starter will not crank engine

[randyrest]

860 ford converted to 12v Yesterday I started it with no problem. Today I push the start button and nothing. I took a jumper cable and went from the + side of the battery (which has a full charge) to the wire lug on the starter and nothing. I took the starter out and put in a brand new starter. Before I put the new starter in I connected the jumper cable to it and it spun. I put it in and nothing. I even wire brushed the metal where the starter bolts to the tractor. I put the jumper cables on the starter I just took out and it spun. What the heck happened from one day to another. I wire brushed all battery connections and the ground cable. Anybody have an idea?

 

[boblibido]

I had a very similar problem with my super a. New starter wouldn't crank once everything was installed.

I bought a digital voltmeter that had a setting to check the circuit continuity. Turns out my battery box was blocking the battery terminal from grounding. (even after wore brushing everything)

Without the meter, I never would have found where the circuit was failing.

Good luck!

 

[Harry in Ky]

Try connecting your jumper cable from the battery negative terminal straight to ground on the engine(sort of bypassing the existing ground cable) and see what that does. I suspect you just have a poor connection to ground.

 

[Sysop]

I've commonly added extra grounds on some equipment I was unsatisfied with the condition of original grounding. Can't have too much ground.