TC-40D starter problem

[Ligg757]

I am new to this forum so if I don't explain things accurately I will learn.
I started having the dreaded 7.5 amp fuse for the start circuit blowing. I replaced a faulty fuel shutoff solenoid and that worked for a week. I then replaced the ignition switch but still had the problem. I replaced the starter with a rebuilt New Holland start plus a weak battery.
I am not blowing the fuse anymore but the starter will not engage the flywheel.
I checked the voltage on the wire going to the starter solenoid and got 11.7 volts.
Any advice on where to go now.

 

[dlctcg]

Have you tested your battery cables? If not I would start there....

This is some info that I have posted previously that may help with the diagnosis....

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. I wouldn't put any more parts on it (or money into it) till I checked the factory cables...



I would also recommend installing a dedicated aux. starter relay; it eliminates a lot of issues. This circuit shares the voltage source this the glow plug timer (& I believe passes through some of the safety switches). Overtime the wiring & connection get dirty / lose there ability to pass the voltage. You can modify the current wiring & add a dedicated relay for supplying direct power to the starter solenoid via the same circuits. I did this on our TC40D & it made a big difference for our machine.

 

[Roadworthy]

After you're done checking the cables as suggested - or even before, clean the battery terminals well. Clean the clamping ends of the cables well. When you reinstall the cables on the battery be sure they are secure. If you can move them they're not tight. Follow the ground wire to the frame. Clean and tighten that end as well. Charge and load test the battery.

 

[Ligg757]

Have you tested your battery cables? If not I would start there....

This is some info that I have posted previously that may help with the diagnosis....

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. I wouldn't put any more parts on it (or money into it) till I checked the factory cables...



I would also recommend installing a dedicated aux. starter relay; it eliminates a lot of issues. This circuit shares the voltage source this the glow plug timer (& I believe passes through some of the safety switches). Overtime the wiring & connection get dirty / lose there ability to pass the voltage. You can modify the current wiring & add a dedicated relay for supplying direct power to the starter solenoid via the same circuits. I did this on our TC40D & it made a big difference

Have you tested your battery cables? If not I would start there....

This is some info that I have posted previously that may help with the diagnosis....

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. I wouldn't put any more parts on it (or money into it) till I checked the factory cables...



I would also recommend installing a dedicated aux. starter relay; it eliminates a lot of issues. This circuit shares the voltage source this the glow plug timer (& I believe passes through some of the safety switches). Overtime the wiring & connection get dirty / lose there ability to pass the voltage. You can modify the current wiring & add a dedicated relay for supplying direct power to the starter solenoid via the same circuits. I did this on our TC40D & it made a big difference for our machine.

DICTG,
Well I do have a positive battery cable that needs replacing.
Do you have to remove the radiator to replace this cable?
Thanks for all your help.

 

[dlctcg]

@Ligg757 - yeah the cables on the TC New Hollands have been know to be an issue.... No you do not have to remove the radiator to replace it... it should wrap around the underside of it but there should be room to get it out & the new one in without removing the radiator.

 

[Ligg757]

@Ligg757 - yeah the cables on the TC New Hollands have been know to be an issue.... No you do not have to remove the radiator to replace it... it should wrap around the underside of it but there should be room to get it out & the new one in without removing the radiator.

dlctg,
Replaced the positive battery cable and the tractor is running again. Thanks again for the great advice.

 

[lman]

If the tractor is stored outside the cable will corrode again. I've got a 1530 that is an earlier version of the TC that has never had a problem with cables. It has been stored inside since new in 1998.

 

[edje55]

I bought a used TC-40A about 8 years ago. From day 1, starting was always issue. Eventually I managed to get it started almost every time but it was always an issue until... by accident... while replacing the starter, hoping that this would resolve my age-old problem I discovered that there just might be a design issue with the NH TC tractors. A 1/16th" shim, or in my case 2 washers between the motor frame and the starter moved the starter out just enough for the kickout from the solenoid to extend far enough to engage the starter. Haven't had a starting issue since! Starts EVERY TIME, I can't tell you how good that feels after all these frustrating years and for no reason. Hopefully this may fix your starter issue as well.

 

[FarmerDavid]

We had two classic TC29 failures in one week. I replaced what appeared to be a dying starter motor and it still wouldn't start. I hadn't been aware that bad battery cables were a known New Holland point of failure, but did discover an 8 volt drop between the battery + terminal and the other end of the cable at the starter. After replacing the cable, it started fine. I moved it about 20 feet, parked it and came back two days later and the clutch would not disengage. I used the "start the engine, then shut it off and as it's spooling down, just before it stops, drop the gearshift (with just a little crunch) into 2nd gear" method. That freed it up. Now it gets a wooden wedgie every time it's parked, to keep the clutch disengaged so it won't stick together again.

 

[jedjoe]

Have you tested your battery cables? If not I would start there....

This is some info that I have posted previously that may help with the diagnosis....

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. I wouldn't put any more parts on it (or money into it) till I checked the factory cables...



I would also recommend installing a dedicated aux. starter relay; it eliminates a lot of issues. This circuit shares the voltage source this the glow plug timer (& I believe passes through some of the safety switches). Overtime the wiring & connection get dirty / lose there ability to pass the voltage. You can modify the current wiring & add a dedicated relay for supplying direct power to the starter solenoid via the same circuits. I did this on our TC40D & it made a big difference for our machine.

I had the dreaded starting problem with my TC35A. Thanks to dlctg's posting above, it (once gain) turned out (at least in part) to be an internally corroded positive battery cable. There also turned out to be a second problem, which was a shorting hot wire running from the maxi-fuse distribution point up to the location for fuse #6. Found a nearly invisible wear spot where the hot wire in that bundle was rubbing against the horizontal steel plate found just under the relay locations (see attached pic). While I will defer to those more expert than me in this area, I suspect I was getting additional current drain beyond the loss of amperage on the defective positive cable. I think this because while replacing the cable helped most of the problem, I was still losing "punch" from the battery. Finding and fixing that short also solved my problem with my hazards/turn signal circuit. Nice to have everything working again!