International 140 electrical issue

Randy in Va.

New User
My International 140 had been sitting for a good while and I went to start it the other day and the battery had run down. I pulled it and it started and ran about 2-3 minutes and then cut off like I had turned off the switch. I charged the battery and went to reconnect it and when I went to put on the negative ground terminal on the battery it was arcing really bad. Thought the battery may have dropped a cell so I went and got a new one. On connecting the new one, the ground arced so bad it burned the clamp off of the end of the cable. I installed a 12v conversion a couple of years ago and it has worked great. With the conversion, I replaced the wiring harness and put in an electronic ignition. It's like it has a dead short somewhere. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
(quoted from post at 12:26:05 12/10/13) My International 140 had been sitting for a good while and I went to start it the other day and the battery had run down. I pulled it and it started and ran about 2-3 minutes and then cut off like I had turned off the switch. I charged the battery and went to reconnect it and when I went to put on the negative ground terminal on the battery it was arcing really bad. Thought the battery may have dropped a cell so I went and got a new one. On connecting the new one, the ground arced so bad it burned the clamp off of the end of the cable. I installed a 12v conversion a couple of years ago and it has worked great. With the conversion, I replaced the wiring harness and put in an electronic ignition. It's like it has a dead short somewhere. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
ure polarity correct? I 12v conversion was standard alternator, the NEGATIVE of battery must be GROUNDED to chassis. If that is not the problem, disconnect various items until short/arcing stops, such as starter, alternator, .....
 
First make sure that the battery is disconnected. Put a test light between the terminal, and the battery cable. It will light up but not burn up.
Pull the big wire off of the alternator output stud. If the test light goes out, the alternator had a bad diode bridge. If it didn't, then begin looking for direct shorts to ground on the non grounded (positive) battery lead. Jim
 
Things that will cause that are.
#1 install the battery back ward which means you have just fried the alternator so now you need to replace that
#2 the ignition switch is stuck in the start position so the starter is trying to spin up. Then #2.5 the starter is also lock into the flywheel so it is jammed and can not spin but puling lots of amps.
#3 a dead short due to some wire that has gone bad and goes right to ground
 
Double checked the polarity and the negative is grounded to the chassis. The hot lead goes to the starter switch. Been really cold so haven't had much of a chance to troubleshoot it much more.
 
hookup a test lamp inline with hot lead. if there is a short, lamp will light up,.. but no wires will burn.

start disconnecting things till lamp goes out.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top