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Nah, I don't think corroded clutch switch wires alone will cause your problem. I think it's a combination of things, that being only one of them, along with bad ground, undersized wiring, etc.
I doubt that you really need new battery cables; just clean and re-tighten all the connections using a dab of dielectric contact grease on all of them. if you do want to replace them, I'd use either #1 or #0 – bigger is always better.
Putting that relay in the solenoid circuit will make a huge difference, believe me. Doing so solved all the starting issues on my tractor, once and for all. Mine now starts within two seconds of turning the key, every time.
I'm not sure how much more detailed I can get on that relay hookup. Let's start with the basics: A relay is an electromagnetic coil that pulls a pair of contact together when current is applied across the coil. There will be four contacts on the relay – two for the load and two for the coil. You want to use the old wiring to activate the relay coil so it can then switch current from a better source to the original load. Therefore:
Obtain from your local auto parts store a “universal 12v 40-amp relay” This should only cost five or ten bucks. While you're at it, pick up four crimp-on spade connector terminals, two for 8-gauge wire and two for 14 gauge wire, and about six feet of 8 gauge primary wire. You don't need to worry about mounting the new relay – it can just dangle from the wiring or you can zip-tie it to something handy, it doesn't matter much as long as the terminals don't inadvertently short out on anything. Now to do the actual wiring:
Disconnect the wire from the small terminal on the starter solenoid – this is the wire that carries the current from the key switch (by way of the clutch interlock switch you have bypassed) to the coil in the starter solenoid. The starter solenoid, by the way, is really a relay that switches the power for the starter motor. We're just going to add another relay in front of that one to allow it to draw more power from the battery.
The wire that you disconnected from the small terminal on the solenoid now is connected to one of the coil contacts on the relay. The other coil contact is wired to ground. Now, when you turn the key switch, current is directed to the coil of the relay and that energizes the electromagnet that pulls the relay's contacts together, just like in the starter solenoid. So the next step is to wire up power to the relay contacts.
Take a piece of 8 gauge primary wire and hook one end of it to the positive terminal of the battery. You can go all the way to the batter itself, or you can hook it to the end of the positive cable that runs from the positive battery terminal to the starter solenoid big terminal. The object is to have a source of power that will withstand a heavy load. Having done that, the other terminal of the relay load contacts is wired to the starter solenoid's small terminal where you removed the wire from the key switch earlier. Use more of the 8 gauge wire for this connection.
That's it – you should be all done. Now, when you turn the key switch to the “start” position, power is delivered to the coil of the new relay, pulling the contacts together to switch power from the new, heavy wire you ran to the starter solenoid’s coil input. Since the coil can now draw all the power it needs, it will switch very positively and the starter will promptly spin up and start the engine.
That reminds me of the old '54 Dodge 6×6 PowerWagon we had when I volunteered with Rocky Mountain Rescue Group back in the 60's – we'd be running Code 3 up Boulder Canyon and cars would have to pass us to get out of our way. It may have been slow but it would go anywhere it could muster the traction or find an anchor point for the PTO winch. We winched it up a cliff face one time and I'd swear the thing was dangling like a pendulum. I have no idea how the engine could even run in that attitude, but it did. Scared the cr*p outta me, too.
During that same period I worked part time as a wrecker driver and the boss usually had me run the old '52 Chevy ton-and-a-half with the split-boom Holmes 500. That thing was a complete dog on the road but it would snatch cars out of the creek bottom in the canyon all day long without breaking a sweat. Ugly as a mud fence, though!
When you're 18 years old, driving a pig like that Chevy makes it really hard to feel cool and macho – I much preferred the Ford 4×4 with the Holmes 550, but it actually had a working heater so the boss ran that one himself, the selfish rat.
11.8 volts is too low. You should read 12.6 volts at the solenoid. I'd start by checking the ground cable from the battery to the frame. Clean all contact areas and dope with dielectric grease and tighten the connections. Your solenoid is not getting enough voltage/current to throw solidly, thus the arced contacts. When you're checking the wiring, check to make sure that the wire from the battery positive terminal to the solenoid isn't corroded or has broken conductors. The starter takes a lot of current and a wire that is deteriorated won't be able to handle the current draw, even though a voltmeter may show that full voltage is passing.
You said you twisted the wires together at the clutch interlock switch – did you clean them and use a wire nut or a crimp connector or did you just twist the corroded wires together and wrap a piece of tape around them? I'd suggest soldering them, since those wires are undersized as it is.
On my tractor, I added a 12 volt, 40-amp relay to the starter solenoid circuit. Just open the circuit between the key switch and the solenoid small terminal and hool the wire from the key switch to one leg of the relay coil. The other leg of the coil goes to ground. Then run an 8 gauge wire from the battery positive terminal to one leg of the relay's switched contacts and the other leg goes to the small terminal on the solenoid. Now when you turn the key it closes the relay and lets plenty of current flow to the solenoid through a heavy enough wire to ensure that the solenoid is getting all the current it needs for a positive action.
There's hours and then there's hours, depending on the level of service stress. Not all hours are created equal, so to speak.
You haven't experienced the full thrill of a diesel engine until you're heard a big V-8 diesel engine go into runaway – one of those tings trying to turn 6000rpm or more will make your blood run cold and a certain portion of your intimate anatomy pucker up too tight to pull a needle through. Been there, done that. Never again! I wouldn't touch an injector pump no matter what.
Yeah, I had to split mine due to an oil leak, and I was really glad that I did. Had I not done it when I did, I think the tractor could have simply broken in half at the bellhousing and been destroyed. You can read all about it here:
It wasn't a lot of fun doing it by myself, but I managed it and now I no longer have to worry about my tractor breaking in half.
If your tractor is dripping oil at the bellhousing to block joint, I wouldn't delay about addressing the issue.
“All this means is that I have worked on every piece of crap that was ever built . “
Hey, that's what we call valuable experiential wisdom! Or, in my case, a vast fund of generally useless information garnered through the perpetration of a long series of misadventures.
Ah, I didn't know that, Bob. Learn something new every day. Is there a good reason they don't out them on dozers?
If your tractor is equipped with a compression release, you can simply pull that and lock it open, then turn the engine over with a wrench on the crank pulley nut until the oil is expelled out the exhaust valves. Lots less trouble than pulling injectors or glow plugs, I'd think. This is my notion anyway; if Bob says different, then I'd listen to him – he's way more knowledgeable than I am about diesel engines.
Thanks guys, it's been a long, drawn-out project, and a real bear at times trying to move things all by myself (good thing I have a tractor!), but it's been well worth all the effort. I still have work yet to do, but I can use it now and it's fine. I can toss the electric pole saw on it and run out and prune trees and load the cuttings as I go, then zip around to the other side of the farm and dump all the thorny stuff without ever needing to fight with it. I love it.
As soon as I can scrounge an appropriate cylinder, I'm going to make a quick little portable hydraulic bender I can put on the bed and run with the powerpak. That will be a big plus on doing railing jobs on-site – no more running back to the shop to bend something that's too tough to do by hand.
