MF1533 will not crank

[arizona98tj]

..... Then it is forced between the motor and the firewall and jammed through a grommet under the steering column.

I know that exact spot. I was installing a rear facing video camera earlier this year and came across that spot on my 1529. I couldn't believe that was what they came up with to route the wiring harness. I'll keep that in mind if I encounter the same problem. Thanks!

 

[OldDiesel]

OK. Got it running.
Main voltage wire (Red) runs from battery/fuse (left side), across the front of the radiator, then along the right side of the engine as part of the main harness. Then it is forced between the motor and the firewall and jammed through a grommet under the steering column. Somewhere between the forced area and the jammed they decided to splice/split the main power using a beautiful, black tape wrapped, crimp connector. This had broken just enough to pass 12v, but not much else. In order to reach it I had to pull all of the dash wiring down below the steering column, as well as remove the fuse box and cut off the grommet. Then to provide additional slack I removed the zip ties that held the harness as it traveled along the left side towards the rear lights. I accessed the joint by pulling the wire harness out from under the fuel tank.
I hope this helps anyone who runs into this problem.

TLDR; Main power wire splits in the main harness. This joint broke and I fixed it.

Thanks for posting this. My father's 1540 quit deep in the woods this week and after reading this I went straight for the splice and found the problem. It saved alot of diagnostic time, that's for sure. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't get the wires pulled far enough out to fix it so I ended up taking the gas tank off (which isn't fun, I had to take the manifold off, turbo off, an injector line and more. I sure wish they would have routed the end of the wire harness a little better so it would be accessible. Anyhow, problem solved!! - THANKS AGAIN!

OldDiesel