Oliver 1850 wont start

lee1988 · Aug 24, 2015

My Oliver 1850 will not start. I went out on Saturday to start it and the motor turned over and fired right off. I went out Sunday to start it again, turned the key and nothing happened. It did not even click. I charged the battery for about 45minutes, went to start it and still nothing. I then went and tried jumping the starter, I made I had a good connection but still nothing. I have checked all wiring connections over and over and tightened any that I thought could be an issue. Last night I tried using a screw driver on the started solenoid and get the tractor started that way. All the solenoid did was arch, but the started would still not turn over. The tractor is a negative ground. I am new to these tractors so any advice would be appreciated. My only thought is maybe the starter is locked up?
Thanks

46m · Aug 24, 2015

Could it be the starter is locked in the flywheel? Try taking the starter out and put it back in. This happens on the old farmalls quit often. Just a thought.

Steve@Advance · Aug 24, 2015

You'll need a test light or volt meter.

Connect the light/meter from the main lug on the starter to a known good bare metal ground. Short across from the battery lug to the starter and watch the light/meter. If you get voltage, and the starter is not turning, the starter has a problem. Be sure the starter mount bolts are tight.

If there is low or no voltage, there is a bad connection from the battery, a bad ground connection, the battery is discharged, or the battery is bad. Start moving the test connection back toward the battery, load testing it as you go (load testing means taking the reading when you try the starter). Typical problem areas are dirty cable ends, bad connection where the end attaches to the cable.

If the starter does test bad, either take it apart and look inside, or take it to a rebuild shop. Could be simple as bad brushes, much cheaper than a rebuilt starter.

Married2Allis · Aug 24, 2015

Sounds like current is getting to the starter motor but it isn't turning. If the motor was ok and getting juice and was unable to turn the flywheel you would at least hear the magnets buzzing. Remove the starter and bench check it. That will eliminate connection issues from the battery, etc. and you can separate the motor from solenoid problems. If the starter is not turning, it's likely that the 50 year-old Delco starter just needs to cleaned and may need a $25 brush kit. Easy to open it up and remove the armature, blow out the dirt and clean all the copper surfaces. The spring loaded assembly that holds the brushes against the armature gets corroded and stuck, so the brushes aren't working the way they should.

rrlund · Aug 24, 2015

Neutral safety switch. Wiggle the daylights out of the shift. I've had to make a jumper wire for my 1550 because the switch is entirely bad. Look for two wires that go back in under the right side of the cowl,right down low by the frame. That's right side as you're on the seat. They're pretty good sized wires. There should be a big plastic slide together connection in each one,probably 4-6 inches up from where it goes under the cowl. Pull those apart and shove a jumper wire in both of them that come down from above to complete the connection like the switch should do if it was working if wiggling the shift doesn't do the trick. Maybe just wiggling the connections will do it.

Oliver 1850 wont start

lee1988

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46m

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Steve@Advance

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Married2Allis

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rrlund

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