# ford 2000 electrical fire



## dog-and-tractor (May 16, 2013)

have had an incident today, where my 1969 Ford 2000 has caught light. the flames came from the wiring on the battery, cables breaking down & shorting ? i can only think. has anyone ever come across this ?


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## dog-and-tractor (May 16, 2013)

Reference this post , on me inspecting it was merely the battery terminals shorting out on the casing (over sized physically battery) cable had welded to case and melted cable ( wife alerted me by phone on initial prompt of fire , whilst taking hay out to the field ) with this now in hand , can anyone confirm correct battery reference please


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Howdy Dog-and-Tractor,

Ford tractors have a long history of fires. In fact, if you look at Fords in a tractor salvage yard, there is usually one or more badly rusted from fire damage. 

Were you with the tractor when it caught fire?? If so, you were fortunate. From your description, sounds like your battery (hot) cable insulation wore through and short-circuited to ground. 

My Ford 3600 diesel had a fire 20+ years ago, and suffered moderate damage. I repaired it myself, and had the front end bead blasted/repainted. I installed a battery disconnect switch which I use religiously to this day. 

The tractor was stored in my neighbors metal shed, with a gravel/dirt floor . It was parked in gear. Brakes were not set. Kill rod was out, so it would not start. It apparently started cranking forward all by itself and pushed the shed wall out about one foot. Bent the wall beam and sheet metal. Then the rear wheels dug divots in the floor. Apparently kept on cranking.

The diesel fuel tank had plastic fuel lines that burned and then diesel fueled the fire. 

I replaced all the damaged metal on my neighbor's shed (did a first class job). The worst thing was the interior was covered with black smut that a pressure washer wouldn't remove. Hand scrubbed the interior of the shed with comet on a wash cloth. Lot of work, but it turn out well.


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## Harvey_W (Nov 23, 2013)

See attached diagrams. The diesel battery size is a 4DLT (big heavy battery). Gas engine takes a size 17TF battery.


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## dog-and-tractor (May 16, 2013)

Hi Sixbales , I'm lucky to say not had that bad an experience with it . It's kept in a large barn . I keep it going and in sound body work , the wife's uses it more than me for harrowing horse paddocks and moving hay , that's when this fire happened , but simple case of battery terminal earthing . Time to invest in correct matched battery . To Harvey W many thanks for the link and information , it is a 2600 cc diesel (Belgium made model) and can buy the correct one . Many thanks all


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## bstrang4 (Apr 12, 2011)

I was a Ford tractor mechanic for several years and fires were quite common. The wiring harness goes across the top of the fuel tank and will abraid and short out very easily. When replacing or repairing the harness the use of split flexible wiring protector casing will reduce the chance of this happening in the future. Hope this helps.


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