Steering wheel won't come off... LOSING PAITIENCE.

[Underwaterdog]

There is a 6-hole plug that runs from the wire harness up into the dash board. On my tractor that plug only has 3 wires running to it: A wire for the water temperature sender, a wire for the oil pressure sender, and a positive wire.

Correct.

Anyway, I tested this by hooking up a 12v light between the positive wire and the wire that runs to the oil pressure sender. Turned the key and sure enough it lit up. Did the same with the water pressure light, but I had to pull it off the sender and touch it to one of the brush holders with the Phillips slot in it on the starter on the tractor to get it to light up (which makes sense, so the sender is functioning correctly).

That sounds right. The oil pressure switch opens on rising pressure, closes on falling pressure. When you turn the key on with the engine not running the oil pressure light should come on, because there is no pressure to open the switch. The temp switch closes on rising temp. It will not come on when you turn on the key unless the engine is above normal operating temp. The only way to test the temp switch would be to heat it up until it closes. You can test the entire circuit by grounding the wire that connects to the temp sending switch. The light should come on. Same thing for the oil pressure switch. If grounding the oil pressure wire brings the oil lamp on, then the problem is the oil pressure switch is stuck open. Looking at the original post, the problem was the Oil lamp and temp lamp not working. The temp lamp is not supposed to come on when you turn the key unless the engine is overheated. So the problem may just be the oil light, right?

NOTE: I KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT ELECTRICTY, I JUST UNDERSTAND HOW A VERY BASIC CIRCUIT WORKS, SO SORRY IF I USED SOME TERMS INCORRECTLY!!

Its OK Dennis, right now, I am doing bookkeeping, which I hate. Trouble shooting electrical problems is therapy for me when I can't be outside working on or riding my tractor! BTY...be carefull trying to pull that steering wheel off. I was pulling a car onto a trailer with a cumalong (long story short), when something hung up. I continued ratcheting until all of a sudden it broke loose and I flew off the end of the trailer. Ever here somebody say there life flashed in front of them? What flashed in front of me was "This is going to hurt!" By the grace of God, all I got was a big bruise in the center of my chest where the trailer jack handle hit me. The jack handle must have broken my fall. The moral is....Its a long ways down.
Mike

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Thanks for the help.

I know the lights are not working correctly because if I try the same things that I did with the test lamp (touching the water temp sensor to a ground, and turning the key on when the engine isn't running), neither of the lights come on. I tested the bulbs by testing the continuity from one of the contacts on the bulb holder to the other contact on the other side. They checked out fine.

 

[Tractors4u]

Assuming you may still need to get the steering wheel off still or in the future. Soak the shaft over night with WD40 or PB Blaster. Back the nut holding the steering wheel on out until it is just past the first thread on the shaft. Gentle tap the nut with a hammer while pulling up on the steering wheel. Don't tap directly on the end of the shaft without the nut up there to protect the threads. That has worked for me each time I have had to remove a steering wheel.

 

[Underwaterdog]

Those lamps usually use a switched ground. If that is the case and you can get the bulbs out there should be 12v + on the brass lamp holder case with the key on. (You can use your test light for this.)The bulb completes the circuit to the center pin. The center pins each have a seperate wire that goes to each sensor. When that wire is grounded, manually or through the switch, the lamp comes on. If you are using the test lamp between the wire and the sensors, that will put 2 lamps in series in the circuit, and the bulbs will either light dimly or not at all. Since neither of the lights are working, it sounds like the 12 volts positive is not making it to the lamp holders. Look for a loose or corroded connection or a broken wire. If you cannot access the lamp holders without removing the dash, you may have to pull the steering wheel off after all.