Ford 600 Electrical Issue

I was handed down my wifes grandpas old Ford 600. It was running before he got sick, but set for about 18 months. Put a battery on it, but still wouldnt crank. So I cleaned the carburetor and I put a tune up kit in, new points, condenser, rotary button, and spark plugs. Still no fire. I wiggled the wires in the dash, it cranked right up and was running great. Drove it around some hooked the disc up and parked it. Got up the next morning disced a little bit on my food plots before church no issues. Came back from church started discing again and it was running fine. Suddenly it starts missing and spitting and sputtering and goes dead. I let it set for a minute and it cranked back up and would run good for a minute then right back to spitting and sputtering. Limped it back to the shed and its still sitting there. I found one side of the terminal block burnt up in the dash. It had been 12 volt converted Im assuming years ago before a 12 volt wiring harness was available. There was wires running everywhere stuff just cut and hanging and spliced and what not. So I ordered a new 12 volt wiring harness. Ive got it put on expect a couple wires. It has a 12 volt coil on it so I dont have or need a resistor unless Ive misunderstood something. So Ive got a few wires I cant figure out. Theres a white wire in the harness that goes toward the alternator not sure if it should bolt to the stud on the alternator or what? There is a white wire coming out of the plug on the alternator so I hooked that white wire up to it ran it to the dash had to do some splicing but got the other end in the dash ran to the positive side of the coil. They were both white wires so it seems logical? Still no fire. Theres also a jumper wire running from the plug on the alternator to the stud on the back of the alternator. I tried it first with that hooked up and then without the jumper wire. So now Im stuck with how to get power to the coil. Theres one end of the white wire that goes to the dash and should plug into a resistor which I dont have because the tractor has a 12 volt coil on it. So I made short piece of wire with two male ends and plugged the short white wire on the terminal block to the other end of the long white wire that goes toward the alternator. That white wire was long enough to go around the front of the motor to the coil, but still no fire in distributor cap. It was hot at positive side of the coil but nothing else. That end has a female connector where it would plug into the resistor if I had one, but I dont. I know that white wire has something to do with the coil but every what. I can ground my test light to the negative post on the battery and everything in the distributor cap is hot, but as soon as I put the negative cable on the battery theres no power in the distributor cap. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️ Then Ive got two red wires in the dash that arent making sense to me. One is the wire from the alternator, the other is a wire that bolts to the positive cable side of the starter solenoid. Ive got a smaller red wire that the wiring diagram says goes from the terminal block to the to the amp meter which Ive bought a volt meter to switch it over. What aint making sense to me is all of these hot wires are going to the volt meter according the diagram, but none of the hot wires other than the small red wire goes to the terminal block so if I wire it like the diagram says the volt meter is always hot whether the key is on or not. Also it seems like that would keep the whole electrical system hot all the time if one of those bigger red wires dont go to the terminal block so that the key actual turns the power off. Im not much of an electrician at all if you cant tell. Someone said the new condenser could be bad so I put another one in it still nothing. Any ideas or thoughts? I know this was a lot and confusing but Im confused. What seems simple has gotten extremely difficult. Thanks in advance folks.

Here is how I wire up all my Ford
tractors. Terrible artist....lol. But it
works great. Buy all the parts,
wires,and connectors at the auto parts
store. Takes a couple hours.

Im doing something similar to this, but Im sure theres one little missed step in there somewhere. Thanks I appreciate it. My alternator has two wires coming out of the plug. One is a little short wire that bolts right back to the stud on the alternator and if Im looking at this right the white wire that is coming out of the plug on my alternator needs to go to the key switch? Then make me another wire to go from the switch to the coil. Ive got two little studs on my solenoid and this wiring harness has an orange wire one stud that goes to the terminal block that everything bolts to. What is the purpose of that wire do you know?

(quoted from post at 22:44:03 09/20/21) Im doing something similar to this, but Im sure theres one little missed step in there somewhere. Thanks I appreciate it. My alternator has two wires coming out of the plug. One is a little short wire that bolts right back to the stud on the alternator and if Im looking at this right the white wire that is coming out of the plug on my alternator needs to go to the key switch? Then make me another wire to go from the switch to the coil. Ive got two little studs on my solenoid and this wiring harness has an orange wire one stud that goes to the terminal block that everything bolts to. What is the purpose of that wire do you know?

Click to expand...

To help clarify things most use the term "crank, or cranking", to mean the engine turning over via the starting system. The engine operating after starting is referred to as "running". Saying it won't crank will get you answers related to checking the starting system. If it is turning over with the starter, but has no fire as you say, that is related to the ignition system.

It would help to know what alternator it has. We can guess it has a Delco type 10SI, aka 3 wire, which is often used for conversions. Does it look like this?



If so the wire from the ignition switch goes to the #1 spade terminal. The wire from the #2 spade can be a short jumper and go to the battery terminal on the alternator. Don't just go by color. If you have this type alternator, do you know if the harness has a diode, resistor, or indicator light in the switched wire to prevent feedback which can make it so you can't shut the engine off?

If you are using a voltmeter in place of an ammeter it has to be wired different than the ammeter. One terminal gets power from a switched voltage source (the ignition switch) and the other terminal gets a ground wire.

