful.

 

[Sprinklerman]

I have to deal with something similar , my 1925 wont start . The starter wont engage . I have to try and find all the safety switches and bypass them one by one to see if thats the problem . I need to jump the starter to see if thats the problem . I get all the lights on the dash . The lights dont even draw down when I turn the key to the starter position .

 

[Kosmo]

My NH 1920 (circa 1998) has a neutral safety switch that is a mechanical switch on the shifter that prevents starting with the tractor in gear. Don't know if it's the same switch as your starter safety relay but if so, the switch was likely bypassed because the neutral safety switches are problematic on our tractors as reported by many folks. In fact, my entire wiring harness has been problematic due to a "Tommy Tweaker" pervious owner and rodents chewing the wires since I owned it. My unsafe final fix for starting was to bypass the harness completely and 'hot wire' a push button to the starter solenoid. Sounds like you are not to that point yet but if your tractor starts fine after reassembly, I would not change any wiring and keep the jumper wire in place. The loose end was most likely connected to another terminal wire in the connector. This likely bypasses both the clutch and gearshift safety switches which means your tractor will start in gear so be careful.

Yo Kirk,

Thanks so much for the reply. Sounds like good info and I'll keep it in mind if problems arise on the startup attempt which I hope I can get back to in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Qapla]

I have to deal with something similar , my 1925 wont start . The starter wont engage . I have to try and find all the safety switches and bypass them one by one to see if thats the problem . I need to jump the starter to see if thats the problem . I get all the lights on the dash . The lights dont even draw down when I turn the key to the starter position .

Before you look for all those switches to bypass them, make sure they really do not work. Hook a volt meter up to the starter line that engages the starter and try to start it - even if you remove the wire from the starter so it won't actually try to start - check to see if you have voltage. If you do, instead of bypassing all the safety switches, just use the start wire to engage an after market relay that uses a wire directly from the battery to the starter circuit to engage the starter. This way you get full power to the starter without disabling beneficial safety protection - like the one that doesn't let it start in gear.

Often time all those safety switches combined will still pass current, just not enough to continue to engage the starter.

 

[kirkawilson]

Yes, Qapla has a safer solution. I tried his relay solution before resorting to my push button hot wire but could not get the relay to engage. My entire wiring harness is so 'boogered' up (can I say booger on here?), it would not pass enough voltage/current to the relay. Mind you, this is after first replacing the starter, repairing the rodent-chewed wiring where I could find it, testing the ignition switch, cleaning the ground connection multiple times, and troubleshooting out the ying-yang until I finally succumbed to my unsafe push-button fix. My 1920 needs the entire wiring harness replaced to restore complete functionality as the wiring by itself seems to resist passing sufficient voltage/current for dependable starting. Lesson for me was if you have established dependable starting, stick with it.