Ford 1910 no charging

Rabduck03 · Aug 4, 2013

I've gone thru all the wiring on my 1910 and replaced the voltage regulator but the tractor will still not charge. The charge light remains on. I've checked all my connections but still can't seem to find the issue.

Voltage is 12.35 before start and after starting - no change.

Any thoughts?

rayikeo2 · Aug 4, 2013

How old is the battery? Maybe it won't take a charge. If it has a dead cell the light will stay on. Another thing to check is the fan belt, it may be too loose. When the tractor is not running, see if you can spin the alternator pulley with your hand, if you can turn it the belt needs to be tightened or replaced. I always try to eliminate the easy things first.

Rabduck03 · Aug 4, 2013

Belt is good and tight. Battery is about 18 months old. When charged with a charger it works well. I guess I could take it in and get it checked.

rayikeo2 · Aug 4, 2013

If your charger brings it back to full charge in a reasonable length of time the battery is probably OK, unless it runs back down when you are not using the tractor.

Rabduck03 · Aug 4, 2013

The battery charges up fine and holds the charge well.

On the wires going to the alternator

N - with key on it has same volts as battery
Bat+ - always has the same voltage as the battery.
E - ground
F - ??? What should this be when running? With key off motor stopped it has no voltage.

rayikeo2 · Aug 5, 2013

F at alternator should have voltage when key is turned to on to get alternator to start working. Teat procedure is outlined in shop manual FO 44. I can copy it for you but not tonight. I don't know if it will help you or not.

JC-jetro · Aug 5, 2013

FYI. Scan of FO-44 pages 56-57.

Jc,

rayikeo2 · Aug 5, 2013

Good job JC, now can you do the same thing for pages 54 & 55 which is the test procedure for checking the alternator? Ray

JC-jetro · Aug 5, 2013

rayikeo2 said:
Good job JC, now can you do the same thing for pages 54 & 55 which is the test procedure for checking the alternator? Ray

Will do Ray, I have the whole manual scanned plus every other piece of info that I have and of course a jillion of pics.

JC,

rayikeo2 · Aug 5, 2013

Thanks JC, You have everything on microfilm via the PC. Rabduck03 is having trouble getting his 1910 charging after rewiring it. I am sure these 4 pages will help him. Thanks

JC-jetro · Aug 5, 2013

rayikeo2 said:
Thanks JC, You have everything on microfilm via the PC. Rabduck03 is having trouble getting his 1910 charging after rewiring it. I am sure these 4 pages will help him. Thanks

I hope Rabduck will find it useful. I have a 32 gigs of database that includes everything I worked on in the last 15-20 years (pictures and all), all catalogs, shop manuals for all my stuff (including 6 cars, Ford tractor and my newly acquired Kubota tractor as well). I just carry a duplicate of the data base on a $15 flash drive.

JC,

rayikeo2 · Aug 5, 2013

I just love those flash drives and cards. 32 gigs is a lot of portable memory. The first computer I bought was a Commadore with a cassette for programing and saving info. The second computer was a giant step forward. A friend told me it would do everything I would ever need. It was an IBM and the complete Memory was 129 K (yes K) I now have 3 computers and an extra drive with 2 Trigibytes. There is never "enough memory". I take a lot of pictures. Ray

JC-jetro · Aug 5, 2013

rayikeo2 said:
I just love those flash drives and cards. 32 gigs is a lot of portable memory. The first computer I bought was a Commadore with a cassette for programing and saving info. The second computer was a giant step forward. A friend told me it would do everything I would ever need. It was an IBM and the complete Memory was 129 K (yes K) I now have 3 computers and an extra drive with 2 Trigibytes. There is never "enough memory". I take a lot of pictures. Ray

I don't want of get off a tangent here but I still have my commodore 64 and it's huge suitcase size floppy drive (I was a little bit more advanced than you with floppy drive). When I was in engineering college we used bunch of C-64s to build Robotics and controls for industrial and manufacturing automation, very cool for that period. My wife did all her papers for graduate school on C-64. Prior to that. I even had a Sinclair with my B/W TV and a tape recorder for digital storage. lol.

JC,

My boys look at me with astonishment when I given the specs on what I have in the basement. Wondered if I can sell my C-64 on Fleabay.

Rabduck03 · Aug 5, 2013

I went and got the service manual today and I think I got it figured out. The previous owner must have wired alternator plug backwards. When I switched the wires around (N&F) the alt immediately loaded the motor down and the light turned off. Meter read 13.5 and held there for a while with head lights on.

It concerned me a bit when I saw a bit of smoke from the new reg but after a second or two it stopped so I assumed it was just burning a bit of dust/oil off of it. None of the wires were hot so I'm going to watch it.

Thanks for the help.

rayikeo2 · Aug 5, 2013

Good to know you got it fixed. Let us know how it goes after a few days of starting and stopping and working the tractor.

Jbullfrog · Jun 13, 2017

My 1910 was working fine until our 2 year old left the key on. I recharged and tested the battery, it shows OK, but I can't get any voltage to the field terminal. I had the alternator checked and got a new voltage regulator, which when connected, doesn't light the idiot light. I have done all the tests in the manual and am coming up frazzled!

sruman · Jan 3, 2019

I'm having a similar issue. Replaced battery and alternator. The charging light on the dash keeps flashing, especially at low RPM's. Seems to get better (light out) with higher RPM's. Any thoughts?
Tractor is also a FORD 1910.

Jbullfrog · Jan 3, 2019

sruman said:
I'm having a similar issue. Replaced battery and alternator. The charging light on the dash keeps flashing, especially at low RPM's. Seems to get better (light out) with higher RPM's. Any thoughts?
Tractor is also a FORD 1910.

Start with pulling the fuse panel cover and wiggling the terminals on the sides to see if any are loose. This was where my problem was. The wiring is pretty straight forward. Check to see if anything is loose and that the alternator is charging.

sruman · Jan 13, 2019

checked all the wires, everything checks out. No loose wires. Could it be a voltage regulator issue or anything under the dash? Just strikes me as odd that it flashes, but only at lower RPM's.

pclausen · Feb 5, 2019

I have a Ford 1700 that stopped charging about a month ago as per the red charging light. Brand new battery that reads 12.5V and doesn't change with the engine running. I take it the wiring is the same on the 1700 vs. the 1910?

I have attached a pic of my alternator, which has 4 wires going to it as follows:

F, N, E and BAT.

Wires are nice and tight, even that broken plug on the F/N connector. Does anyone know the part number for that guy, btw?

Also, the 3 fuses are all good and the connectors there are tight as well.

I'll follow the troubleshooting guide posted on page 1 of this thread. Hopefully that will allow me to get to the bottom of it.