# Husband died i dont know how to start mf245



## Boomers (Nov 15, 2019)

Hi. My husband passed away without ever teaching me how to start the mf 245 diesel. I can drive it if it is running. 
I cant seem to get it started. Im looking for operator manual or just an image of how to start it out of manual. Please. 
I dont see a knob you pull out for fuel? Air? . There is a key. I see the throttle. Is there a fuel thing ? Or safety switches? Do i need to be in seat? Clutch in? Neutral? 
Sorry I feel sort of out of place asking.lol 
I dont know the year. It is a mf 245 diesel. It has been sitting for about 3 months. I want to put it up for winter. Its out in the weather and in the way. Thank you


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Welcome to the forum Boomers! Sorry to hear about your loss. I'm not familiar with your model, but someone here more familiar with it, should come along, but you should be in the seat, and in neutral. There should be a hand and or foot throttle. If that's a diesel, there should be some sort of pre heat or glow pugs that would require the ignition key to be placed in position to engage that. Other specifics, hopefully someone more familiar will step in. I would suggest an operators manual for this tractor.


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## Boomers (Nov 15, 2019)

Yes hand and foot throttles .i dont know about glow plug. The key has 2 positions only. 1 where it is then to right it turns it over then goes back to the 1. My dodge has glow plug. It seems like it has an extra spot or something. Lol I could be wrong. Lol. 
Thank you. Yes I lost him mid sept. Not expecting to. A sudden shock. So im getting crash courses in everything that i took for granted he would do. It has been years since I had to change oil or something. He just always had tractors running for me. Lol the next 1 I have to start is an oliver 77. I think. Propane.


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## bbirder (Feb 26, 2006)

Hi Boomer, 
I also am sorry for your loss. If you look at the top of the page you will see aheading called Manuals. In there you will find a shop manual for a mf "assorted models". This is a pdf file available to download. It is more of a repair manual then an owners manual but may give you some tips. Above all be careful starting a diesel engine. You should always learn the proper way to stop one before starting it. Someone on here will come along and give you more pointers. Wish you well.


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## Fedup (Feb 25, 2014)

Your tractor has two shift levers. the shorter one on the right is for high/neutral/low. It needs to be in neutral (center position)to start(if the neutral start switch is working). No seat switch, no clutch switch or anything else. The fuel shut off knob should be "in" to start and run, "out" to stop. The knob is on the left, above the transmission but below the gauges and other sheet metal. I would suggest you find it and become familiar with it before trying to start the engine. It may have a small cylinder near the knob that will pass through a hole in the bracket supporting it when the knob is raised slightly. The cylinder can be positioned to stay in the run position or the stop position when the knob is lowered. The key switch will probably only have two positions, off (straight up)and start (turn to the right). If there is a manifold heater it will also have one position to the left for heat.


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## Boomers (Nov 15, 2019)

Fedup said:


> Your tractor has two shift levers. the shorter one on the right is for high/neutral/low. It needs to be in neutral (center position)to start(if the neutral start switch is working). No seat switch, no clutch switch or anything else. The fuel shut off knob should be "in" to start and run, "out" to stop. The knob is on the left, above the transmission but below the gauges and other sheet metal. I would suggest you find it and become familiar with it before trying to start the engine. It may have a small cylinder near the knob that will pass through a hole in the bracket supporting it when the knob is raised slightly. The cylinder can be positioned to stay in the run position or the stop position when the knob is lowered. The key switch will probably only have two positions, off (straight up)and start (turn to the right). If there is a manifold heater it will also have one position to the left for heat.


Thank you. Apparently the fuel shut off is no longer there. There are gauges .there is a transmission nothing is between . Except I do see a hole where it could have been. But that is below what looks like the light knob. I will take a picture during daylight tomorrow. Just in case I am missing something. Lol .yes key has 2 positions . 1 is straight 2 turns the it over. 
Thank you very much for the detailed answer. Its a huge help.


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## Boomers (Nov 15, 2019)

bbirder said:


> Hi Boomer,
> I also am sorry for your loss. If you look at the top of the page you will see aheading called Manuals. In there you will find a shop manual for a mf "assorted models". This is a pdf file available to download. It is more of a repair manual then an owners manual but may give you some tips. Above all be careful starting a diesel engine. You should always learn the proper way to stop one before starting it. Someone on here will come along and give you more pointers. Wish you well.


Thank you. Yes I downloaded the service manual. I have had no luck finding the operators manual.
Yes I agree. I will figure it out before I move it. I would be highly upset if i drove it through the backside of my shedrow. Lol. Im just wanting it out of the weather. It was good to us...I want to return the favor. Plus hubby parked it right in the middle of the road . Lol


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

Boomers said:


> Thank you. Apparently the fuel shut off is no longer there. There are gauges .there is a transmission nothing is between . Except I do see a hole where it could have been. But that is below what looks like the light knob. I will take a picture during daylight tomorrow. Just in case I am missing something. Lol .yes key has 2 positions . 1 is straight 2 turns the it over.
> Thank you very much for the detailed answer. Its a huge help.


Fedup gave you the right answers. The fuel off/on knob may be missing but the 'stem' should be there. I don't believe hardly any of the 245's had starting aids. They were well known for being a good one to start in cold weather. BTW, the MF recommended motor oil was straight 10 weight. I sold a helluva lot of new 245's.


