Ford 3400 Ignition Question

   / Ford 3400 Ignition Question #1  

Biglurr54

Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2017
Messages
38
Location
Averill Park, NY
Tractor
Oliver Super 55, 1965 Ford 3400
I bought recently bought a Ford 3400 The previous owner replaced the starter and solenoid. I changed all the fluids and did all the maintenance. I went to use it to move some rocks the other day and it would start and run with the key in the crank position but it would die as soon as I released the key to the run position. I heard some arcing near the starter. I disconnected the battery and began tracing wires looking for a break in the insulation. I found that when the guy installed the starter he pinched the resistance wire between the bell housing and the starter. I took the starter off and took the wire out. Sure enough it was shorting out and the insulation was comprised. I cut out the bad section and soldered the wire ends together and insulated it. I removed approximately 1 foot of wire. The tractor started and ran fine for moving the rocks.

After doing some research I discovered that the wire that I removed 1 foot from is a resistance wire for the coil. Should I replace the resistance wire and if so with what wire and length? I don稚 want to burn up any points in the middle of snow plowing or an important job.
 
   / Ford 3400 Ignition Question
  • Thread Starter
#2  
Bump. Anyone have an idea. I just tried to use the tractor and it won't run smoothly. It sputter and coughs and will only stumble at low rpms. Choke and throttle kill the engine.
 
   / Ford 3400 Ignition Question #3  
I think that's nichrome wire and it doesn't solder well. I would completely replace it with a piece of copper wire and insert a ballast resistor like you have in that Oliver 55 you're working on. The other option would be to replace the wire and coil with a 12 volt coil that doesn't require a ballast resistor.
Installing a separate ballast resistor allows the OP to retain the bypass start circuit powered by the load side of the starter relay (solenoid).
 
   / Ford 3400 Ignition Question
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Ok. Sounds like I am going to remove the resistor wire that was currently there and add a ceramic ballast resistor. That will allow me to keep the 12v jumper to the coil for cold starts.

The next question is what ohm should the ballast resistor be for a ford 3400 with the coil. 20171104_121602.jpg
 
   / Ford 3400 Ignition Question
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Will the BWD resistor RU4 from advanced work?
 
   / Ford 3400 Ignition Question
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Will the BWD resistor RU4 from advanced work?
 
   / Ford 3400 Ignition Question
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Ok I ordered the ICR13 - 1.8 ohms from Napa. They will have it tomorrow.
 

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