Power Major diesel won't start

ltknutson

New User
I recently acquired a Fordson Power Major diesel. The former owner told me the regular starting procedure no longer worked and they now had to pull it to start it. The starter isolating switch appears to not be working. I have not tried to start it by pulling it. It has a mounted loader which I would expect make it tricky to pull. We winched it onto my trailer and I haven't even unloaded it yet.

I have about a dozen of the 100 series Fords but have never had a Power Major and know nothing about them. I don't even know where to begin trouble shooting this issue. Any advice will be appreciated. .
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OK; have to dig through the cobwebs of my brain. I don't know what they are referring to as and isolation switch. On the left side, under the hood, right in front of the fuel tank, should be a solenoid, One terminal holds the cable to the battery, the other goes to the lug on the starter. On top of the starter is a two terminal switch that is engaged by the starter control rod, that engages and energizes the upper solenoid when the starter lever is pushed down. I don't remember though, if it energizes, or grounds the solenoid to send power to the starter. We used to add a used to add a safety switch, connected to the clutch pedal by a long spring, to the clutch pedal pivot pin. Make absolutely sure that thing is in neutral before engaging the starter. If everything is just right, the Major will start before you can say OOps. Majorman I'm sure, can tell you if the solenoid needs to be fed, or grounded to engage. 75 years of cobwebs are hard to clear.
 
Cobwebs !!!!!!! I suffer from mouse nest and wasps nest in mine!!!!

Switch on the top of the starter takes power from the ignition switch, second wire then goes to the small terminal on the solenoid when the starter lever is pushed down.

These switches can fail but new ones are available.

Make sure it is out of gear, push the starter lever down then touch a small piece of wire from the power terminal on the solenoid or battery to the small terminal on the solenoid. If the solenoid is OK and the starter motor works, then she should fire straight up.

PLEASE NOTE: Majors do not have a safety switch in the start circuit so it is very easy to start them in gear as Skipper says. Rule of thumb is never start the tractor from anywhere but the seat and always start with your foot on the clutch pedal.
 
Gentlemen: Thank you for your input. Here's my progress so far: Following Majorman's suggestions and using a remote starter switch cord, I was able to energize the solenoid and activate the starter motor. It now appears that my problem is in the ignition (in my manual it's called the starter isolation) switch. However, the tractor had been sitting for over a year without being started and refused to start. The tank had some fuel, but was far from full. I loosened a fuel line connection to verify fuel flow and then attempted to bleed the fuel system per my manual's instructions. However, the priming lever on the fuel pump did not seem to have any resistance (as in pumping fuel - I also have a MF 65 diesel that requires occasional fuel system bleeding) and I was never able to see a solid flow of fuel from the bleed screw on top of the filter. The tractor is still sitting on my trailer and rain is approaching so I've paused this project for today.

Questions - where do I find a good quality ignition (starter isolation) switch. It seems it's tied into the light switch, or are they separate? Can that panel be easily removed to replace that switch? Any thoughts/recommendations on bleeding the air from the fuel line to the injector pump? Do I need a new fuel pump? I did not run the battery completely down but I'll have to charge it before attempting another start.
 
The switch you are looking at is the ignition/light switch and is one unit. They are available as a new switch and, yes, if you take the panel off the switch is easily fitted. Before you get that far, try squirting contact cleaner into the key hole and work the switch a number of times. You may find it starts to work.

Try turning the engine a revolution and then check the primer pump. If the engine stops with the fuel lift pump cam on the cam shaft in the wrong place, the lift pump will not pump manually.

You have two bleed screws on the fuel filter and one on the injection pump. You also have a filter screen in the fuel tank, on the tap. You will have to take the tap out to get it. Check this if you do not have a good flow of fuel to the primer pump. You may need to change the fuel filter if it has become blocked, but you could start the tractor without a filter for a short period just to get it off your trailer.
 
Nice looking unit , dont see many Fordson that look that nice at least I dont . Good luck with the tractor .
Id put some fuel conditioner in like stanadyne if your using low sulphur fuel highway fuel to help lubricant the moving part and clean out the snot .
 
Majorman; Do you remember when they had the button on the bottom of the solenoid, that you could push to start them from the ground?
 
The weather here in north Iowa has turned crappy again (cold, windy with rain) for the past several days so I've been concentrating on a couple of tractor projects in my shop where I have heat. I've tried the contact cleaner and working the switch on the Power Major to no avail. Still a no-go. I've searched on-line and have ordered a replacement switch from an eBay seller. I also ordered a fuel filter from the same vendor. Hopefully spring weather will actually arrive next week and I can get that tractor off my trailer.

PS - I enjoy communicating with someone who actually writes in complete sentences with correct spelling and punctuation. I read so many of these posts where just the opposite is true it's refreshing to see written English used properly.
 
Well, today is a nice day for a change. Sunny, calm, and temps are going for the mid-50's so I thought I'd give starting my Power Major another try. Today my remote switch will energize the solenoid but the starter control lever gives me nothing from the starter. Taking a close look at the starter, I removed the wire nuts thinking I'd check for continuity with the solenoid energized. (see photo, attached - does this wiring appear correct?) I clamped one wire with my test light and when I touched the second wire the starter began to spin. I quickly pulled the second lead away from that wire. Then went back to again try the starter control lever with the same results - nothing. What are my next steps?
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One of those wires should be Live from the ignition switch, the other should go to the small tab on the solenoid, all the switch does is just join the two and trigger the solenoid.

That switch could be faulty, disconnect both wires, set your test meter on continuity, one probe on one connection the other probe on the other. When you press the starter lever, you should get a connection that shows on your meter.
 
Well, the mystery deepens. I did check continuity as per your advice and that check was OK. I re-attached the wires, tried it again, got a clunk at the starter, or, maybe the switch that's mounted on the starter, and it began to turn over. So I thought I had banished the goblin. Not so fast. When one disappears, another takes its place. Now, when I activate the solenoid with my remote switch, the starter drive begins spinning but does not engage the flywheel unless the starter control lever is pressed down. So, now to activate the starting sequence I need to first engage the starter control lever, then press my remote starter switch. None-the-less, it still wouldn't start. (I did bleed the fuel line) Maybe too cold? It's 51 degrees F. here today.
 
I am now convinced that it's not getting any fuel to the injectors. I loosened one of the injector lines where it connects to the pump, turned the engine over a few times and got NO leakage at that loosened connection. I thought I had bled the system of air but I now cannot get any pressure trying to manually operate the fuel pump. I did get flow at the filter and the injector pump when I did the bleed sequence. I'm thinking my sext step will be to pull the tractor off my trailer, then pull it to see if I can get it started that way.
 
Tractor is off my trailer. Back to working on the fuel system. Today I removed the sediment bulb off the fuel pump to clean the screen. The screen fell apart when I touched it. Does anyone know a source for a replacement?
 

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