New Wheel Horse 1054

[kenbone8383 0]

Just got a 1054 wheel horse from my neighbor. What kind of oil does it take? and some parts are pretty corroded. Do they still have parts for these machines? I just bought a new battery for it because the old one didnt seem to work. got it running for about an hour and put it away. got on it the next day pulled it into my garage and it died. now the brand new batterys dead. shouldnt the battery charge while its running? One more question. Would O'Connors Hardware work on this for service?

[kj4kicks 154]

Hi, and

Ok,it uses 30 weight oil. Some parts are still availble through a dealer, others are after-market.

For the dead battery, it is possible that the charging system is not working, or maybe the voltage regulator is stuck (which can drain the battery).

Sorry, don't know who O'Connors Hardware is.

[Brian1045 28]

:banghead: :USA:

[kenbone8383 0]

so best bet is probably to get some new wires and rewire the starter and the solenoid? you say after-market parts, where can i search for these?

[kj4kicks 154]

Rewiring won't fix it. The problem may be stuck contacts inside of the regulator. If the solenoid was stuck, the starter would continuously spin. Aftermarket parts can be gotten from many sources: Tractor supply, small engine dealers, ebay, or google for what you need.

[kenbone8383 0]

hmm.. do you know what my best bet is to do then? I'm guessig to take a look at the regulator?

[kj4kicks 154]

The best thing to do is diagnose it before you just start throwing parts at it. Unhook the battery, and put it on a charger. After it's fully charged, unhook the regulator (make sure you mark the wires/terminals) and hook the battery back up. See if the battery is still charged upi the next day. If it is, you have a bad/stuck regulator.

[kenbone8383 0]

well i checked out the regulator. theres a couple of wires that deffenetly need to be replaced because there just hanging by a strand. one wire is actually connected to the regulator but the other end is just hanging there. not quite sure where it goes. :banghead:

[linen beige 15]

:banghead:

I have a 1054A and I love it. But be careful, they instill a burning desire for more Wheel Horses.

Eldon has given you some very sage advice. He KNOWS his stuff!

You should have roughly 12-14 volts D.C. coming off the center tab on the voltage regulator. Otherwise, you're getting your spark straight from the battery and she isn't recharging.

If you find the regulator is not working right, check ALL the connections before writting it off. Bad grounds are common on these older machines. The voltage regulators are the older mechanical types and you can take the cover off and inspect/clean/adjust the parts inside. If you decide to take it to a shop, I suggest one that has been in business for quiet a while and has some experience with the older stuff. They are more apt to know from experience what problems cause which symptoms, and how to cure them.

I recommend that you get a copy of the owner's manual. You can order them online from Toro. They are about $2 and take less than a week to show up in the mail. There is a wiring diagram in the manual.

[kenbone8383 0]

well i pulled all the wires out scraped some rust and paint off put them back on and still nothing. im hoping the battery is completly dead though other wise i did something wrong. im not really good with electricity and wiring so im goin to have some one come and take a look at it.

[linen beige 15]

well i checked out the regulator. theres a couple of wires that deffenetly need to be replaced because there just hanging by a strand. one wire is actually connected to the regulator but the other end is just hanging there. not quite sure where it goes.

I didn't see this post last night. Your regulator should have three wires hooked to it. There should be an orange wire coming off the tab closest to the left side of the tractor (Assuming the regulator is mounted on top of the starter/generator with the tabs pointing rearward.). It should go to the ignition switch. It shares a post on this switch with a white wire that connects to the light switch. the other post of the ignition switch should have an orange wire that runs to the positive post on the ignition coil.

The center tab should have a red wire that leads to the positve battery terminal. It might be attatched to the positive battery cable, or the same side of the starter push button switch as the positive battery cable. The orange wire and red wire are likely wrapped in thick, black rubber insulation for the first few inches to protect them from heat and abrasion.

