Can anyone tell me what the cranking speed of their 188D diesel is, or what it should be? Mine is cranking at about 100-130 rpms and it won"t fire.

What are some other reasons for slow cranking? The motor is freshly rebuilt and turns relatively easily (for a diesel). It's completely rewired, too.

I've been working on starting it for the past month and a half with no luck. I'm thinking that I will either have to find a reliable mechanic in the CT area, or dig a hole with the excavator and bury this thing (just kidding). It just sits in the yard staring at me... It ran great last year until it spun a bearing. I rebuilt the whole motor over the winter, had it machined, etc. Now - it just won't crank fast enough. I'm nearing the end of my patience.

Check your starter out carefully. It may be a 24 volt starter. You have a crawler?

Yes, its a Case 310F crawler. I just tried out the wiring:
starter to 1st battery +
1st battery - to 2nd battery +
2nd battery - to ground.

The starter just clicked. Any other ideas? I've tried a rebuilt starter and a newer one. no luck.

Is the machine a + ground machine? I know some of the older stuff was, but not sure when it ended. Maybe the 24V fried the solenoid? Look for a 24V solenoid. My Dad's dozer was a late 60's model 450 and it was definately a 24V system.

I put everything back together for the 12v system and the starter cranked again, but still only at 100 rpms.

For a positive ground system, what do I do? The machine is a 1963 or 64, I believe.

Switch the terminals around for a + ground. I still think you have a 24V system, but had a lost connection somewhere. But, I may be wrong. My Dad's old 450 was a 67 or 68, I think.

Well, I tired that, but when I tried to make the last connection, the cable stuck to the battery post. I'm sure it shouldn't do that, right?

Where should I ground this whole circuit out to? I have it bolted to one of the starter mounting bolts right now. I would take some pictures to show what I've got, but my digital camera doesn't work.

I feel like the solution is something very simple, but I just can't grasp this stuff.

I'll give that a shot. I called the Case dealer and asked about getting a new starter and they said that the 310F OEM was discontinued. I asked about any other models that used the 188D and the salesman offered the starter from the 580C. Any idea if that would do me any better?

My dad had a 450 w/188 diesel in it. We went through the same stuff, only to find out that the starter was 24 volts. Hooked it up accordingly, and it spun normally.

Thanks, Tim. How do you wire the 24 volt? I"m not familiar with any other than 12v.

Like JGarner says..Hook your your chasis ground to one - on your first battery, then hook the + from that battery to the - on the second battery. Then hook your + cable to the starter.

(I know, if defies logic to hook + to -, but it works)

That should have been "hook the last + to the starter wire"

Great! thanks guys. I will try this out tonight.

schematic

Hook up 2 12V batteries in parallel; ie, positive to negative between the 2 batteries and normal positive to starter, negative to ground on the other two posts, unless you have a Positive ground system.

Just think of it a two flashlight batteries two 1.5V batteries sitting - to + = 3V in your flashlight and so on for higher voltage lights.

Jim