It is great you tell the wire colors but I have seen different colors in different harnesses, so a red or white wire may not be for the same function in different harnesses. Did the harness you bought come with a diagram so you know where the builder intended the wires to attach? Some harnesses have wires in them for things, like lights, that may not be on your tractor and don't need to be connected. If it didn't come with a diagram can you contact the seller and see if they can supply you with one?

Grandpa Love's diagram is right, you only need a few wires for it to function.

Yes it is the alternator in the picture. I have the top spade ran to the terminal block and the bottom spade with a short jumper back to the stud on the alternator. I used the white wire in the wiring harness for that. The wiring diagram that came with the harness is a little different because this harness is built for a tractor still running a 6v coil with a resistor under the dash. Since mine has a 12 volt coil heres what I did. I connected the white wire to the top spade on the alternator and the other end to the terminal block. The bottom spade on the alternator already had a little short jumper back to the stud on the alternator. The two red wires I mention are the wire coming from the alternator, and the other one goes to the same side of solenoid as the positive battery cable. In the terminal block I have a little short red wire that came with the wiring harness. I should be able to hook it up to the positive side of the volt meter and then ground the negative side somewhere on the tractor right? Then where should my other two red wires go? Alternator wire and wire off the Solenoid? I went back to the shop after the diagram got posted last night and tried again still no luck. I will mess with again after work and see what I can come up with. Thanks for your help.

Sorry this doesn't help much. Not having the diagram of the harness you bought it is hard for anyone to say which white, red, green or other color wire was intended to do what in that particular harness. If they used the same color for several wires, with no ID tagging, that makes figuring which is which harder. If you bought a harness intended to convert this tractor to 12 volts using this style alternator; my first guess without seeing it, would be the wiring would all be the same as the diagram that came with the harness with the exception of not needing a ballast resistor, since you said you have a 12 volt coil. Provided the diagram is correct to begin with.

Thanks JMOR! I have rewired quite a few using your diagrams.
I just hate that so many think that when you go 12 volts you have to replace the safe starter button w/an unsafe automotive 3 way!

(quoted from post at 12:23:45 09/21/21) Thanks JMOR! I have rewired quite a few using your diagrams.
I just hate that so many think that when you go 12 volts you have to replace the safe starter button w/an unsafe automotive 3 way!

Click to expand...

like keeping the start safety switch too. In all fairness, this particular diagram is to be attributed to KLaRue, I believe. Most of mine are the colorful so called picto-grams.

So the starter solenoid on my tractor isnt correct? It has the two big
posts on the sides and two small posts on the front? Its what was on
the tractor and was functioning until whatever happened that caused my
issue and made it quit running.

(quoted from post at 17:03:36 09/21/21) So the starter solenoid on my tractor isnt correct? It has the two big
posts on the sides and two small posts on the front? Its what was on
the tractor and was functioning until whatever happened that caused my
issue and made it quit running.

Click to expand...

600 would have has only one small post, but......some (not all) two small posts solenoids can be wired to work on a 600.

Figured out the issue. I had a ground fault in the distributor cap. I didnt
have the right piece to jump the ground stud on the front of the
distributor to the points where the condenser wire goes when I put new
points in. So I made one with a short piece of wire and a couple forked
connectors. What I didnt think about is when that fork got kick side
ways when I tightened it up it would touch the distributor too and make
a ground fault. So I spent almost 2 weeks wiring and rewiring the
opposite side of the tractor trying fix a problem I didnt have.

Only question I have now is when I turn the key switch off the tractor
will not go dead I have to choke it to get it to die.. Im thinking I read
somewhere that the light bulb under the dash has something to do with
it? Does it matter what I wire that bulb to?

I appreciate everyones help! Yall are awesome folks!

(quoted from post at 22:47:35 09/21/21) Figured out the issue. I had a ground fault in the distributor cap. I didnt
have the right piece to jump the ground stud on the front of the
distributor to the points where the condenser wire goes when I put new
points in. So I made one with a short piece of wire and a couple forked
connectors. What I didnt think about is when that fork got kick side
ways when I tightened it up it would touch the distributor too and make
a ground fault. So I spent almost 2 weeks wiring and rewiring the
opposite side of the tractor trying fix a problem I didnt have.

Only question I have now is when I turn the key switch off the tractor
will not go dead I have to choke it to get it to die.. Im thinking I read
somewhere that the light bulb under the dash has something to do with
it? Does it matter what I wire that bulb to?

I appreciate everyones help! Yall are awesome folks!

Click to expand...

our description of all that must be one of a kind, but I do actually get it! Yes, the "run on" after ign off is due to alternator feeding the ignition via the excite or #1 spade terminal. It needs a small bulb, 10 Ohm resistor or diode in that wire to interrupt that current at shut down.

Thank you so much! I thought that would be the case but I wanted to
make sure I was putting it in the right spot.

Lynn, we currently own 4 ford tractors
and have bought,fixed and sold 8-10
more. Strangely none of them came to us
with the safety switch wired up......in
fact I can't recall being around one
that has one. Maybe a southern thing? I
don't know, we just sit in the seat to
crank them. Sadly I don't know how to
wire one.......