The tab closest to the right side of the tractor should have a short wire connected to the rearmost post on the starter/generator itself. The other post should have a short wire connecting to a single tab on the other side (front) of the regulator. The two wires connected to the starter/generator are of a slightly smaller guage than the other wires and may be red. There should also be a larger, black wire running from the forwardmost starter/generator post. The wiring diagram shows it connecting to the starter pushbutton switch, on the side opposite the positive battery cable, with a short, black jumper wire connecting that post to the generator light. The other post of the generator light has a black wire that runs to the ignition switch and shares a post with the orange wire that runs to the coil.

The light switch should have a white wire running from the other side of it out which splits to feed all the lights. The lights ground to the frame through their mounts. There should be a large black wire connecting the negative battery post to ground, probably at the rear of the engine block. All that's left are the two wires from the coil negative post that go to the points and condensor, and the spark plug wire.

Hope this can help you.

[kenbone8383 0]

well that deffanitley says a lot! thanks! now im just going to have to get some new wires. the only thing is the guy that had it before must of spray painted everything because the wires all all red with paint chipping off of them. would any kind of like automotive store carry the wires that i need?

Thanks, Ken

[WheelHorse_of_course 99]

Hi Ken,

A couple of points

1) Unless the insulation on the wires is really brittle, you do not need to replace the wires, just the terminals on the ends. You can buy the terminals at a hardware store and the cheap style crimpers to install them too.

You will cut the wire clean, strip back a small amount of insulation, and stick it in the terminal. Now crimp it in at least 2 places.

NOTE - ideally you should solder these terminals onto the wires, or buy a professional crimper (see below). A cheap crimper will suffice for now, but may prevent your repairs from lasting.

2) Your assesment that the battery is dead is probably correct. You are also correct that this means the engines built in charging system is not working.

This means you will need to borrow a charger before you can do much more troubleshooting. By all means, fix the wires first.

Best of luck

[CasualObserver 3,411]

maybe this could help too? You say you're no good with electrical... wiring is easy if you have the right tools.... give this a shot... it's just like reading a map.

[linen beige 15]

:USA: I just KNEW that as soon as I typed in a description of the wiring diagram Jason would post the diagram.

And Rolf has given you some very good pointers. I would add to those that you should use a quality wire stripper for removing insulation from the ends of the wires. Most good crimping tools have built in stripping holes for many sizes of wire. I recommend a Klein brand combination tool. It will crimp, strip, or cut wire (Although the cutter is not as good as a set side cutting pliers.) and also has a set of holes for cutting small machine screws to length and cleaning up the threads. I've had mine since '91 and have made well over 200,000 connections with it and other than a fine patina of surface rust it's still good as new. Using a knife can knick the wire and create a weak spot that WILL break.

As Rolf said, if the insulation is really not in bad shape you may not need to replace the wires, just the end terminals. A few small breaks in the insulation can be covered with shrink tubing. Slip it over the end of the wire before crimping on the new connector, slide it into position and heat it up to lock it in place. If you opt to replace the wiring you can find suitable wire at any home center or hardware store. They sell it by the foot and should have all the colors you would need to match the factory harness. I would use type THHN stranded copper, rated at 90 deg.s Cel. It has a Teflon coating on the insulation that is gas and oil resistant and handles heat very well. Just make sure you use new wires of the proper guage diameter. That means the size of the wire itself, not the insulation. Don't be fooled by cheap wire that is minimal guage but has a thick insulation. Home centers also sell the crimp on connectors that should work, but higher quality ones can be found at fastener specialty shops. The cheaper ones tend to be made of thinner material and may not handle as much current as they should. If you are looking at using crimp ons with the insulating collar where the wire goes in try to find ones that have the spongier plastic. The hard plastic collars tend to crush, get brittle and fall off. The hard plastic tends to be more opaque in color and the softer ones more translucent.

