The 8n had a rough day

FordNMan

Member
Just got finished converting my N to the 12 v and i took it for a drive around he yard when al off a sudden a small fire broke out on the wiring harness and smoke came bilowing out. I turned the key off and ran like a bat out of hell for an extinguisher. By the time I got there the wires melted and the fire went out. I had notice the ammeter was acting funny. I’m thinking he ammeter shorted out but the harness meted right next to a spark plug as well so either the spark plug shorted the harness or the ammeter. Just wondering if I need a new ammeter or not? Definitely going to make some brackets on the head to tie the harness up to
 
"I had notice the ammeter was acting funny."

What do you mean by that?
Was it happening before the conversion or only after the conversion?
Sounds like you need new plug wires and a new wiring harness at least.

Luckily, you got a cheaper lesson than [b:a14c60116e]Krispy[/b:a14c60116e] did.
This, as best as I could tell, was caused by an improper 12V conversion.
 
(quoted from post at 19:00:00 02/27/18) "I had notice the ammeter was acting funny."

What do you mean by that?
Was it happening before the conversion or only after the conversion?
Sounds like you need new plug wires and a new wiring harness at least.

Luckily, you got a cheaper lesson than [b:42d0cdb469]Krispy[/b:42d0cdb469] did.
This, as best as I could tell, was caused by an improper 12V conversion.

I know it wasn’t an improper conversion because I drove it for a good half hour before she shorted. The ammeter needle was all the way to the right. And I always noticed it would get moisture in it and it never seemed to work quite right.
 
(quoted from post at 23:12:59 02/27/18)
(quoted from post at 19:00:00 02/27/18) "I had notice the ammeter was acting funny."

What do you mean by that?
Was it happening before the conversion or only after the conversion?
Sounds like you need new plug wires and a new wiring harness at least.

Luckily, you got a cheaper lesson than [b:26854c7d10]Krispy[/b:26854c7d10] did.
This, as best as I could tell, was caused by an improper 12V conversion.

I know it wasn’t an improper conversion because I drove it for a good half hour before she shorted. The ammeter needle was all the way to the right. And I always noticed it would get moisture in it and it never seemed to work quite right.
Was it all the way to the right before the conversion?
An ammeter will read a high charge right after starting to recharge
the battery, then it should drop to near center once charged.

If it continued that high of a charge for half an hour, then
I would expect wires to get hot. At ~65 amps, REAL hot.
Possibly a faulty regulator in the alternator. One wire or three?

Moisture in the gauges isn't the best for them, but pretty normal.
 
I would guess you had a wire shorted out causing the amps to go high. if you shut the tractor off and the amp guage went to the middle which is zero then I think your amp guage is okay. need to find the short.
 
Consider yourself lucky that you had to get off of it to get an extinguisher versus sitting on it when the battery blew up from overcharging.
 
(quoted from post at 11:37:55 02/28/18)

could it be a bad spark plug wire. The tractor has been missing once in a while

A spark plug wire would not cause your problem, you had a wire shorting out. Not saying the plug wire are not bad tho.
 
(quoted from post at 18:35:36 02/27/18) Just got finished converting my N to the 12 v and i took it for a drive around he yard when al off a sudden a small fire broke out on the wiring harness and smoke came bilowing out. I turned the key off and ran like a bat out of hell for an extinguisher. By the time I got there the wires melted and the fire went out. I had notice the ammeter was acting funny. I’m thinking he ammeter shorted out but the harness meted right next to a spark plug as well so either the spark plug shorted the harness or the ammeter. Just wondering if I need a new ammeter or not? Definitely going to make some brackets on the head to tie the harness up to

Hmmm....I thought I posted this yesterday but I don't see it today. This is a very good idea. Just don't wait until it's too late.

xyBd5yH.jpg
 
If you have one of those Kidde extinguishers with a plastic valve you need to contact Kidde, there is a recall and they will send you a new extinguisher
 
(quoted from post at 17:19:24 02/28/18) If you have one of those Kidde extinguishers with a plastic valve you need to contact Kidde, there is a recall and they will send you a new extinguisher

Went through that four or five months ago. This is a new one.
 
(quoted from post at 08:30:51 03/01/18) Another good reason to not convert to 12 v. (there are many)
I converted my 8ns and have had no problems at all, I should have done it years ago. The only reason that i can see to not convert them is if you have a show trailer queen that you want it to look original.
 
(quoted from post at 07:30:51 03/01/18) Another good reason to not convert to 12 v. (there are many)

My 8N was converted to 12 volt before I bought it about 12 years ago. No problems yet.
 

:lol: right. that's why everyone still makes cars and tractors that run on six volts.

oh, wait...

no matter how hard 6 volt militants try to convince everyone that 12 volts is the devil's work, plenty of us with Ns converted to 12 volts that work just fine know better.
 

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