Ford 1600 No start

viper1 · Feb 28, 2016

Been having problem with my tractor. Generally an easy starting 2 cyl diesel. The Glowing wire, not sure of proper name. But the one that warms up when you turn the key to left. Well it quit glowing. Looked at it seems to be in one piece. But when it did it the first time the tractor still started but got continually harder till now it wont. Getting Juice to the plugs. Seems to be getting fuel. Could that wire stop it some how?

Jerry/MT · Feb 28, 2016

I don't know what you mean by a glowing wire because wires are not supposed to glow!The colder the ambient temperature the more you need starting aids like the glow plug. Your key switch as a position that closes the circuit to the glow plug and the tip of that plug gets really hot and helps start the combustion process. If that wire s broken or the glow plug is burned out you won't get the pre-heat necessary for cold weather starting. SO make sure that that system is working.

viper1 · Feb 28, 2016

The wire is in dash, When you turn key to left it heats up red then your suppose to turn over the starter. Well thats not working. I pulled the unit off and its got continuity so it should be fine. One end attaches to terminal 17 on ign. switch the other to 19. Also the wire going to glow plugs attach to the # 17 terminal.
I'm not really sure how this works. If I check for power at the glow plugs I have it. But Im thinking there should be power to 17 and 19 terminals when turned to left. How do you check a glow plug to see if its good? And any one know more about the ignition switch?

Jerry/MT · Feb 28, 2016

viper1 said:
The wire is in dash, When you turn key to left it heats up red then your suppose to turn over the starter. Well thats not working. I pulled the unit off and its got continuity so it should be fine. One end attaches to terminal 17 on ign. switch the other to 19. Also the wire going to glow plugs attach to the # 17 terminal.
I'm not really sure how this works. If I check for power at the glow plugs I have it. But Im thinking there should be power to 17 and 19 terminals when turned to left. How do you check a glow plug to see if its good? And any one know more about the ignition switch?

So the glowing wire is an indicator that the glow plug has power. Is it a resistance wire? If it's not glowing then you probably don't have current to the glow plug.Check for continuity on the glow plug itself. I imagine it has a resistance spec so check your owners manual. They either work or they don't. if it's easy to pull, remove it and check the resistance. If not, it is probably grounded through the shell. Take the wire off the glow plug, put an ohm meter on the terminal and the other on a good ground and it should read the required resistance. If it reads infinite, it is open circuit.

The other possibility is that the ignition switch has a bad contact. Is 19 always hot and 17 hot only when you turn the key to the left? This would power the resistance wire and the glow plug when you turn the key to the 17 position.

viper1 · Feb 28, 2016

Yes glow wire is an indicator. I checked and its got continuity. Its a rather thick coil. Not sure exactly if itt is or not. Whats confusing is I took a 12 volt test light. Turned key to the left and both terminals were hot. But the coil don't glow. Then i did the same to the wire at the glow plugs, hot too! So next step I guess is check glow plugs its self. But why would the indicator not work? I got Chemo in the morning. If i can i'll check after. If not it might be a day or two.

randy41 · Feb 28, 2016

the indicator coil on my 1710 doesn't have to glow for the glow plugs to work. its just a loop from the key switch. it may be that way on yours.

JC-jetro · Feb 29, 2016

The resistance wire is only an indicator the circuit is intact and also allows for certain second count before the resistance wire glows red. It take about 15 seconds for it to glow. Glow has nothing to do with the preheat plug is working or not. The preheat glow plug at the each cylinder might not be working. check voltage or a put a test light form contact to glow plug to ground, turn ignition key to left (preheat ) to see if you get any juice at the plug. If you get juice count to 15-20 second and then start. if no juice there investigate the break in the circuit leading to glow plug. if you have juice there and no start than use a non-contact IR Thermometer to see if it actually gets hot. Glow plug can be easily removed from the block to bench test or shorted out directly from the battery while on the tractor to see if it heats up. If resistance wire is busted the contact can be shorted out by a wire and one needs to only count 15 seconds to start without visual cue of the glow indicator light.

JC,