[kenbone8383 0]

Thanks Jim and Jason! I'm going to try that diagram and hopefully that works. I actually have an extra battery that i will hook up thats from my other sit down. And if this doesnt work then i dont know. I'll just have to bring it to the shop or have someone come and look at it. I know it has to do with the electrical though because i was using it for over an hour and it ran perfectly fine. Worse comes to worse i dont think it would be that much to have someone rewire the whole thing and possibly have to get a new generator. Any one kno some part numbers or where i could find them?

Thanks again,

Ken

[Duff 206]

I'm going to jump in here for a minute only because electrical wiring is one of the things I'm fairly good at mechanical-wise (Lord knows I'm a putz in most other areas!). I've rewired everything from boat trailers to entire houses from the panel out. (I used to be licensed but let my license lapse and am now too old and cranky to go through the relicensing process for what is mostly home use and favors for friends/family these days.)

The fellows above have all given excellent advice and I agree with 99.9% of it. My humble advice, however, is for the few dollars involved in the actual wire, you might want to simply go ahead and replace everything with new wire, observing the gauge (thickness), connectors and connections as the boys have said. I say this because with age, especially in equipment that is used outdoors and probably wasn't originally built with waterproof (e.g. heat shrink) connections, copper tends to corrode inside the insulation. I've stripped OEM wiring on boat and utility trailers back several feet before I found clean copper. Corrosion equals resistance equals a less than optimal path for electricity to travel, and low voltage stuff (like our 12V tractors) tends to be more finicky than, say, household voltage at 120.

Just my two cents worth, but if you're going to hang onto your machine, as most of us do because they're well worth it, the little time and money spent now might save you a lot more later on down the road.

Cheers!

Duff :banghead:

[CasualObserver 3,411]

I just KNEW that as soon as I typed in a description of the wiring diagram Jason would post the diagram.

Sorry Jim, if it makes you feel any better, it took me a while to find it. Toro doesn't have that one online. :thumbs:

[linen beige 15]

[kenbone8383 0]

ok. so i charged up the battery, and fixed the wires as best as i could. i turned the key and the engine turned over! now should i go get some wire, take one wire off put the new wire etc. etc. and see if that works. or take all the wires off and follow the diagram? :banghead:

[BairleaFarm 340]

If everything is working why do you want to replace them at all? I go by diagrams for everything i redo.

[kenbone8383 0]

most of the wires are just hanging by a strand and are to fragile to even touch. suprisingly i even got it to turn over with the wires in the condition there in. i had to actually hold a couple to stay on and turn the key at the same time. so im not to sure if the battery is going to stay charged or not.

[linen beige 15]

I just noticed something from one of your earlier comments that should have jumped out at all of us. You mentioned a solenoid. The 1054 did not have a solinoid from the factory. Later you said you could turn the key and the starter turned. It also had a keyed on-off switch for the ignition and a push button switch for the starter motor. It should turn over if you push the starter button, but won't run unless the key is also turned on. The key will not turn the starter. Are you sure that what you have is a 1054 (or very similar 953 or 1054A)? Stand out, ID one from a distance features of these models are they are large frame, Kohler K-241 powered (spec # should be 46135A for a 953 or 46215A for the 1054 and 1054A), 15 inch rear wheels, cast iron grill surround with two round headlight buckets covered by plastic lenses (good lenses are rare). They have 3 speed manual transmissions.

If that is the model you have and it now has a solinoid, powered from the ignition switch, then it has been re-wired in a manner inconsistent with the factory wiring. That's gonna make it awfully hard to troubleshoot.

[kenbone8383 0]

well. i deffinetly have to turn the ket to start it and not push any buttons. its a 3 speed with reverse. for tires, there not 15" haha more like 30" i will have to take a few pictures of it and post them on here.

[linen beige 15]

By 15 inch rear wheels I was talking about the wheel diameter, not the outer diameter of the tires. These models used a 27 inch outer diameter rear tire. If you have a Wheel Horse with 27 inch wheels, more than the wiring is not stock.

Look around the picture gallery. There's a couple of 1054s and a 953 shown in there. See if yours looks like one of them.