My 1973 Ford 2000 won't start again.

[JosephFatherof6]

“Yesterday was yesterday and today is today”

I had problems starting my tractor when I first bought it so I replaced the battery and yesterday it started and we used it without a problem.

So, today I went outside held the key to the left for 20 seconds and tried and tried to start it until the battery ran down and I stopped.

Now I have a brand new battery almost dead and a 5000 lbs. paper weight.

While turning it over white smoke was coming out of the muffler so it appears I’m getting fuel but it won’t light.

Frustrated and defeated I went back to pulling trees with my F-250.

Any thoughts?

 

[Soundguy]

almost didn't find your post in the kubota section.

ok.. so diesel.. making white smoke.. not starting.

first.

charge battery up.

2, make sure you have the fuel stop pushed all the way in and fuel petcock is open.

crack the injectors and crank over to see if they are indeed bleed and making fuel.


see what you get on a couple attempts.

if nada... get a buddy to pull you off if this is a straight gear trans. ie.. 4-6-8 spd. use high gear, let clutch out ..

if she starts and runs good like this.. but won't crank on her own... time for a compression test.

 

[Tx Jim]

What was the ambient temp. at that moment?

 

[JosephFatherof6]

60 degrees

 

[sd455dan]

60 degrees

my 3000 has high hours on it and most of the time at 60 degrees I go ahead and use the thermo start... re charge the battery set the throttle to mid setting... then turn the key to the left for more like 30 seconds.(not spinning the starter ) turn it all the way left and crank for about 5 seconds then back to the detent hold another 5 to 10 seconds or so and then left again and hopefully she will start.. Once running and warmed up you probably can't tell much difference from a new engine .. Also once mine has been started and run for 1/2 an hour or more and then shut off she always re starts the rest of the day.. There are a lot of these old Ford 3 cylinder diesels still running good , but they do get harder to start once there are several thousand hours on them. here's hoping yours is just a little stubborn... like mine mine did have to have the starter replaced due to slow cranking, diesels need cranking speed when tired , I guess mine seems like at least 3 to 4 firings per second.. You may want to try a booster battery right off the bat.. If this all fails it may be time for a rebuild...

 

[Soundguy]

did she pull off?

 

[JosephFatherof6]

I plan on working on it this Sunday (tomorrow) so I'll let you know. What's so frustrating is she started right up at the auction last Saturday even though it was 40 and rainy and once I got her home she seemed to start less and less, it's like I got a bad mail order bride. I'll post back but thinking about it even with a new battery the starter didn't seem to crank that fast.

 

[JosephFatherof6]

I gave my tractor the once over yesterday and found a red wire that goes from the ignition switch to what appears to be a solenoid, which I image is the glow plug, in the intake manifold.

It was disconnected at the manifold end.

My plan today is to remove the glow plug and reconnect the wire and turn the key to see if it’s doing its job.

At this point this would explain why it started when I first bought it.

 

[Soundguy]

post a pic of the part you intend to remove and hook a wire to and then think it might do something.

 

[JosephFatherof6]

One photo depicts the plug under the Glow Plug (?) in the intake manifold and the other photo shows that the wire goes to the ignition switch (Red wire on the left side of the switch.