The price tag saved me from being lazy

fixerupper · Aug 26, 2013

The genny quit on the 630 Deere yesterday so I pulled it off and took it apart. It was a Deere rebuilt that I'd put on a good fifteen years ago or so and it was an open frame unit, not sealed like most tractor gennys are. The power steering has had small leaks for years on that thing so the genny was exposed to slightly oily air coming from the engine fan. When I took it apart it was an oily mess inside and the front bearing was shot. This is when I got lazy and called Deere to price another genny. $280.00!!! The parts man did a little more researching and found one on the after market for $200.00.

To make a long story short,$20.00 for a new bearing and a couple of new brushes and fifteen minutes of cleaning and blowing dry and it was back to work again. We won't be lazy again, will we!! Jim

Royse · Aug 26, 2013

Man that sounds familiar!
I often think about "just getting a new one", whatever it is.
But that doggone price tag kills the idea quick!

4020deereboy · Aug 26, 2013

I got lazy last winter and had a place replace a
seal on my transmission in my Dodge Cummings and
when it came back 50 more things were wrong that we
recent when I took it there so there is a good
reason to do your own work

Harold Hubbard · Aug 27, 2013

Just did that last weekend with the starter off a
1977 Dodge W-200 (M-882 military). For the past
month or so, I have occasionally had to crawl
under and whack the starter with a hammer to make
it turn over. Saturday morning no amount of
hammering would make it work. I crawled under and
shorted the solenoid to make sure the problem was
the stater and not something else. Sparks flew
from the top of the starter housing.

When I removed the starter, I could see burn marks
around a copper rivet that grounds the field coils
to the frame. I drilled out the rivet hole
slightly larger to get clean metal, and drove in a
new rivet. Total investment, two hours on a Sunday
morning, and a copper rivet that my Dad bought who
knows when to repair harnesses.

The starter was a rebuilt that I paid over a
hundred dollars for three years ago, to fix the
same problem. That time I was in a hurry and just
dropped the truck off at my local auto repair, and
wrote him the check.

JML755 · Aug 27, 2013

(quoted from post at 08:44:41 08/27/13) ..........
When I removed the starter, I could see burn marks
around a copper rivet that grounds the field coils
to the frame.

The starter was a rebuilt that I paid over a
hundred dollars for three years ago, to fix the
same problem.

wow, sounds familiar. Few years back I had trouble with the starter on my Ford 755 b/h. Cleaning the posts would get it to work for awhile then it finally quit, wouldn't start, no matter what I did. Rebuild cost about $100. Came back all shiny and clean. Worked for a while again and then quit. Frustrated, I pulled out a meter and happened to check for continuity between the starter housing and the negative post. Nothing. I took it apart and removed the bolt from the inside that served as the neg stud. It was pretty grimy underneath the bolt head. Rest of the housing interior was clean as a whistle. I wirebrushed the bolt and scraped the housing down to bare metal. Put it back together, b/h fired right up and been working ever since. Best I can figure is that the jam nut that held the bolt in place had loosened up at one point and allowed dirt to get behind the head of the bolt.

If I had a dollar for every $100 I've wasted over the years, I'd be rich.

fixerupper · Aug 27, 2013

When I took this formerly 'rebuilt' genny apart it was very clear the commutator had not been turned. One commutator block was lower then the rest and had not seen much if any brush contact. I did a poor man's commutator turning by chucking the armature in the drill press and holding emory cloth against the commutator while it spun. When I finished all blocks were shiny. After a mica cutting with an old hacksaw blade it was in working condition again. I've only had 50% luck with rebuilt starters and generators. Another good reason to fix it myself. Jim

jbp · Aug 27, 2013

Traded for a 60 tractor about thirty years ago that had a rear generator bushing that was loose as a goose. Put the armature in a small lathe and turned it to fit an undersize brass replacement bushing. Still using that tractor to do my crop spraying with, the generator is still going strong with only an annual oiling. Joe

The price tag saved me from being lazy

fixerupper

Well-known Member

Royse

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4020deereboy

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Harold Hubbard

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JML755

Well-known Member

fixerupper

Well-known Member

jbp

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