Farmall Super C Starter Troubleshooting

Bookman

Member
I am heading out to my shop this afternoon to do some troubleshooting on my 1952 Super C and why it is not starting. It is converted to 12 volt with an alternator. I put a battery in it yesterday morning with plans to take it to a small local show. Pulled the starter rod and nothing!! Lights work so I assume not a bad ground, at least from the battery. According to test light, juice getting to starter from battery. Now this past summer I put on new gauges and starter switch. I thought I started it after I did that, but perhaps not.
Any suggestions as to sequence of trouble shooting?

Not much of a mechanic but could someone refresh me as to how to short the starter saddle with a screw driver and by pass the starter switch. In checking my records, I just had the starter worked on a year ago. Thanks in advance.
 
Thanks, I will give that a shot. A lack of ground at the starter could explain why the lights work but starter does not.
 
Vert possible the post on the starter is bad going to 12v can find the weakest area in the starter and now the circuit is open. Get the starter refreshed and they will find the trouble
 
Tap on the starter with a screw drive handle or other such thing. If it then spins over the brushes where stuck or getting bad.
 
I had a similar situation on my A. My battery cables were loose but I had to remove them and clean them before I could get good enough contact. Might want to make sure the starter isn't locked to the ring
gear. Can you turn the engine by moving the fan or have a crank to try it.
 
since you did nothing , not even clean the cables it could be that simple... could be solenoid to. dont know why people torture a starter on a small engine with 12 volts, due to more arching in the solenoid. the big old W9'S started perfectly with 6 volts.
 
I grew up on a C and its younger brother, the 230. If it was me the first thought would be that starter was bound up on the flywheel. Sometimes you can get them to unlock
by putting it in 4th gear and rocking the rear wheels, but the best way is to loosen the 2 bolts that hold the starter and wiggle it a little, you will hear and feel the
bendix release and spring back. This is a common problem on those tractors, the wrench to loosen the starter was standard equipment in the toolbox on both of our
tractors.
 
you cannot short the saddle, with a screw driver. you will have to remove the saddle and use jumper cables, put hot wire to brass nub that
is located under the saddle.
 
I checked the battery with my load tester, and it is very weak. Odd the lights seem to come on bright yesterday but anyway the battery is weak. I keep my batteries on maintenance
chargers but I think what happens occasionally is the connections get corroded and they stop charging. I need to check them more often. Anyway, I have the battery on a
maintenance charger over night, and I will try to start the tractor tomorrow and report back. Thanks for all the good advice. I had taken the battery off the
tractor and when I put it on yesterday I did clean the connections, etc. Today I took the battery of the tractor and tried connecting the battery to ground and
stater with jumper cables. Got nothing, so tried my load tester and got a very weak battery. Hopefully it will charge up....seems to be charging anyway. Thanks
again.
 
Maybe your maintenance charger boiled the battery dry? I am not a big believer in those chargers, I have a couple but I never leave them on continuously, but I know some are better than others.
 
Yes, those little chargers can boil a battery dry. I use the Schmacher ones. I try to check the battery cells every few months. Unfortunately, the corrosion part can fool me. It can be on green and not charging the battery of terminals corroded. I checked the battery this morning and it is charged up, but I did not have time to try to start the tractor. I should get to it later to day or tomorrow.

Thanks.
 
I had time to check the battery late this afternoon. A little low on distilled water but all the cells above the core. Battery is charged up and shows in the "good" range on my tester. I have the battery off the tractor so I ran a jumper cable from the positive terminal to the starter saddle and then a jumper cable from the negative terminal to a ground on the tractor. Pulled out the ignition switch and pulled the starter rod and . . . nothing. I tried couple of other grounding places and nothing. No click with the battery, no hum...no nothing. I suspect when I put in new gauges last summer and a new (old style) ignition switch that I wired something wrong. I thought I checked with someone and the switch I got would work with an alternator but maybe not.

So tomorrow I will spend some more time checking out wiring. It was a pain to do it the first time and probably no easier the second time. Any further suggestions? Thanks in advance.
 

You need to check voltage at some key locations, i believe the ignition makes no difference when you pull the rod as it engages the starter switch.

Take the starter to a good shop and get it tested if you do not have the tools.
 
I just had the starter worked on last year to the tune of $150. Of course, that does not mean it has not corroded somewhere between then and now. Thanks
 
I did not switch it over. A previous owner did. I will say that usually it spins over a lot more than my Super C than has not been converted to 12 volt. I do have several other 6 volt tractors and some start easily and some not so much. I do not usually get much time out of a six volt battery and usually get more time out of a 12 volt battery.
 
I have been out of town for a few days and finally got back to my Super C. I started to take the saddle switch off but kind of a pain to reach that screw next to the tractor holding it on. So, before I did that I thought I would try one more thing. I connected the battery up with jumper cables and then pushed down the saddle swtich with a screw driver. The starter engaged and the tractor turned over.

It must be that just by pulling on the starter lever that the switch is not pushed down far enough. Maybe wear and tear over the years or whatever. Anybody else have that problem and any suggestions for solutions. I suppose on solution is to weld on and build up the piece that pushed down on the saddle switch. Any other thoughts?
 
The connections under the switch are all carboned up from arcing over the years. The switch needs to be removed, and the nub needs to be cleaned and filed smooth, and a new switch installed.

Two 1/2" bolts are all that hold the starter on. It's about the easiest thing to remove so you can get at that back screw on the starter saddle. It will take a whopping 5 minutes.
 

Thanks. I will do some cleaning. It is a fairly new switch. Yep, I have had the starter off before. About a year ago I had the starter all redone at a local shop to the tune of about $150, so I was a bit surprised when I tried it a couple of weeks ago after it had sat for six months or so and it would not start. Thanks again.
 

Put on a different saddle switch, and the tractor started. Do not know what is wrong with the old one.
 

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