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## Boomers (Nov 15, 2019)

This is what I have to work with. Am i correct that thing is missing or am I not seeing it? If it is missing how does that change the starting up of tractor? I was told today my husband pulled battery cable to shut off tractor. Not sure if that is 100 % correct. Although it could be as there is a trick to start run or shut off everything it seems lol . 
Im not sure how to do the pictures. If I did it wrong please excuse me. 
https://www.flickr.com/gp/[email protected]/gMn2F7
https://www.flickr.com/gp/[email protected]/49X2C4
That's the pic links just in case.


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

Taking off the battery cable wouldn't make it stop.Try starting the tractor with the throttle at half. Maybe he let it run at idle and stalled it when he wanted to shut it off. What are those strings on the right side for?


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## marc_hanna (Apr 10, 2017)

I assume he disconnected the battery to make it more difficult to steal or because the wiring wasn’t so great. 

just to be clear, does the tractor crank, but no start, or does it not even crank?


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## Boomers (Nov 15, 2019)

I'm charging battery and have not tried to start it yet because I wasn't sure how . Lol. By looks of it you are correct the wiring isn't all that good. On the right the "strings" is wire that goes to lights in the back he added. He just did a terrible job of it .lol It runs good and does its job. Well it did in beginning of Sept. I watched him use it. The tractor has a leak. So if I can get it into the shop I will fix the leak. As long as I have the service book I should be able to do it. Service book and breaker bar lol . And if I dont forget lefty loosey righty tighty lol . He worked on heavy equip. So when he got home he never felt like working on things. So I am figuring out ... I get to do it. Lol Thank goodness I have his tools .lol it does need a new seat. I might sell it and not worry about it. Depends on what I decide about living here. It is too much for just me to take care of here.16 acres .cows. horses. His quad needs work. My dodge . My car. So im not sure what Im doing.


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## marc_hanna (Apr 10, 2017)

It sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate. I don’t doubt that it can seem a little overwhelming at times, but just take one thing at a time and we’ll help you out where we can. 

i think you’re almost ready to try and start the tractor. You just need to make sure you can shut it off. Check the hole where the fuel shut off knob should be, and see if there anything in there. The knob might be broken off, but the cable might still be intact.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

I believe that hole at the bottom of the dash, left side, below the light switch is where the shut off cable came thru. See if there is anything behind there that you can see of feel. I don't think the cable handle broke off, or there would be some of cable components still attached to that hole.
If the injector pump you have is like this, it should have two levers on the top, one is the throttle lever(#36), the other is the fuel shut off (#32). See what cables or linkage goes to the pump.


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## bbirder (Feb 26, 2006)

Boomer, here is another pic out of the service manual. As Pogo stated, follow the cable from shutoff back to the dash.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

One thing I never thought of, was beacause the fact that the cable and it's sheath seem to have been removed, would it be possible that your husband installed a fuel shutoff solenoid?!? would you possibly here one click in when you turn the key?


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## marc_hanna (Apr 10, 2017)

I think it would help if Boomer snapped some pictures of the injection pump. That way we wouldn’t have to speculate as much.


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## Ann (Sep 28, 2019)

Boomers said:


> Hi. My husband passed away without ever teaching me how to start the mf 245 diesel. I can drive it if it is running.
> I cant seem to get it started. Im looking for operator manual or just an image of how to start it out of manual. Please.
> I dont see a knob you pull out for fuel? Air? . There is a key. I see the throttle. Is there a fuel thing ? Or safety switches? Do i need to be in seat? Clutch in? Neutral?
> Sorry I feel sort of out of place asking.lol
> I dont know the year. It is a mf 245 diesel. It has been sitting for about 3 months. I want to put it up for winter. Its out in the weather and in the way. Thank you


You can go to the Massey Ferguson web site to get a copy of the owners manual. I, too, am a widow and have a Mahindra 4025 and have had to learn to operate and do minor repairs to. This forum has helped me immensely, one of the gentlemen on here even went into great detail as to how to find the oil drain plug, including the size wrench I would need.


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## Boomers (Nov 15, 2019)

Thank you everyone. I got it started and moved into the shedrow !!! I had to jump start it. It apparently needs a new battery. It had a box scraper attached. I could not get it to lift it. I added hydraulic fluid. I think it needed more than I had on hand, maybe. So I unhooked the scraper. Left it there. Lol .Since I still have to go get the oliver out of the pasture. I figured I could maybe move scraper with that. If not well ... theres my dodge and a chain . Lol.
Sorry for delay on saying thank you. I killed my phone by dropping it. I was not able to get online. Thank you everyone, I can not express how much I appreciate your help. 
I hope everyone has a great holiday !!


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## Boomers (Nov 15, 2019)

pogobill said:


> I believe that hole at the bottom of the dash, left side, below the light switch is where the shut off cable came thru. See if there is anything behind there that you can see of feel. I don't think the cable handle broke off, or there would be some of cable components still attached to that hole.
> If the injector pump you have is like this, it should have two levers on the top, one is the throttle lever(#36), the other is the fuel shut off (#32). See what cables or linkage goes to the pump.


#32 I found that when I moved it. It on this tractor , when turned... made it idle faster. Lol There was no shut off that happened. Unless I didnt give it enough time ? I stalled motor with the clutch to shut off. There was nothing connected to #32. I can take picture tomorrow.


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