# Holly is sick!



## roselle (Oct 20, 2013)

Our precious tractor, Holly...Is sick...Yes...It's a girl farm...Not completely~

She is a 55 HP, New Holland Workmaster...4 years old. Once in a while..She starts right up. Mostly she makes this clicking sound, then may start, or may jump. 

I took the battery in to be tested and they said battery was fine. I guess, not the started, since she jumps. So maybe the alternator. I have a volt meter and a continuity tester....Just how should I use them, to check the alternator or regulator. I think we could put a new alternator on, but don't want to buy something we may not need and truthfully surely don't want to buy anything anyway....

Anybody know! This girl wouldn't start in the middle of an acre garden yesterday, in 98 degree temps...My boys had to push her some and I had to find a way to weave a Honda Fit in the other direction to get her to start....Not so fun!:dunno:


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## 101airborne (Jan 29, 2010)

May be a bad ignition switch or ignition relay. I had a truck that sometimes would just click when you tried to start it, but hook up cables and it would start okay. Battery was good, alternator was good, starter okay. finally checked the ignition relay on the starter it was "weak" and only worked some of the time.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

If Holly will start with a boost , but not her own battery, which tested good, most likely the connections are dirty, they can look clean, but not transfer current. or as 101airborne said a weak relay, which should be pretty cheap. 
I would suspect the relay even more if this only happens when the engine has been running and is quite warm. After you clean the connections to clean bright metal / lead, and if that solves the problem seal the connections with some spray paint, any metal type spray paint will do , but pink would suit her name and kind of clash with her blue paintjob


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## Hooch (Jul 22, 2011)

Sounds like it could be a bad alternator tho...maybe make sure your connections are tight and clean to it. Cant you take it off and bring it to a shop or parts store and they check it ?? Its been awhile but I remember the part stores will give you a discount if you bring in the bad altenator when getting a new one, I think they can check it too but not sure..might jsut be getting that confused with a battery check...its been awhile. 

I remember changing out a few when I worked in the woods. We had these 2 chevy stakeside trucks that seemed to eat up alterators every few years. It always seemed they would break down in the middle of nowhere, fully loaded with equiptment. They were workhorses of vehicles but always breaking down on my crew. Once the master cylinder crapped out and I had no breaks...I was going down a hill of course. Luckly ..it was remote and I knew the road and knew the road had a steep climb afterwards. I was pumping the breaks like crazy trying to get pressure back..between that and the uphill I was able to slow down nuff and get over and power down into first gear..I stopped with the help of a guardrail thing but was by then going under 5mph. I thought when my crew mate hit a cow and basically totalled one of them the state would be done fixing it up...but no...we were stuck with the breakdown beast...lol..

Another time the spare tire holder thing broke and the back end sorta did this bounce up kick. For a minute we didnt know what that was about untill the spare tire passed us. We were traveling northbound on a remote highway to town going about 55...it passed us in the southbound lane for a few untill it flew off the road into a pond. Luckily it didnt hit anything important..it coulda killed someone..those tires are heavy. We got to spend the rest of the afternoon fishing out the tire from the pond...ahh..the good ol days..


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## roselle (Oct 20, 2013)

Tirediron said:


> If Holly will start with a boost , but not her own battery, which tested good, most likely the connections are dirty, they can look clean, but not transfer current. or as 101airborne said a weak relay, which should be pretty cheap.
> I would suspect the relay even more if this only happens when the engine has been running and is quite warm. After you clean the connections to clean bright metal / lead, and if that solves the problem seal the connections with some spray paint, any metal type spray paint will do , but pink would suit her name and kind of clash with her blue paintjob


My 15 year old used that cleaner on her battery terminals yesterday and then some sealer....I do wish we could have custom ordered Holly to be pink, with some pretty flower details...Wouldn't she have been lovely? You guys aren't the only ones that love tractors...I mean I LOVE mine. I can barely drive her...With a 50 lb. bag of fertilizer behind me, so the seat safety doesn't shut the tractor off, each time I move a tiny bump...Only time I will ever say this...Driving Holly is the only time I wished I weighed more! Thanks for helping!


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

roselle said:


> My 15 year old used that cleaner on her battery terminals yesterday and then some sealer....I do wish we could have custom ordered Holly to be pink, with some pretty flower details...Wouldn't she have been lovely? You guys aren't the only ones that love tractors...I mean I LOVE mine. I can barely drive her...With a 50 lb. bag of fertilizer behind me, so the seat safety doesn't shut the tractor off, each time I move a tiny bump...Only time I will ever say this...Driving Holly is the only time I wished I weighed more! Thanks for helping!


See if you can adjust the seat or the safety-switch in such a way that it will match your weight, but continue to be the safety-switch it is meant to be. You could disable it completely (piece of duct-tape holding the switch down) if you wanted, but, depending on your situation, it might not be the best choice.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

roselle said:


> I have a volt meter and a continuity tester....Just how should I use them, to check the alternator or regulator.


The tractor at rest with a good battery should read somewhere around 12.2 - 12.5 volts or so.

Once it is running, you should see at LEAST 13.2 volts... up to around "14 something"... but probably less than 14.5 volts... more than that and you will be "over charging".


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

I would start by cleaning every electrical terminal and connection from the battery to the starter. I would get to shiny metal on all contacts. I pay special attention to the back side of the nuts and both sides of the terminals.

If that doesn't work try swapping batteries with another vehicle. I have had problems go away after replacing a battery that tested well.

Go through it in a systematic manner starting with the simplest answer first. You might give serious consideration to picking up a shop manual for your machine.


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## HamiltonFelix (Oct 11, 2011)

There is always the possibility of a starter with shorted turns, that draws excessive current. Usually, you'll see slow cranking, despite a charged battery, but with the second battery jumping, it seems to crank more normally.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

HamiltonFelix said:


> There is always the possibility of a starter with shorted turns, that draws excessive current. Usually, you'll see slow cranking, despite a charged battery, but with the second battery jumping, it seems to crank more normally.


especially if the cranking issue only happens with a hot soaked engine. (and of course starter motor)


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