'44 H Starting/Electrical Problems

Minnesotan H · Nov 10, 2008

I have a "44 Farmall H that is used on my hunting land in northern Minnesota. Within a year it has had a new starter put in, all new wiring, new coil (12 volt), new points and plugs, and a new altinator and battery. Basically all new and working electical components. However we are having some issues trying to start it sometimes. It"ll crank over and over and nothing. We will pull start it and she"ll fire right up. It"ll run fine, stop and then not start again with the starter. What is going wrong? is it the distributer? Any ideas? It sometimes starts with the starter and sometimes not. it"s got a mind of it"s own.

Dellbertt · Nov 10, 2008

I had a 40H that did the exact same thing. Pull it 3ft and it kicks off but not with the starter.
Mine had a magneto, I had the mag rebuilt and never had another problem starting it with starter.
Point being, you might have a spark or timing problem. I thought I had a good spark when testing the mag but I guess it wasnt good enough. Good Luck.

stkmantn · Nov 10, 2008

Since everything else seems to have been replaced I'd think maybe the condenser.

Janicholson · Nov 10, 2008

Try this if it fixes it you know what the issue is.
Use a different 12 volt battery to provide ignition voltage. (take the wire coming from the switch off of the coil. and hook a battery up with jumpers to the coil, and ground (same polarity as the regular battery) then try to start it using the regular battery.
If it starts right up, the issue is voltage drop to the coil when cranking.
Heavy o gauge battery cables might make it fire, or a 12volt coil designed for use with a external ballast resistor. If you choose the new coil, you need to put a single pole switch across the ballast resistor so you can manually take the resistor out of the circuit when cranking, then put the switch to off allowing the resistor to be used. If you are volt meter friendly, the coil needs 10 volts for enough energy to fire when cranking. If it is less it will be difficult to start. JimN

mkirsch · Nov 11, 2008

Dad's M is similar. It'll crank like nobody's business, but won't fire until you release the starter button. It's a 12V conversion.

My theory is that the starter is pulling the battery down so far that the coil isn't getting any/enough juice to fire properly.

As I understand it, the early 12V Farmalls had a bypass that put a full 12V to the ignition coil while the starter is cranking, bypassing the resistor that normally reduces the voltage down to 6V for normal running.

Verde · Nov 11, 2008

My guess is the push button starter switch. Mine burn out regularly. Replace it for $11. and see what happens.

Also, make sure you have thick battery cables
#1 or 00 would be the best. #2 is okay.

Let us know what it turns out to be. Stay with the simple things like the above. Also make sure one of the cables isn't accidently grounded to the battery holder.

Verde · Nov 11, 2008

My guess is the push button starter switch. Mine burn out regularly. Replace it for $11. and see what happens.

Also, make sure you have thick battery cables
#1 or 00 would be the best. #2 is okay.

Let us know what it turns out to be. Stay with the simple things like the above. Also make sure one of the cables isn't accidently grounded to the battery holder.

Mike Farmer · Nov 11, 2008

Worth a try: - Disconnect the input wire from the coil.Take a wire from the battery Negative and hook it up to the same point. Thereby you bypass any drain point. If it works you can leave it that way by putting a seperate ignition switch in the wire. Or you can rewire your current ignition system to a different pick up point. MTF

'44 H Starting/Electrical Problems

Minnesotan H

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Dellbertt

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stkmantn

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Janicholson

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mkirsch

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Verde

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Verde

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Mike Farmer

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