Glow plug light not lighting...

[dart451]

Hello,
I am new to the forum...I just purchased a 2007 NH TC31DA tractor which has a 240TL loader attachment. I am in the process of fixing some stuff but the tractor runs well. I didn't know anything about the glow plug light but have recently figured out it isn't coming on when I turn the key on and would like to fix it. I have a downloaded repair manual for the tractor and it shows you how to test the glow plug light relay and such. Can I assume this is a good place to start my trouble shooting?

I also have a lot of dust inside the instrument cluster. Is it possible to take the cluster apart to clean it out? Thank you...

 

[Roadworthy]

Check your manual for a beginning point. On some diesels, below a certain ambient temperature, the glow plug is unnecessary and your tractor may be "intelligent" enough to not turn on the glow plugs below this threshold. I'm sure New Mexico has times above that threshold.

 

[dart451]

Didn't know that...I have a operator's manual coming but not here yet. Also, the temp was about 70 something this morning and was hard to start. Also noted that...for some reason...when the front of the tractor is up an incline to drop a bucket of dirt, it has decided kill the motor! It didn't do this yesterday when I was performing the same thing... It does not shut off when I'm on level ground!?

 

[Roadworthy]

If your fuel level is low you may have starved it working uphill. I don't know New Holland at all but my tractor is gravity feed out of the tank. I have no fuel pump for positive flow to the filter. It's gravity fed from the tank to the injector pump. If compression is good you shouldn't need the glow plugs to start in warm weather but they'll be critical when it cools off. Some tractors have a light to tell you the glow plugs are active, on some the light tells you to energize the glow plugs. On these you need to activate the glow plugs yourself. One common method is to turn the ignition key to the left and hold it for a few seconds. The owner's manual may suggest the number of seconds to run the glow plugs for a given temperature.

 

[dart451]

If your fuel level is low you may have starved it working uphill. I don't know New Holland at all but my tractor is gravity feed out of the tank. I have no fuel pump for positive flow to the filter. It's gravity fed from the tank to the injector pump. If compression is good you shouldn't need the glow plugs to start in warm weather but they'll be critical when it cools off. Some tractors have a light to tell you the glow plugs are active, on some the light tells you to energize the glow plugs. On these you need to activate the glow plugs yourself. One common method is to turn the ignition key to the left and hold it for a few seconds. The owner's manual may suggest the number of seconds to run the glow plugs for a given temperature.

I believe I located the problem with the incline! When I hit the brake, it makes me get off the seat a bit, seat safety shutting off tractor! Jeesh!

 

[defranks]

The automatic glow plug actuator on my tractor (Branson) is intermittent. The part that controls the glow plugs is easy to get to, but expensive, so I just wired a momentary switch, which I had in my junk bin, to the glow plug relay. If the glow plugs don't energize automatically I just hold that button down for about ten seconds.

You probably have a similar problem with your tractor. On mine, the actuator is located near the steering column under the plastic column cover. It's just a small, box-shaped component with connectors and wires. Since you say there's a good deal of dust, you might locate yours, disconnect it from the wiring harness, and use some electrical contact cleaner to see if that solves your problem.

 

[Wongaman]

Hi, new on forum, I have a NH Boomer 1025 with the same fuel starvation issue I think. My property has some quite steep areas and sometimes engine will die and won稚 restart. Looked at fuel filter and looks low on fuel, I致e had to roll if I can to flat ground but still won稚 start and have had to bleed the injectors then all is fine. Has anyone figured a solution to this issue?
Thanks

 

[dart451]

Well, I looked through my repair manual and it showed me how to check the glow plug light relay and the relay controller. The relay checked out good but the controller was bad. I did however notice there was a chrome button below the ignition switch which is not an OEM switch. The guy I bought the tractor from didn't know what it was either. Well, it turns out that it's a bypass for the glow plug or at least after pushing the button for 4 seconds...the tractor starts immediately when before it took awhile, many grinds to get it started!

 

[Strummer]

Where did you find the manual to down load ?