Figure this one out 841 no start then

old

Well-known Member
So yesterday evening I needed to start the 841 and back it out of the hay barn so we could put square bales in.

When I tried to start it last night it would not do any thing like the battery was door nail dead.
So this morning I go to run an extension cord to it so I can hook up the charger. While looking for the cord I which was in the hay barn I figured what the heck I'll try to start it. Stupid thing spun right over so turned on the gas and it fired up.

So what the heck why didn't it start last night and did today and I have done nothing to it other then turn it on
 
Does it still have the original style starter push button? I've had two get to the point where they just wouldn't make contact most of the time - push the button and get absolutely nothing - but once in a while you'd hit the right spot and it would crank it over. Replace the button and all was well.
 
Rich, had the same problem with one of my trucks last week. Went to start it and no go . Just a click. Dome light bright and so were the headlights. Had to deliver a load of straw so just grabbed another truck and went. Yesterday thought I would jump the truck so went to open the hood and said to my self, Self, lets see if it will start and it fired right off. Had been sitting for about 10 days. So Murphy was here also. At least I didn't have to spend $250 dollars for a couple of batteries.
 
The old neutral safety switch has been done away with decades ago by the once local ford dealer. It has a push button under the dash area just above the key for the start now
 
What gauge wire is used between the push button start switch and the solenoid? Any broken strands or poor connections?

The solenoid coil draws considerable current. Inadequate wiring or poor connections in the solenoid control circuit can limit coil current preventing the relay from closing.

Such conditions can result in intermittent "no crank" symptoms such as you describe.

Dean
 
I do not know what gauge wire it is and it has been wired as it is for over 20 years now. It was just odd it did it last night and it has NEVER done it like that before. Ya over the year I have had the normal dead battery due to age but what it did last night it has never done before
 
Ya it was just odd how it did it and it has never in the over 20 years it has been wired up done this. Ya I have had the normal old dead battery but to have it not start last night and then start this morning is just super odd since I did nothing to it
 
Symptomatic of inadequate solenoid coil current.

Seen this scenario develop twice before with age even though no changes made to circuit other than corrosion, etc.

Dean
 
I have since started it 4 or 5 times today and not so much as a problem what so ever other then running out of gas which is not a big thing
 
Was it unusually humid when the problem happened? Or cooler than it has been lately? Weather conditions can cause marginal connections to lose their ability to conduct.
 
It's your tractor.

If the problem is inadequate solenoid coil current, it may operate intermittently for years but it will not get better.

Dean
 
A bit cooler but the last few times I have started it it was as cool or cooler. Just something odd that may not happen again for who knows how long
 
Well as I have said it has done this once. One thing I learned many years ago to trouble shoot something intermittent like this is next to impossible and more like to cause more problem then it will ever fix.
 
If your 841 has been converted to 12 volt, beware that some wiring arrangements may very slowly drain the battery.

I disconnect the negative when I know it will be parked more than 24 hours. Longer term solution is to identify which wire to the alternator is carrying the flow, and put a disconnect switch on it.
 
I have owned this 841 since the early 80s and if has been wired up the way it is since before I got it. It was just one of those things that can not be explain as to why it did not start or even turn over then hours latter work just fine
 

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