H starting issue

dmwesso · Jan 12, 2023

Trying to get my dad's old H running, 6V. Started with battery & cleaning pts. Started up a few times then nothing, would not turn over. Took off the starter to look at the ring gear teeth, looked OK to me. Had starter rebuild. Guy said drive shaft was bent, usually happens when you get to many amps not enough volts. Decided to replace the cables as they weren't in the best shape (corrosion/damaged) along with starter push button. Cables were originally 2 gauge I went with 2/0 was this a mistake? I noticed when they came in all the cables were black which indicates to me negative but they all had + symbols on them. Does that really matter. Tractor is positive ground, neg to starter switch and switch to starter. Anyways started up fine again half dozen times and now nothing, will not turn over. Advise?

used red MN · Jan 12, 2023

Hello dm welcome to YT. I bet the starter drive gear is
locking in the flywheel, common IH problem. Grab the
fan or better yet if you have a working hand crank see
if the engine will turn in the normal direction. If it will
not the locking drive is your problem. If it is on a hard
surface put it in 5th unlock the brake and shove back
on the top of the rear tire while watching the fan. If you
hear a clunk from the starter and the engine is free it
will probably start again. Make sure you take it back
out of gear first. Another way to free the drive is to
loosen the starter bolts and wiggle the starter again
listening for the clunk of the drive retracting. If this is
your problem you will need to file the burrs off the
flywheel at the trouble spot and hopefully it will fix it.
Did the starter guy replace the drive? If not that
probably needs done. Hopefully he did not feed you a
line about the bent shaft, pretty rare occurrence. On
your cables if you indeed replaced 2 gauge cables with
2/0 cables you did a good thing for the 6 volt system.

DeltaRed · Jan 12, 2023

You still have a conection issue. Get out your test light. 2/0 cables dont hurt a thing,in fact,they are better than smaller cables. The electricity doesnt care what color the cables are. However,the
operator must pay closer attention to cable placement,not just look at color.Good luck. You will find your problem.

matthies · Jan 12, 2023

Your new starter button died. New ones are junk.

used red MN · Jan 12, 2023

I was also going to add this. Hope you still have the old one. Was probably still good.

redforlife · Jan 12, 2023

Did you replace the battery, or do any
battery charging during any of this? The
reason I ask is, with a fully charged
battery starting out, and a charging system
that is not working, that's about how far a
battery will go without being charged back
up. A few starts (3 to 5 or so), and a
total of a few hours (3 to 8) of run time,
and battery will be dead enough to not turn
engine over anymore. If so, charging the
battery will make it start again, and
direct your attention to a charging
problem. I know this is of the simplest
thing to suggest. But, ... you got to rule
out the simplest of things before going
further.

Both faulty push button switch, and jammed
starter ideas are good suggestions.

dmwesso · Jan 12, 2023

Thanks for the replies. Yes battery
charged up. I'm probably overthinking
things & need to go backs to the basics.
Check/clean connections & double check
teeth on gear. It did have a few burs
that I previously filed down, may be
another spot I couldn't see. Lots of
other work to do on this tractor, starting
to see why the old man just gave it to me.
Lol

caterpillar guy · Jan 13, 2023

I'm with used red. The starter is stuck in the flywheel. Just rock it is 5th or loosen the starter bolts. When engine will turn over then tighten starter and go. if not then look for dirty connections or your starter guy needs to redo his work.

merlynr · Jan 14, 2023

(quoted from post at 03:45:36 01/13/23) I'm with used red. The starter is stuck in the flywheel. Just rock it is 5th or loosen the starter bolts. When engine will turn over then tighten starter and go. if not then look for dirty connections or your starter guy needs to redo his work.

best thing I ever did was to convert to 12v and alternator on my H.

H starting issue

dmwesso

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used red MN

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DeltaRed

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matthies

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used red MN

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redforlife

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dmwesso

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caterpillar guy

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merlynr

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