Engine siezed

[quicksandfarmer]

Best of luck, hope it just fires up when it is all cooled down.

Well....

After a restless night filled with thoughts of expensive repairs and the logistics of getting the tractor out of the field and to a mechanic, I trudged out there with a satchel full of tools and my tractor jack, ready to try everything that's been suggested. Just for kicks I thought I'd try the starter one more time. Bingo, it roared to life!

It turns out it wasn't a log a ran over, but a rock the size of a breadbox that was stuck under the mower.

It just goes to show, the human tendency is to suspect that which we fear most and understand least!

I think now I need to start a thread with the title, "balky starter."

Thanks to everyone for helping me through this.

 

[Egon]

Neat!

He-He-He.

 

[bluechip]

I have learned to expect the worst, that way I am never disappointed!

by that I mean that things normally turn out better then expected. On the other hand, hoping for the best often does lead to dissapointment. So does that make me an Pessimist, optimist or just an experienced chinese tractor dealer?

 

[3RRL]

Well, that is great news she started up again for you. You got to be happy about that.

For future reference, whenever turning the engine over,
- make sure the key is off or out of the ignition switch
- always turn the fuel petcock off
- use a pair of vise grips to hold the "kill switch" back
- use the decompression lever and keep it open
- make sure the tractor is in neutral
- make sure everything else is in neutral
- any implements disconnected too

If you can't get to the crank pulley bolt, you could tighten the alternator belt and use that bolt.
To determine the engine rotation if you're not sure, look at the radiator fan to wee which way the blades go.
Rotating the engine backwards shouldn't hurt it.
BTW, I've had mine run backwards before!

 

[32Ford]

In the original post, after hitting something and stalling the motor, the Bush Hog was disengaged with the PTO and the motor would not turn over. Why would the motor start after discovering a rock was jammed under the bush hog. Again, the PTO was not engaged. Just curious.

 

[Soundguy]

Bad starter? going south?

soundguy

 

[Bob Rooks]

FYI:
All reciprocating internal combustion engines (two and four stroke cycle gasoline, diesel, natural gas, etc.) are all designed for left-hand rotation (looking at the flywheel). The only exceptions are right-hand rotation engines designed for marine and special applications. All electric motors are wired for right-hand rotation, except for special applications.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

In the original post, after hitting something and stalling the motor, the Bush Hog was disengaged with the PTO and the motor would not turn over. Why would the motor start after discovering a rock was jammed under the bush hog. Again, the PTO was not engaged. Just curious.

A string of coincidences, I'm sure. I actually wasn't able to discover the rock until after I had started the engine and was able to lift the mower, so moving the rock was not the solution to the problem.

While I'm not 100% positive what happened, I'm pretty confident that the real problem was with my starter or solenoid. However, when I hit that rock and the engine stalled, the resulting din sounded like I had done something really, really bad to the tractor. When the starter coincidentally picked that moment not to turn over -- for the first time ever or since -- I jumped to the conclusion that I had indeed done something really, really bad to the tractor.

What I don't get is how sitting in a field overnight fixed my starter. The only thing I can think is that it was hot when I was mowing, and I had been out for a few hours. Right after I stalled a thunderstorm rolled in--on top of everthing else I got soaked walking home. The next morning was quite a bit cooler, and it hasn't been that hot since then. I'm wondering if something in my starting system doesn't like to get too hot.

 

[greg_g]

One of the starter bolts on that engine is sort of obscured between the starter housing and the block. There's a chance it could be loose, which can change the geometry of how the pinion gear engages the flywheel teeth. After killing the engine, your first attempt to restart could have jammed the pinion gear into the flywheel teeth. Cooling down overnight may have shrunk the metal to the point where the flywheel let go of the pinion, to the point where the return spring pulled it back into the starter.

So just to cover all the bases, take a socket set out to the tractor and tighten down the two bolts that hold the starter to the bellhousing. Not positive, but I think you can use either a 5/8" or 17mm socket. But I do remember that you'll need about a 6 inch socket extension to get at the back one. Be careful with the ratchet around the electrical contacts.

//greg//

 

[32Ford]

A string of coincidences, I'm sure. I actually wasn't able to discover the rock until after I had started the engine and was able to lift the mower, so moving the rock was not the solution to the problem.

While I'm not 100% positive what happened, I'm pretty confident that the real problem was with my starter or solenoid. However, when I hit that rock and the engine stalled, the resulting din sounded like I had done something really, really bad to the tractor. When the starter coincidentally picked that moment not to turn over -- for the first time ever or since -- I jumped to the conclusion that I had indeed done something really, really bad to the tractor.

What I don't get is how sitting in a field overnight fixed my starter. The only thing I can think is that it was hot when I was mowing, and I had been out for a few hours. Right after I stalled a thunderstorm rolled in--on top of everthing else I got soaked walking home. The next morning was quite a bit cooler, and it hasn't been that hot since then. I'm wondering if something in my starting system doesn't like to get too hot.

I have followed your post with allot of interest. I did something very similiar to what happened to you. I have a 30HP Farmtrac tractor and the first day I used it with a rototiller the tiller locked up and stalled the tractor. Stopped it in a split second. The PTO shaft has a slip clutch which apparently did not function correctly. Anyway, when this happened all sorts of catastrophic damage went thru my mind, bent crankshaft, broken tranny gears, broken PTO,etc. I did not think of anything positive. I turned off the PTO and tried starting it. It started, I was able to drive it. Everything seemed to work OK.
I have since put on 30 hours but anytime I hear a strange sound I think it is because of this one incident. I don't think any damage was done . I know exactly what you felt when you described your incident. Hope your tractor continues to work fine.