Title: Tough Electric Starting OC-3
Post by: Nick C. on July 07, 2006, 03:10:23 AM
Post by: Nick C. on July 07, 2006, 03:10:23 AM
My OC-3 has been real tough starting ever since I bought it a few years back. It is all on 6-volts, but with the battery fully charged I can only crank over the engine a half turn then it seems like it drains the battery (although the battery voltage still is at around 6-volts). I have to use a 12-volt jump pack on it to start it each time. I finally dove into the wiring today and cleaned all connections, verified that they are all connected properly, and ohmed out each wire individually to make sure there were no breaks and good low resistance. ALL checked out okay. I cleaned the battery terminals and wire brushed all connections and the battery POS to ground connection. Same result when starting. I took the starter out of the engine, kept it connected, and tried to start it to see if the engine was giving too much friction to the starter to turn over ... same result ... the starter would only rotate for a second or so. Could the starter be bad? Should I be looking somewhere else? I have another starter from another HG of mine that I could try in its place. That would be my next step. By starting this with a 12-volt jump pack could I be hurting this system too much?
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Post by: Blake Malkamaki on July 07, 2006, 03:21:22 AM
Post by: Blake Malkamaki on July 07, 2006, 03:21:22 AM
You won't hurt the starter by using 12 volt. I have used 6 volt starters for years and years with 12 volts.
Could your starter be a 12 volt starter?
I would definitely have it looked at as I think it is your problem.
Blake
Could your starter be a 12 volt starter?
I would definitely have it looked at as I think it is your problem.
Blake
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Post by: Nick C. on July 07, 2006, 03:32:04 AM
Post by: Nick C. on July 07, 2006, 03:32:04 AM
That was a thought that crossed my mind as well. I don't know of an easy way to tell if it is 6 or 12 volts ... it's not labeled, that's for sure! 
I am going to take down the Model and Serial numbers off it and call my local electrical starter/generator shop tomorrow to see if they can tell me. Come to think of it, I think I bought it with a 12 volt battery installed! They had it wired as a Neg ground though. I changed that right away. There are no lights currently attached, so that isn't an issue right now. Do you know if there is an easy way to tell if a coil is 6 or 12 volts? This has a coil and distributor on it (no mag). Are points specific to 6 or 12 volts? How about the generator?
I am going to take down the Model and Serial numbers off it and call my local electrical starter/generator shop tomorrow to see if they can tell me. Come to think of it, I think I bought it with a 12 volt battery installed! They had it wired as a Neg ground though. I changed that right away. There are no lights currently attached, so that isn't an issue right now. Do you know if there is an easy way to tell if a coil is 6 or 12 volts? This has a coil and distributor on it (no mag). Are points specific to 6 or 12 volts? How about the generator?
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Post by: Nick C. on July 07, 2006, 04:19:56 AM
Post by: Nick C. on July 07, 2006, 04:19:56 AM
It looks like I have a 6 volt starter on this crawler. It is an Autolite MZ 4098, which does cross reference as the correct starter for this crawler and is 6-volts.
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Post by: mtncrawler on July 07, 2006, 03:07:03 PM
Post by: mtncrawler on July 07, 2006, 03:07:03 PM
Sounds to me like the starter motor is just about worn out. Have you had it apart? I've never been into one of these starters before but if you can put in new bushings and brushes I'll bet it will cure your problem.
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Post by: Nick C. on July 07, 2006, 07:23:04 PM
Post by: Nick C. on July 07, 2006, 07:23:04 PM
I swapped the starter out with one I have from another HG crawler and it seems a bit better, but still not right. I still need the 12V jump pack to start it, although the starter initiates smoother than the original I had in there. I'm now thinking that I have a battery problem (even though it seems fully charged). When I try to start it, I get a click from the starter try to rotate, then nothing. If I try again, I get nothing ... it seems as if the battery drains immediately. When I put on a voltage meter on the battery after this happens, the battery shows 5.85V. But, this is with the ignition switch off and no load on the battery. With a load it may be lower. I am going to swap the battery with another tractor now and see if that helps ... but, I think that I have done this in the past without success. There's not too much to troubleshoot here. It is a very basic system. Maybe it's me! 
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Post by: mikegt4 on July 07, 2006, 08:51:04 PM
Post by: mikegt4 on July 07, 2006, 08:51:04 PM
With what you have done so far and the quick battery drain I would suspect a direct short in the starter. Most auto parts stores could load test the starter and see what kind of amps are going through it. Pretty common on old starters, brush wires touching ground etc.
A 6 volt starter will work fine on 12v (actually better) but the gen/regulater and ign coil are usually 6v specific. The points won't know any difference but the condenser might. If you are going to have to spend a lot of money on your electrical system, it might be a wise move to just upgrade to 12v componets.
My OC3 was hard to start when I first got it. I replaced the mag points and the plugs and since then it always starts on the first piston that comes up!
A 6 volt starter will work fine on 12v (actually better) but the gen/regulater and ign coil are usually 6v specific. The points won't know any difference but the condenser might. If you are going to have to spend a lot of money on your electrical system, it might be a wise move to just upgrade to 12v componets.
My OC3 was hard to start when I first got it. I replaced the mag points and the plugs and since then it always starts on the first piston that comes up!