Ford 3000 reading hot - electrical issue

[kempersw]

My Ford 3000 is reading hot within 5 minutes of startup with the tractor out of gear at 1500 rpm. I checked the fluid temp and it was 180ｰF. I got to looking at the voltage regulator and found that the voltage going to the battery was 14.8V which I thinks sounds reasonable. When I took the cover off the regulator the normally closed contact stayed closed, it had some magnetic pull, but not enough to open the coil. When I force the contact oper the normally open contact closed and the temperature reading went down. Can anyone explain exactly how the voltage regulator works. How would I check if the coil is bad? I'd like to be certain that the regulator is the problem before replacing.

 

[RickB]

Don't double post, please.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Check the battery voltage with the tractor turned off. Start the tractor and check the voltage. Then turn on lights or any kind of load that you can to see if the battery maintains about 14.5 volts. As far as reading hot your temp sender may be flaking out or the wire to it may be corroded.

 

[Jim Thompson]

There is an instrument voltage regulator on the instrument cluster if I remember correctly. Should be available from New Holland dealer or NAPA.

Jim

 

[MBDiagMan]

Yes, if it's like a car, there will be a 5 VDC voltage limiter that gives a constant voltage for the gauges. Does the fuel gauge work normally?

Also, 14.8 is at the upper end of proper battery voltage regulation. I would keep an eye on it. Anything higher than that would lead to shortened battery life. You might run it for awhile or charge the battery for a while, then recheck the battery voltage with engine running.

Hope this is of some help.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Nice catch on the Instrument voltage regulator guys I wasn't even thinking about that on a tractor.

 

[RickB]

Nice catch on the Instrument voltage regulator guys I wasn't even thinking about that on a tractor.

I'd be checking the grounding long before I ran out & bought a voltage stabilizer. Too often the first reaction is to throw money at a problem rather than thought.

 

[Jim Thompson]

These voltage regulators are notorious for sticking especially if used infrequently. I have had limited success in the past with cleaning the contacts with a burnishing tool. As I recall, These regulators had both current and voltage control. My experience with them has been that the gen light stayed on and the battery wouldn't charge not the problem that you have. The factory repair manual has an excellent breakdown on the charging system. I gave my manual to the guy who bought my 3000 several years ago.

Good point by RickB about checking for a good ground. I would add to check/ clean all electrical connections associated with the charging system.

Good luck.

Jim

 

[Soundguy]

you ae confusing a voltage stabilizer for the gauges ( really not much mor ethan a heated bimetalic strip ).. and the voltage regulator for the charge system.

lets keep all the facts straight.

and ditto what rick said.

ID the problem FIRST before throwing possibly uneeded parts at it.

having a double post makes it harder to follow all the responses...

soundguy

 

[MBDiagMan]

It's absolutely true that you should not throw parts at ANY problem. Analyze first.

I am at home now so I was able to check my manual. It does indeed have what they call a Voltage Stabilizer. I can not find in the book what Voltage it is, but I would fully expect that it limits Voltage to 5 VDC. It is very simple to test the stabilizer. Simply connect the negative lead of a DC Voltmeter to ground and check Voltage at both sides of the limiter. If it is working properly, you should see battery Voltage on one pole of the stabilizer and a steady 5 VDC on the other. This is a very simple check to make before laying out cash and spending time chasing down the part.

I am not sure that 5 VDC is the exact Voltage, so if it is at a steady Voltage other than 5, do some more research before replacing it.

Hope this helps