[JohnEl]

Good evening, hoping one of you people can help me, please.
At some point over the last 30 years. some low-life has helped themselves to the starter motor of my Ford 2000 tractor. They unbolted the thick blue battery +/- leads - I know where they go - but there are two smaller wires which were snipped off in the process. These wires are paired together, one is brown the other white with a red stripe. I'm guessing one of these goes to the third (smallest) solenoid terminal, but where does the other go?
I've attempted to attach a photo with the mystery wires ringed in red.
Any help with this one will be very much appreciated.
All the best.
John

 

[RC Wells]

You should have one wire from the starter contact on the key switch, and a ground wire for the solenoid in the group of small wires. The solenoid will have three terminals, the two small terminals are for the ground and the key switch actuation that is hot when the key is in the start position.







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[JohnEl]

Thank you for your response RC. I've attached a picture of the new starter/solenoid which I'm hoping to fit; I've numbered where I think I need to connect: 1) Big +ve wire from battery 2) White/Red smaller wire from the snipped-off pair of cables 3) Big -ve/earth lead from battery.
This leaves the brown small wire from the snipped-off pair still unconnected. Is this solenoid ground? I can't see anywhere on the solenoid to connect a ground, I was assuming it was grounded from the starter?
I'll be very grateful if you could confirm /refute my assumptions before I start making sparks in the workshop tomorrow...
Many thanks again,
John

 

[Ultradog]

On a diesel you really only need two wires going to the starter.
One is about a 10 ga wire and hooks along with the + battery cable to provide power to the key switch.
A second, smaller wire hooks to the spade connector on the solenoid to engage the starter. Since the solenoid is piggybacked on the starter it gets it's ground through the starter and does not use a seperate ground wire.
You state you have 3 wires going to that location so I'm thinking this:
If that 3rd wire does NOT enter the wire loom it is likely something someone added later and you could easily follow it to see where it goes.
If the 3rd wire DOES go into the wire loom it may be one of two things. You may have a gas wiring harness and that wire would have fed the coil. Or, if it is a heavy 10 ga wire it could have been to energize the thermostart on the intake manifold.
In either case your tractor should start/run/charge normally without that wire being used.

 

[Hacke]

Hi John

It seems that you have the original wiring, or at least the original colours on the wires. I assume the rest of the wiring has the original colours.

You are right so far. The brown wire goes on stud #1 in your picture (together with the big cable from battery +). It goes to the "B" connection on the voltage regulator, which is situated on the wall in the engine compartment, beneath the filler cap. Another brown wire goes from "B" to the key switch. So, the brown wire on the starter is A) Checking and charging the battery, B) Feeding all electric equipment that is connected via the key switch. That means that it is very important that the brown wire and it's connectors are in good condition. Crimp a sturdy ring terminal on the brown wire. Clean the ring terminal on the battery cable on both sides (or put a new one on it) and put that first on the stud, then the ring terminal on the brown wire on top of it.

The white/red wire actuates the solenoid and goes to a safety switch under the lid on the gearbox (you need to have the gears in neutral to be able to run the starter). From the other side of the safety switch goes a white/yellow wire to the key switch.

I stole a picture from http://www.fleetalternatorstarter.com/images/products/detail/176493.jpg and made some notations.

I also enclose wiring diagrams. There are some differences between tractors with "C" and "A" or "B" prefixed serial numbers, but not regarding the wiring of the starter.

If you do not know the numbers and what they mean, look here:
http://www.springfieldbiz.com/oaktree/rhcodes_serial.html

An Owner's Handbook if you have a "A" or "B" prefixed Serial Number:
https://www.tractorforum.com/manuals/ford-2000-3000-4000-5000-operators-service-manual.2/

An Owner's Handbook if you have a "C" prefixed Serial Number:
www.ntractorclub.com/manuals/tractors/Operators%20Manual%20All%20Purpose%20and%20LCG%20Tractors%202000,3000,4000,and%205000.pdf

You will find a Shop Manual here:
https://www.tractorforum.com/manuals/ford-2000-3000-4000-3-cyl-1-65-12-74-shop-manual.6/

*** Edit:
By the way, I think it is better to connect the battery (-) (ground) with one of the bolts that holds the starter to the engine (instead of #3). More meat there. Clean all surfaces before assembly.
***

 

[Hacke]

I forgot this one:
https://www.tractorforum.com/manuals/ford-1000-series-1-65-12-74-wiring-info.13/

 

[saboteur]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum and hoped someone here was able to help, and voila, I found a shop manual.

I acquired a Ford 4000 (3 cylinder diesel) tractor recently. It ran without any issues until recently, the solenoid decided to fall apart.

After replacing the solenoid I decided to take the hood off and clean the engine. The wiring is a complete nightmare. Every wire had a splice in it. I made a quick drawing of the existing wiring and compared it with the manual I downloaded from here, I'm surprised the tractor even started, but now I know why the generator isn't keeping the battery alive.

Thank you Hacke for posting the manual. Now that I know this forum exists, I'll try to help others going forward. I've been working with old Ford tractors for years, My oldest model is a '45 9N, unlike others I've seen, I've never converted it to 12volt from 6.

Thanks again