What type of fuse should I use for 1978 Montgomery Ward?

Hello guys, I'm not sure if anyone will see this post, but I am loking for some help with my 1978 Montgomery Ward lawn tractor. (It's the smaller version) The fellow I bought it from had redone the wiring systems and put in a 2007 B&S 14.5 horse motor. So anyways, when he did the wiring, he removed the fuse, and go figure, all the wires have been fried. Does anyone know what sort of fuse I should use? I may be able to start it and take a reading of the voltage coming in if anyone would like. Any help much appreciated! Thanks! I tried to upload a picture but I can't find one.

Are you restoring the tractor or just general use? It might be easy to just go with the simple push button ignition if you watch fearlessfront video he explains how to do it. And if it has the electric silinoid on the carb bowl just run that wire to a switched power source.

No I am using it as a mudder. It already has a pushbutton starter actually! But the wires leading up to and coming from the button that go to the solenoid are melted. I can try to post a few pics!

Typically the fuse is there to protect the ign switch - the ign switch needs a constant hot source in order to start the tractor.

Heres the push button setup:


Heres a basic wiring diagram from a murray - it might change slightly depending on how many pins the ign switch has ( 5-6-7 pins) - reason for more pins is more accessories like lights. ect:


Antifire solenoids can be bypassed if its giving you runnning issues - simply unhook the lead, and snip the metal pin off the end that goes in the carb. Basically that just keeps gas from flowing into the combustion chamber after its shut off - a simple manual shut off valve will replace it.

Ok thanks!
I think I knew nost of that, I do have a tractor that has horrible afterfire problems!
I'm mostly looking for a fuse amperage recommendation. I have a couple of 20's lying around, I may try them.
Thanks everyone for the help!

Yeah i have a few OHV motors with those solenoids on them- - its pretty easy to remove the solenoid and snip the end off - over time they tend to stick closed or open slightly causing running issues, its just easier to do away with it.

Ya definately. It goes BANG every time I start it due to the letf over fuel in the cylinder!

The solenoid is actually supposed to shut off the fuel to the carb when you shut the key off. If you are getting raw fuel in the cylinder its because the float valve (needle and seat) is leaking or stuck. Sometime a couple whacks withh a screwdriver handle will help dislodge anything thats in there, otherwise, it needs a good cleaning.

Run on, or dieseling as its called, is caused by a dirty out of tune carb.

ALright, good to know, the reason for the fuel getting thru in my instance is because there is NO solenoid on the carb. but that is a completely differnt project!

My 03 murray would diesel all the time when i had the antifire solenoid in it - i disabled it and it hasnt done it since. None of my other tractors have ever dieseled either ( with or w/o solenoids), was always the 03.

The way i shut my tractors off now is to shut the manual fuel valve off, then let the engine stall when its out of gas in the carb - ive had a few issues with carbs lately - due to the crappy gas availible , it leaves a residue inside the float bowl.

Even good gas starts to degrade after a couple of months

Ok good stuff to know!

2 stroke premix is even worse, after a winter, its basically syrup.

Stabilizer will fix that. I have 5 year old gas in my boat and it still fires right up

Impressive! By the way, How do you post a picture on here?

Then you guys can see what I'm doing!

click the "host an image button" at the top, upload yopur pic and copy the link.

Click the "image" button ( next to the Host an Image button) and paste link into the field.

click ok.

Ok cool, thanks! Well here's what I got.
The first is the machine.



And then there's the dash. Button on the far left is the kill switch. The one next to that (It says lights but it's not) is the carb solenoid switch. And the far right is the start button.



And this is the motor. 2007 Briggs&Stratton 15.5 HP OHV Turbo Cool. (I always say; "Turbo Cool, just like me")



And lastly, my melted wires.



They're not too great, I was trying to hold a work light at the same time as my camera!

I have the same engine..hit me up if you need any other info.

Great! SO what fuse should I use? If you read the above you may know what I'm talking about.

BlackMountian88 wrote:

Great! SO what fuse should I use? If you read the above you may know what I'm talking about.

I simple use a 20amp blade.. I think they are color coded as red..it's plenty.
Now, that only connects the starting wire. I have had the wire running from the starter ground itself to the frame because it got pinched under the oil fill spout. (From swapping engines out)

It actually grounded itself thru the plastic coating and a thin layer of paint....


So, you really just got to walk each wire and check them out

Ok. In the photos above, the red wires had shorted because the casing melted.

Might Want to get a new solenoid just for good measure. I just picked up one from advanced auto and it was nine bucks

The 20 amp blade fuze is yellow, and should be more than enough. I used an inline holder from NAPA in mine. I also used loom and wire clamps to hold wires away from anything that might melt or rub on them.

Yep I had to look again, the 10amps are red. My mistake.

Haha wired it all up. now I'm going to put it back together. I will let ya know what happens tomorrow!