New 190XT (to me)

Good morning. I have been lurking around this forum for a couple months now gathering information while shopping tractors. Last month I bought a 190XT that had been sitting in the weeds for a while. It ran, but had to be started on ether and the solenoid had to be jumped. She is a pretty sorry mess right now, there is an extra set of battery cables wired right to the starter and grounded to the frame next to the tractor. You set your batteries on the ground next to the tractor, jump the solenoid, disconnect your batteries, and drive off. Poking around under the dash found a bunch of melted wires and looking around the tractor I see a lot of wires twisted together with no insulation. Thinking I should start at the basics and rewire the whole thing, starting with the start/preheat circuit and do the lights later. Most of them are broke off anyway. I am new to farm tractors, worked on my own cars, trucks, small engines, etc. Bought it pretty cheap as it also had rear flat tire with a fairly large rust hole around the valve stem. Conquered my first tractor tire repair though. Derusted the rim, welded a patch, and put in a new tube.

According to serial number breakdown I have a 1966 model. From what I have read that is an early model that does not have the provisions for a block heater, correct this newbie if he is wrong. I would be interested in your link calico190xt68. Thanks for all the help. Right now I am just fixing little things and figuring out what I need to prioritize to be fixed. I am glad my preheater works but it sounds like a block heater is the way to go.

1966 model year would be the old full skirted fenders.

The serial number is 11535. I will upload pictures this weekend, the ones I have are too large and I am not sure if I can resize from my phone.

My injection pump was leaking from the timing mark window.  It ran for about a half of year after I got it.  It eventually started missing out, then it started idling really fast, then erratic and eventually died. Cleaned fuel lines and didn't help.  You might get a year out of it before it will die is my guess assuming it has sat for years.  With the moss on it, I would think it sat a long time.  Others on here know far more about it, but my guess is that the plastic parts have or will disintegrate the more you use it.  They will clog up your injection lines even after you repair the pump if you don't clean them out.  I put a new primer on for about $100 on my tractor this past year and it ran considerably better.  I had already cleaned lines multiple times and had injection pump rebuilt by InjpumpEd (who is the best) and it still helped.  I think those electric pumps are not necessary unless it is masking some other fuel issues that you are having.  My new primer doesn't squirt fuel over me when I prime it either.  If you clean your fuel tank/sediment bowls/lines, stop leaks and a new manual primer, your fuel supply issues will be over with.  You will then be confident it will be an injection pump issue or injection lines , if it starts acting up.  Those are all cheap fixes before you commit to new injection pump as well.  If injection pump goes out and you really need the tractor, it can take several weeks to get it fixed.  That oozing of fuel could also mean that you have a shot seal on the injection pump shaft.  I rolled my seal when reinstalling injection pump and ended up with fuel in the oil pan.  You might check your oil dipstick and see if your oil level is increasing with diesel fuel.  Those loose fittings need to be shored up.  There is a baffle in the fuel tank, and so if you were on a hill sideways and low on fuel, the tractor would get starved of fuel without the 2nd output line.  That's why they have two from what I know.  That baffle creates a big problem cleaning the tank without de-installing it.  You probably should change the front wheel bearings at a cost of about $30 per wheel.  Or at least check them.  One of mine disintegrated and I was lucky the wheel didn't come completely off in road gear.  I am just running down the things that I ran into.  You may have a completely different set of issues in the long run.  I do work my tractor as a bale mover, raking tractor and small square baler tractor and I think that is good for it, but it has broken at some bad times.  I start it once a week and move during winter to keep batteries up and fuel rotated through the injection pump.  I believe I read in original manual that they should be started once every 3 weeks at a minimum to avoid trouble.  As others have said, glad to see the rescue of another orange tractor!

I totally agree with ac720man on his recommendations.

Hey there!

I myself just picked up a 1969 190XT III. I guess I'll have to (online) stalk you a bit to watch your progress with yours!

Very nice! I'm really glad it's still working so well after seemingly years of neglect! That's impressive!

I received my electrical parts this week and plan on working on addressing the starting and charging circuit this coming weekend. Got a new key switch, push button starter switch, and light switch. Also had a new battery cable and grounding straps on hand.

AC720Man, thank you. That is a very sharp looking tractor you have there. Hope to get caught up enough mechanically on mine to consider a paintjob.