MF 360 Starter Wires

Can someone tell me the correct connections for a MF
360 Starter Motor and Solenoid? Bought the tractor
last week w/o starter and want to make sure of
connections before installing my new starter. Any
suggestions gratefully appreciated.

Been reading this forum, seems like a lot of good
advice here. Will come back often.

Hello,
If your machine is an English build tractor, you should have a single red/white wire, a double or single black wire(s) on a single eyelet terminal and a single brown wire. Please let me know if this is correct for your tractor, and I'll help you with their placement.
Evan.

Yes, built in UK AT3.152 (CN31185U801409P). I have a brown wire on single eyelet going to BAT on key switch, large red from BAT, large black from BAT, a gray wire traces back to STR on switch, and spliced blue wire going back to AUX on switch.

Also, I tested Thermostart with ohm meter and no continuity at unit, or 12v with meter connected between switch and plug, and switch turned to full middle start position.

Different colour code to the wiring diagram in my op manual.
I believe from your description, the heavy black cable will bolt to the brush end of the starter motor. Both the heavy red battery lead and the brown wire w/eyelet will go onto the threaded solenoid post.
The gray wire will be power supply to activate the solenoid, if it has a"spade" type terminal. What type of terminal is fitted to the spliced blue wire, eyelet or spade?
Could be that the machines built in England for export the the North American market may be different. Someone with the appropriate operator's manual may be able to help you out further.
Evan.

Yes, gray wire has spade, I believe it connects the neutral safety switches through ignition. I made the connections and she's whirling like a washing machine...but no signs of life yet.

I removed the tank, going to drain and refresh diesel. Before that I loosened tubes at injectors and saw a very limited amount of fuel while turning engine. Will reinstall tank presently after filter change. Thoughts?

Yes, drain the tank and re-fuel. There will be a shut-off tap, either at the base of the tank, or on the lift pump. Make sure that you have unrestricted fuel flow past this tap. Next, check the strainer in the top of the lift pump itself. Remove the cover from the lift pump and remove any crud from the strainer and with-in the cavity of the pump body. The filter is the next port of call for the fuel on it's way the engine, so replace it and also check and tighten all pipe fittings here. An ingress of air, or a fuel leak can occur at a loose pipe fitting. Next, go to the injector pump, and remove the lower of the two bleed screws. The one in question is located about half way along the round part of the "body" of the fuel injection pump. It will be unscrewed with a 5/16" AF ring spanner.
Remove it completely. Now, prime the lift pump by hand. You should get a solid flow of fuel from this port on the pump.
If this is not possible, try rotating the engine itself, either by hand, or with the starter motor roughly 180 degrees. Try the primer lever again, you should "feel" some resistance thru the stroke of the lever. Fuel should now flow solidly from the injector pump bleed-screw. Refit and tighten the screw.
Now loosen one of the three injector lines to the cylinder head roughly two turns. Pull the hand throttle a third of the way down, and crank the engine. The engine should start to fire on the other two cylinders. Once this occurs, tighten the fitting. Job done (hopefully).
Let us know your progress,
Evan.

Drained tank found sediment and debris, will clean out thoroughly tomorrow. Removed lift pump but didn't find anything remarkable,split in half, not sure if it disassembles any further. Something rattling inside top half. Will evaluate further tomorrow. R/R fuel filter (Wix #33358 canister type), very dirty fuel in there. Will tighten all fittings, bleed, and prime as per instructions above tomorrow. Thanks for the info.

Your lift pump may or may not have a dome shaped cover on the top half of the pump. Is this where the "rattling" sound is coming from? A single screw will remove this cover.
Are the valve assemblies on the underside of the top half still in place? Check that they are still firm in their seats and haven't come loose in the body, also check that there isn't any of that debris you found earlier, jammed under the valves or in the the hair springs.
Let us know your progress,
Evan.

Masseynut- Success!!! You're the man! Has a hard knock to it, but may need to be run a bit.

I appreciate all the good info. Cheers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJFtIQ_trQA

Brad, I'd get an external oil pressure test gauge onto your engine before you run it any more. Unscrew the oil pressure sender unit from the engine block and fit the test gauge to the block.
That "hard knock" could just be a faulty injector on one cylinder, but just to make sure the bottom end of the engine is not the source of the "knock", check that oil pressure.
Chances could be that the oil pressure light on the dash is not working. It should light up when the key is turned to the "on" position, along with the alternator and transmission oil pressure light.
let us know what the outcome is from here,
Evan.

Checked oil pressure with external guage, reads around 50 psi. Loosened each fuel line at injectors, listened for degraded performance, tightened, all injectors seemed to be operating correctly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK6heMbEiMs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYLc71q9yhw

The fact that the oil pressure is up there very good news. This eliminates the bottom end as the source of the knock.
When you rev the engine, is it blowing any smoke from the exhaust? What colour is the smoke? Does the knock tend to even out at higher revs?

Short of carrying out a compression test on each cylinder, I'd remove the muffler and air intake hose at the manifold, and crank the engine with the stopper out.
If you hear any sign of air leakage, (slurping) to a certain degree when turning the engine over, I'd suspect either a badly seating exhaust or inlet valve, or more likely a blown head gasket. The latter is most likely.
As I said, a compression test will soon confirm this.
Let us know your progress,
Evan.

Smokes initially, white, knocks at low idle and upper rpms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB44xrjiWEw

"...crank engine with stopper out."?

This is likely the problem.