currierej
Bronze Member
I have a early 80's Shibaura tractor, I was having electrical problems and decided to tackle it head-on.
I removed EVERY wire from the entire tractor, if it was copper and insulated it was gone.
The alternator had been leaking smoke so I replaced it with a GM single wire alternator.
The fuse block wasn't even worth looking at, it was replaced with a new blade type that has the added feature of if a fuse blows an LED light comes on to show which one is bad.
ALL idiot lights were removed and gauges were added to replace them.
A new dash was built with the original tachometer being retained.
My tractor doesn't need turn signals or hazard lights, the headlights were replaced with LED floodlights, with the same being added to the rear.
I reused the ignition switch, however I didn't reconnect the glow plugs (I have a couple of questions about them) but since I'm in Oklahoma I have had no trouble starting the tractor without them.
It's been two years since then and the tractor has been running great!
The only problem I've had is the fuel gauge quit working, I thought that maybe I had failed to tighten a wire connection and it had come loose, turns out it was a bad gauge.
I labeled all the wires with a P-touch labeler, and I'm kinda disappointed with their performance, all the labels exposed to sunlight have faded to blank, labels not exposed to sunlight have started to peel and fall off.
I have since bought a Brady labeler, they claim that their labels will resist fading and peeling.
I removed EVERY wire from the entire tractor, if it was copper and insulated it was gone.
The alternator had been leaking smoke so I replaced it with a GM single wire alternator.
The fuse block wasn't even worth looking at, it was replaced with a new blade type that has the added feature of if a fuse blows an LED light comes on to show which one is bad.
ALL idiot lights were removed and gauges were added to replace them.
A new dash was built with the original tachometer being retained.
My tractor doesn't need turn signals or hazard lights, the headlights were replaced with LED floodlights, with the same being added to the rear.
I reused the ignition switch, however I didn't reconnect the glow plugs (I have a couple of questions about them) but since I'm in Oklahoma I have had no trouble starting the tractor without them.
It's been two years since then and the tractor has been running great!
The only problem I've had is the fuel gauge quit working, I thought that maybe I had failed to tighten a wire connection and it had come loose, turns out it was a bad gauge.
I labeled all the wires with a P-touch labeler, and I'm kinda disappointed with their performance, all the labels exposed to sunlight have faded to blank, labels not exposed to sunlight have started to peel and fall off.
I have since bought a Brady labeler, they claim that their labels will resist fading and peeling.