Tachometer/electrical problem? Sometimes won't start

[jaswar]

I am new to the tractor world and this site but from reading posts it looks like there is a ton of knowledge on this site! I have a Case IH 245 TurfChamp (20 years old???) that has acted strangely for a while. Sometimes it works flawlessly, but occasionally it acts up seemingly for no reason.

For instance, sometimes I will be mowing (and it does this if pto is not engaged) at 2,000 rpm and the tach will suddenly go over to the right as far as possible but the engine speed stays the same. This is also accompanied by somewhat of a low whining sound (seems to come from behind the dash). If I lower the engine speed way down, the tach then goes down and indicates the correct rpm but if I go back up toward 2,000, it will then shoot way up again. But if I ignore the super high reading and keep mowing, sometimes it will suddenly kick back down to the correct reading.

Also (more seriously), I sometimes have trouble getting it to start.

For instance, two days ago I was getting ready to mow. I turned on the ignition and the dash lights and gas gauge came on like normal, but I turned the key back to glow it and the dash lights and gas gauge went off and it didn't heat at all. I then turned the key to start it and absolutely nothing happened, not even a click. I checked the battery terminal connections and they seemed okay. I then played around with some wires and eventually tried starting it a couple times, and it finally decided to glow and start just like normal (no battery weakness). It then started fine for the next day and now it's back to not starting.

Any ideas about what to check and if these issues are related?

Thanks for taking the time to read!

 

[Treemonkey1000]

If that is a mechanical tach then the cable is going bad. They get dirt and shavings inside the cable jacket after so many years. You could pull the end off and pull out the drive shaft and clean it up. That might be a bugger to get the ends back into the sockets though. If it is electrical then you may have a poor connection internally on the PC board inside. There again take the tach out and look for poor electrical connections like oxidized terminals. Look for cracks in the PC board. Another thing if it is a mechanical meter movement look for debris in the pendulum part of the needle.
The hard starting part is more than likely rusty ground connections. Pull apart any connectors and reseat them. Look for chassis ground wires and wire harness ground wires. Take them off and clean them up. Another thing is wire harness shorting out going through sheet metal will nick the wires and cause you headaches.

PS: Welcome to the site!

 

[jaswar]

Thanks for the reply. I'll use your suggestions and do some more inspecting!

 

[Treemonkey1000]

There are more brilliant minds on here than mine that can give you more ideas. :thumbsup: Let me know if you find the problem.

 

[mostly_gas]

On the starting issue, Make sure and reclean the battery connections, both ends of both cables. If the cable connections are not the issue your ignition switch could becoming intermittent. Again clean all connections and check voltages at the various connections when it starts so you have a reference of what should be happening.
Is your tach mechanical (with cable ) or electrical?

 

[jaswar]

I did get it to start--thanks for your tips. I'm not sure exactly what the problem was but she's starting for now.

As for the tach, I have to say I don't know whether it's mechanical/electrical. There is a wire that goes "through" the gas tank and then over the engine that could be from the tach.

I did find out that the needle doesn't always go as far right as it can. If it's running at 1500 rpm it reads about 2000 but as you go up toward 2000 it gets way over to the right. And the gauge does make that whining sound as soon as it jumps up and the sound stops if it goes back to normal.

I'm not too concerned about it as long as it runs; I don't think it's hurting anything so it's more of an annoyance.