1320 starter not engaging

Well I am trying to repair my grandparents 1320 and I m a bit baffled.

Symptoms: glow plug light hasn t been working for months (tractor started). Then tractor wouldn t start. When I got there the starter would go but loud tick (like hitting something with an air chisel), like it wasn t engaging all the way with the fly wheel. This has happened in the past on my 1720, so I sort of assumed with was a dying starter or ignition switch.

Well today I replaced both with new parts and I am having the same issue. The old ignition seems fine after testing and the old starter seems to have the gear frozen open so I m glad I replaced it.

So after trying to start it a second time I saw a puff of electrical smoke come out of the dash gauges. Upon investigating there was a huge mouse nest and some chewed wires. Mostly just the wires going to the indicator lights. Nothing else seems bad so I think this might be unrelated and when I shifted stuff, something shorted.

Anyway, I am confused why the starter is not engaging. I m not terribly familiar with tractors vs cars but I would assume if it was cranking the belts and whatnot would spin. So to me it sounds like the starter is not engaging the flywheel well.

The starter does have oval holes for the bolts. Is there a way that I should be adjusting this so it engages better or am I completely wrong and something else is going on?

What should I check?

Wire from battery to seater seems great. Ground cable looks fine. Low resistance between negative terminal and frame.

Make sure the engine is not seized if not run recently. Also are you sure the battery is good?

Hello Chicago welcome to YT. Your description of an
air chisel noise usually is a sign of low battery voltage
which could mean low charge or the battery is bad.
The sound is made by the solenoid switch rapidly
engaging and then disengaging because there is not
enough voltage to hold it in contact when the starter
adds it high amp draw onto the batteries output. You
had the starter out and saw the drive gear so I assume
you could make an assessment of whether you are
hearing the drive gear not engaging properly. That
sound is generally more like a wood Skill saw cutting.
You are talking about reading low resistance on the
ground cable connection so does this mean you have a
meter? If so if it will measure the DC volts on the
battery that would be the most helpful. A well charged
battery should be at 12.5 to 12.7 volts. When you
engage the key to the start position if it drops below 8-
10 volts your battery is lacking charge or it is bad. Yes
an engine being cranked by the starter will have the
belt and fan turning.

Everything Used Red says is spot on.
I would add that the Shibaura Fords must have good glow plugs in order to start quickly so as not to overwork the starter and battery. Replace those glow plugs and get a hot battery and you should be good to go.

(quoted from post at 01:13:04 01/06/23) Hello Chicago welcome to YT. Your description of an
air chisel noise usually is a sign of low battery voltage
which could mean low charge or the battery is bad.
The sound is made by the solenoid switch rapidly
engaging and then disengaging because there is not
enough voltage to hold it in contact when the starter
adds it high amp draw onto the batteries output.

Click to expand...

Thank you! I will measure the voltage today. I hadn t yesterday because I had the tractor jumped to a car to eliminate that issue.

Today I m bringing better cables and my portable starter.

I m starting to think there might be multiple issues. Like bad starter + low battery + rusted out jumper cables + smoking wires in the dash.

Cold and lake of appropriate tools didn t help.

Ditto on the glow plugs. Make sure they are working. Never use starting fluid on these engines! A proven sure way to ruin the
engine.

(quoted from post at 09:07:11 01/06/23) Ditto on the glow plugs. Make sure they are working. Never use starting fluid on these engines! A proven sure way to ruin the
engine.

Click to expand...

Yeah starter fluid is not a thing for engines that don t Have spark plugs as far as I know.

For an update, I got it running. I pulled out all the wiring harnesses and spliced in new wires with some other connectors I had lying around.

I also gave the battery a good charge for any hour or so while I fiddled.

Started right up. I think the chewed wires were causing many issues and then the battery was also likely drained from repeat starts. And the old starter is locked open which probably killed it. The jumper cables were also rusted out inside and not working.

I still don t get a light to the glow plugs, but that I can investigate later. The tractor is garages so it didn t get very cold.

Thank you so much for the advice and keeping me sane. It was dumb but I hadn t even thought about the battery.

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Regarding the glow plugs. They are really important for this style of combustion chamber so be sure to get them working.
My 1620 has a "light" on the dash that tells me when the circuit is engaged. My 1510 has a hole in the dash with a heated coil that glows red after about ten seconds telling me the glow plugs are hot. One of the Kubotas also has the heated coil. In all three tractors it takes about ten seconds to fully heat them up.
Never use starting fluid on these Fords.