Charger 12 electrical issue

[BenTheWheelHorseMan 43]

The other day I decided that I was going to start up my 1972 charger 12 after a winter of sitting due to a dead battery. I went to start it up and the starter will engage and then after a little bit the starter rpms will skyrocket, and I'm pretty sure that it is disengaging the flywheel. It only does this sometimes so I'm not sure if it needs replaced or what. On an unrelated note, when I bought it the stator was disconnected. I see that on top of the rectifier there are 2 pins that could slide inside the clips on the stator wires. Any advice or expertise is greatly appreciated.

[pfrederi 18,566]

Starter could need some cleaning and lube on the pinion shaft.  There is also a spring on there that may have broken.  There is also a possibility of a couple of bad teeth on the ring gear, but I think that would have shown itself as a problem last year not suddenly this spring.

 

Should be 2 leads coming from the engine both wires same color...probably white.  They are the AC feed from the stator.  They go to two terminals on the regulator.  They should be marked AC the 3rd is marked B that goes to the ignition

Edited April 10, 2016 by pfrederi

[BenTheWheelHorseMan 43]

2 hours ago, pfrederi said:

Starter could need some cleaning and lube on the pinion shaft.  There is also a spring on there that may have broken.  There is also a possibility of a couple of bad teeth on the ring gear, but I think that would have shown itself as a problem last year not suddenly this spring.

 

Should be 2 leads coming from the engine both wires same color...probably white.  They are the AC feed from the stator.  They go to two terminals on the regulator.  They should be marked AC the 3rd is marked B that goes to the ignition

I would suspect that the shaft needs a cleanup because if the spring was broken it would be problematic all of the time right? I will have to look at the regulator but I am pretty sure it is as you have described. Yes both of of the leads are white. They have been disconnected as long as I have owned it. Can you think of anything that the stator being in plugged would affect? I suppose I will have to clean up the starter and plug in the stator and try her out.

[pfrederi 18,566]

Battery go dead a lot???  if the stator wires are not hooked to the regulator it will not charge the battery.  I guess you must have a magneto/point ignition system  No battery juice required to run.

 

Incidently Kohler Electric Starter drive lubricant is Part # 52 357 01

[BenTheWheelHorseMan 43]

42 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

Battery go dead a lot???  if the stator wires are not hooked to the regulator it will not charge the battery.  I guess you must have a magneto/point ignition system  No battery juice required to run.

 

Incidently Kohler Electric Starter drive lubricant is Part # 52 357 01

Thanks for the part number and my ignition system is breakerless. I bought it with a bad battery so I don't know much about if the battery goes dead a lot. The last battery I put in it was last month and I really haven't run it since.

[pfrederi 18,566]

Breakerless does not require battery to run.  There is a third wire from the stator that goes to the trigger next to the flywheel that powers the ignition system.

[BenTheWheelHorseMan 43]

17 hours ago, pfrederi said:

Breakerless does not require battery to run.  There is a third wire from the stator that goes to the trigger next to the flywheel that powers the ignition system.

I didn't know that. Although mine has a battery and before it has been so dead that the engine will not turn over. I assume at some point it got converted to battery ignition. My rectifier is not hooked up at all. Looks like the wiring is sort of a mess. Sometime this week I will tear into it and see what I can find out to fix it.

[pfrederi 18,566]

On 4/11/2016 at 6:51 AM, BenTheWheelHorseMan said:

I didn't know that. Although mine has a battery and before it has been so dead that the engine will not turn over. I assume at some point it got converted to battery ignition. My rectifier is not hooked up at all. Looks like the wiring is sort of a mess. Sometime this week I will tear into it and see what I can find out to fix it.

I am confused what type ignition system do you have.  Battery ignition there is a round coil, breakerless there is a triangular shaped coil mounted on the engine shroud.  magneto system has no visible coil.  Breakerless and magneto do not need the battery to run. 

 

Picture shows the breakerless system coil  Black thing just under the E in Electro

[BenTheWheelHorseMan 43]

13 hours ago, pfrederi said:

I am confused what type ignition system do you have.  Battery ignition there is a round coil, breakerless there is a triangular shaped coil mounted on the engine shroud.  magneto system has no visible coil.  Breakerless and magneto do not need the battery to run. 

 

Picture shows the breakerless system coil  Black thing just under the E in Electro

Mine is breakerless. It has the triangular coil. I also am confused as to what is going on. Does it need a battery to start? If anybody has a wiring diagram for a charger 12 it would be of great help to me.

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,393]

There were 2 ignition systems used in 1972

Battery ignition

Magneto breakerless ignition

(There is also a magneto ignition using points and condenser and the tractor wiring is the same as for the breakerless system)

 

Operator manual with wiring diagram

I would not worry about the starter yet. They have an overrunning clutch so to speak so if the engine turns the starter faster than the starter is running on it's own they will kick the drive out of the flywheel by design.

 

You need a battery for the starter motor plus the voltage regulator must see battery voltage before it can regulate the charging current produced by the flywheel stator.

 

Garry