Wintertime Maintenance Begins

[Sawdust]

First of three tractors planned for the winter in the shop. My Sears SS15 needs an oil change, air filter, erratic charging, spindles greased, front axle replaced, and what seems to be a mouse nest peeping out of the shroud.

I got rid of the nest and no wires were eaten so now to get to the voltage regulator. A lot needs to come off to get to the VR. I only worked a couple of hours on it yesterday so I’ll get back to it tomorrow afternoon.

 

[larrybl]

I started mine while it was in the mid 70's. Looks like you have a mice problem.

 

[MFDAC]

Keep the pics coming, Jim! It's always a learning experience seeing what other folks have to do with their tractors! I've never seen a mouse nest in a blower housing on anything I have torn down, but sure see plenty on this forum it seems like!

DAC

 

[Sawdust]

Keep the pics coming, Jim! It's always a learning experience seeing what other folks have to do with their tractors! I've never seen a mouse nest in a blower housing on anything I have torn down, but sure see plenty on this forum it seems like!

DAC

The blower right across the coil wires is where they like. Ive had about three in the past six years. I try to start them often but over the winter I stuff several drier sheets around the engine area. I hate mice with a passion.

 

[Sawdust]

Yesterday was a short but productive day. I had to remove the fuel tank, battery, battery tray, idler arm assembly with two springs and clutch linkage to get to the VR. Wiring connections as expected were a little rusty and dirty. I took the VR out cleaned all the contacts outside and the contact points inside. One side was a little pitted but cleaned up well. I didn’t have to but I removed the starter solenoid and cleaned that up as well. I don’t think this is the original VR because most of my others have Delco Remy VR. I got all that put back yesterday evening so today I’ll take the connections off at the dash and clean them up and hopefully this fixes my erratic charging problem. This has been one of the most compact and crowded tunnel areas I’ve ever worked on.

 

[Propane1]

Check your connections where the wire goes into the wire connector Jim. I’ve had a few of those come loose over the years. Vibration gets to them.

Noel

 

[Sawdust]

Check your connections where the wire goes into the wire connector Jim. I’ve had a few of those come loose over the years. Vibration gets to them.

Noel

Yeah I took them all off and cleaned everything. Another time of reminding myself to update my Dremel Tool accessories. My little wire brush wheels are worn out.

 

[Sawdust]

I had a big delay on this along with fridgid weather. I got everything put back together exactly how it came apart. I took pics to make sure. I went to hook the battery up and the S/G starts spinning. Daniel suggested the VR may be a problem I felt the same way so I took that off and like most of us you really can’t see every fault these things may have. It looked good from what I could see, put it back on same thing. I got an extremely good PM from Stew (29 Chevy) on another forum on how these things work and some good advice. Continue checking out this info on my other post about VR Problem.

Voltage Regulator?

Can a faulty VR cause a closed circuit through a key switch or starter solenoid to the point where when the battery is connected the starter generator starts turning with the key off. This is on a Sears SS15 with a Briggs. I previously had an erratic charging problem. I took all the connections...

tractorfanatics.com

 

[Sawdust]

I’m giving up on the VR and just calling it a bad one. I tried adjusting the air gap yesterday with no success. I keep getting 15-17+ volts charging at the battery. I got the oil changed today, gear oil was ok, swapped out the front axle, greased spindles, and steering sector. Tomorrow I’ll check the pulleys then should be able to get this out to bring another one in.

 

[Sawdust]

Yesterday I replaced a bad headlight, cleaned up and painted a couple of idler pulleys, and greased two more fittings.

I have a roller bearing on the clutch assembly frame not sure if I can get it cleaned up enough to free it. It really doesn’t seem to be all that important because the pin that goes through it just has a small back and forth rotation. If I can’t get it freed up I’ll just load it up with grease. It’s also factory tack welded in place.

The PO bolted a support bracket on top of the running board because of a broken factory bracket. I’ve never liked that but will put this repair off until Spring.

I think I’ll take today off maybe. I think I’ll leave some of the parts off until I get a VR so I won’t have to remove them again. This means I’ll have to tow it out and park it close by to bring it back in later. I have a friend that probably has a shelf full of VR so I’ll be visiting him later. I want to get the Simplicity 3415 in the shop next for its repairs.

 

[KennyP]

I think that bearing will come out, may be able to cross it to a new one.

 

[Sawdust]

I did get that bearing out yesterday with a little heat and using an old socket and a few taps. I soaked it in some atf/acetone mix last night. The manual for this tractor is incomplete missing a couple of pages. I found the bearing but the parts list for that page is one that’s missing. Tonight I’ll search a little deeper for another manual.

Stew sent me another PM on the VR. I brought the air gap down to .020 on the regulator side still charging too high when I quit a few days ago. He suggested bringing it down to .010- .015. I brought it down to .010 and it works a lot better. It is still slightly too high at FT but I seldom use this tractor at FT. Idling it’s around .014 +-. No matter the RPM’s it fluctuates I believe because of worn and pitted points. Right now I can live with that. My friend us sick right now so I don’t want to bother him about another VR. I’ve been delayed lately because of cold weather and snow. Today I’ll get this one wrapped up and bring another one in. The funny thing is the Simplicity 3415H has a charging problem too.

 

[Sawdust]

Stew suggested making the air gap on the regulator side of the VR .010- .015 instead of the .020 I left it at. It does do much better but fluctuates between 14- 17 volts at the battery at FT. Since I don’t run this tractor at full throttle it will be ok for now. I took it for a ride yesterday and felt good to get back in action.

I got the Simplicity pulled inside for its repairs. I have a lot more to do on this one so I’m going to start another thread just for it.