New Holland TC29D Starting Issues

[plutz]

Just want to thank you in advance for reading this. I will try to keep it simple. I have owned my tractor since 04. I have not had any major issues until recently. I have had the ignition switch go bad a while back. It then developed a small gremlin that I attributed to the solenoid on the starter going bad. I had to turn the key on and off several times to make the starter engage. I was going to replace it, but the starter was like 700.00 at the time. Each time I would hear a relay click.

Well fast forward to last month. I was on the tractor and can only assume that I ran it out of diesel. It just died. At the time, I could attempt to start it. Hard way to find that the fuel gauge was wrong. I filled it back up and while I was attempting to get fuel back into the rails, I can only assume that I tried to start it too many times. While during this attempt, the tractor stopped doing anything. The entire electrical system seemed as though it shut down. I ran the battery down as well. When I tried to detach the battery, the positive cable was so hot, it burnt my fingers.

I have since gotten a new battery, new ignition switch ( i saw some discoloration even though it tested fine with multi), a new turn signal headlight box ( there was a burn pin in the wiring harness and no head lights flashers etc worked) all new relays, new starter (tested old one and that worked as well hot jumping it with jumper cables). I traced all the wires, checked all the fuses that a routine backyard mechanic could do with nothing outstanding to me.

I re attached the battery and heard many things click. I took that as a good sign. I applied the mulit meter to the starter solenoid wire and turned the ignition on. Everything sounded as it is supposed to. I tested the lights and everything worked. I turned it to start it and got power to the solenoid at 10v or so. So thinking everything would be ok, I hooked the wire back up to the solenoid and tried to start it. The tractor made a sound and then nothing. Nothing would work after that. The headlights, flashers etc. I disconnected the battery again and gave it a few. I connected the battery back and the headlights and everything worked again.

I am at my wits end. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

 

[Jerry/MT]

Just want to thank you in advance for reading this. I will try to keep it simple. I have owned my tractor since 04. I have not had any major issues until recently. I have had the ignition switch go bad a while back. It then developed a small gremlin that I attributed to the solenoid on the starter going bad. I had to turn the key on and off several times to make the starter engage. I was going to replace it, but the starter was like 700.00 at the time. Each time I would hear a relay click.

Well fast forward to last month. I was on the tractor and can only assume that I ran it out of diesel. It just died. At the time, I could attempt to start it. Hard way to find that the fuel gauge was wrong. I filled it back up and while I was attempting to get fuel back into the rails, I can only assume that I tried to start it too many times. While during this attempt, the tractor stopped doing anything. The entire electrical system seemed as though it shut down. I ran the battery down as well. When I tried to detach the battery, the positive cable was so hot, it burnt my fingers.

I have since gotten a new battery, new ignition switch ( i saw some discoloration even though it tested fine with multi), a new turn signal headlight box ( there was a burn pin in the wiring harness and no head lights flashers etc worked) all new relays, new starter (tested old one and that worked as well hot jumping it with jumper cables). I traced all the wires, checked all the fuses that a routine backyard mechanic could do with nothing outstanding to me.

I re attached the battery and heard many things click. I took that as a good sign. I applied the mulit meter to the starter solenoid wire and turned the ignition on. Everything sounded as it is supposed to. I tested the lights and everything worked. I turned it to start it and got power to the solenoid at 10v or so. So thinking everything would be ok, I hooked the wire back up to the solenoid and tried to start it. The tractor made a sound and then nothing. Nothing would work after that. The headlights, flashers etc. I disconnected the battery again and gave it a few. I connected the battery back and the headlights and everything worked again.

I am at my wits end. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

"I filled it back up and while I was attempting to get fuel back into the rails,... "
Did you bleed the fuel delivery system per the owner's manual instructions?

"I turned it to start it and got power to the solenoid at 10v or so. So thinking everything would be ok, I hooked the wire back up to the solenoid and tried to start it. "
With the wire to the solenoid removed from the solenoid connection you should have had 12V when you put the key switch to start. Have you cleaned the battery terminals and cable ends, checked the battery leads for corrosion and made sure that the grounds were "bright and tight"?

 

[Roadworthy]

Expanding on what Jerry said, clean battery terminals and cable connectors well. Replace and tighten SECURELY. Follow the ground lead to the frame. Clean and tighten there as well. Charge the battery. When you attempt to start the tractor monitor the voltage at the battery. It should probably not drop below eleven volts. Now check the power at your solenoid. If you're still running that ten volts or so you have a bad connection somewhere.

 

[WM75Guy]

The hot positive cable is a clue. A common problem with the TC series is internal corrosion where the factory battery terminals were clamped onto the wires. You get voltage with a multimeter but not enough amps pass to start it. You can cut the factory battery terminals off and put on new aftermarket terminals or replace the cables with new ones with terminals attached. A way to test it is to bypass the cables with a set of jumper cables.

I bought new cables and terminals at O'Rielly's. Much cheaper than from NH.

 

[dlctcg]

As WM75Guy said... I would definitely test your positive & negative cables... They are known to look fine but be corroded internally.

From one of my previous posts:

Cable Test:
Older New Holland battery cables often corrode inside the terminal where it is sometimes impossible to see; not sure it was an issue with your particular yr / model... You will often have voltage so everything seems good. (gauges & all are working). So you will have voltage but they will not supply the required Amperage.

You can test if there is an issue with your existing battery cables pretty simply.

Remove the negative battery cable & then take a negative jumper cable wire and place it on the bare negative post of your tractor battery. Connect the other end to a solid clean ground of the tractor (bare metal location). Try starting the tractor & see if that makes a difference...

If that doesn't change anything you can do the same process on the positive post. Disconnect the Negative jumper from the Battery terminal. Then using your positive jumper cable attach one end to where the positive battery cable connects to the starter (connect this end first), and the other end to the positive battery post (last). Make sure the jumper cable is not able to arc to near by metal. Now reconnect the Negative jumper cable to the battery & try starting the tractor again & see if that changes anything...

Doing this process you basically bypassed the battery cables on the machine, and then can troubleshoot from there.

 

[plutz]

I will try the cables first thing tomorrow. I will keep ypu posted

 

[plutz]

Thank you to all who rsponded. It was the positive cable.

 

[WM75Guy]

Glad you got it going.