Well I do not know what the issues are with our WD but not only will it not start but now my electrical box smokes.

When I restored the tractor many years ago I replaced the original 3 position light switch with a new one from steiner tractor parts that hooks up just like the original along with a new amp gauge from them the only issue with that is the post on the back are not marked plus a new wire harness.

I switched it from mag firing to distributer ignition do to the mag burning out. Double checking every wire I replaced with the electrical diagram in my shop book as well as another diagram I received from my postings. Plus another one that Harry Paterson a well known A/C guy in St Johns who used to be a A/C dealer and repair shop.

I do not know what else to try or to look for I have been working on this for the last couple of months. So as a invite to any one who would like to take a look at it in the Mason Mi area. Drop me a line as I am at my wits end. May be I just need another set of eyes on it or some one who knows more about it than I.

It is still the original 6-volt positive to ground set up. Any of the electrical components I replaced are do to them not working.
 

Try to take the electrical box loose from the battery box and observe what is smoking then you try to start it...
Let us know what you see..

Ron..
 
Took the control panel off from the batt box and it looks like it is the 3-way switch that is smoking. It starts to smoke before you even attempted to start it. Looks like it is smoking from the resistor not the switch it's self. Yet the fuse dose not blow out. Going over all the diagrams for the electrical. I have it all hooked up as if it was a G and not a WD. Looking at them both they look the same only the G has it set up for the distributer and the one in my WD book is set up for a mag. That is the only thing I see different.
 
I am wondering if there is a way of hooking the switched up one at a time while I have the battery hooked up to maybe see what switch or part is making it smoke. I hate like [XXX] to burn up the new wiring harness or anything else along the way. Is there a way of testing cut outs switches and such with out having them hooked up. I just feel like ever since this issue has started all I have done is throw money at it and not getting the problem fixed. The part that bugs me the most is it was running last when I parked it in the barn last spring.
 
My dad and I had a similar issue with a WD last summer. If you still have the braided/flat ground cable from the battery to the ground bolt, it could be arcing on the back side of the switch. We changed out that cable with a regular coated battery cable and the problem was/is solved. Good Luck!!!
 
The light switch controls the lights and the charging system... The ignition is completely seperate. You probably have an on- off switch or a key ? To get it to start you you need a power wire to the coil. Since you are positive ground, the negative is your "hot" wire. What i would do is disconnect the "hot" wire to the light switch and tape it or remove it. You need a "hot" (negative) wire running to the ignition coil, then a wire from the coil + terminal to the distributor point. The point is grounded + to complete the circuit. Second, you need a way to crank the motor. Do you have a switch on the starter and a push rod, or do you have a solenoid and push button. IF you have the push rod, that is very simple and you should be able to start the tractor. Leave the light switch disconnected (no charging or lights) and get the ignition fixed first.. I would guess you ahve a couple wires switch wrong on the light switch. If the resistor is hot, then you have ground on one side and power on the other side. You getting your + and - wires mixed up due to being a positive ground system.
 
the drawing below is very simple. THe resistor is part of the light switch you talk about. The light section has been left off this drawing. Note that the reistor has nothing to do with the power wire. It is a ground only. you have two wires mixed up on the light switch.

<a href="http://s436.beta.photobucket.com/user/steve-ill/media/gen-cutout.jpg.html" target="_blank">
gen-cutout.jpg" border="0" alt="generator with cutout photo gen-cutout.jpg"
</a>
 
Ok looked a bit closer at the smoking issue. It is the resistor on the light switch that smokes. also I noticed that my additional ground wire I hooked from the dash panel to the negative cable on the batt terminal has got hot and the casing melted. Noticed the smoke while I was trying to start the WD (still not starting) The smoke started while I was trying to get it started. I also noticed that it did not smoke until I started to crank the motor. As long as it was just sitting I did not see any smoke.

So now what ?
 
Its a 6 volt POSITIVE ground system and you added a jumper "extra" ground from the box to the NEGATIVE side of the battery ? BINGO.
 

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