4410 battery dead/corrosion

[mikemike39]

Hi - my 4410 is just about three years from new, has just over 150 hours on the clock and has been perfect until on Saturday it would not start. It has always been garaged.

I couldn't get the battery out as the nuts had corroded - and there was quite a lot of white corrosion around the red terminal. I was able to check with a torch and there was water in each of the cells. I trickle charged it overnight and on Sunday same story -would not start.

The dealer came out today and jump started it - so it was the battery that had died. He hacksawed off one of the nuts and took out the old battery, and connected a new JD one - which works fine. He is coming back to fit new bolts to secure the battery.

I have read a few threads on this board about battery corrosion on 4310/4410 models and am a little worried

There is some white material covering a couple of sqaure inches of the oil cooler - this looks like the stuff that was around the red terminal

The other corrosion has brushed off fine.

I am in the UK so not all the product options available in the US might be available here - I don't know what alternative batteries I might be able to get

Question is - should I be worried? Is the battery leakage in on the oil cooler an issue,. and if so what should I do?

Will this happen again - is it just something I have to accept every 150 huors or so?

Should I ask the dealer to see whether John deere fancy paying the costs of the call out?

Cheers Mike

[DieselPower]

For starters let me clear something up for the folks here in the US. When he mentions using a torch to check his fluid level he means a flashlight. So don't worry, he's not trying to blow himself up.

My suggestion would be to get a sealed maintenance free battery that does not have "fill" caps. It sounds like if any battery acid leaks out it gets on the cooler. That's not a good thing since it will eventually eat through it and cause a leak. Most maintenance free batteries do have a small vent tube on them that vents gas produced in the charging cycle. You could simply place a small hose on this vent tube and route it down and away from the cooler thereby removing all posibility of getting acid on the cooler.

Another thing you could probably do is get some battery mat. It's simply a mat that contains a acid neutralizing chemical. You could place a piece of this over the top of the battery and it would absorb any acid that leaks out. Anything to prevent it from getting on the cooler.

[jeffinsgf]

My 4410 battery died after just 19 months of service, but luckily, it didn't leak at all. I was all set to go with an Optima, but my dealer replaced it under warranty. As long as they keep doing that, and it doesn't leak, I'll keep letting them.

Is the "Optima" brand available in the UK? They are considered the premiere sealed battery here in the colonies - -- uh, States.

Your local auto parts supplier should have an aerosol battery corrosion cleaner (spray on, let sit, hose off) and a spray on jelly that minimizes corrosion. If at the first of each month you check and fill the water and use these two products, you'll not likely see any more problems.

[755inNY]

Mike,

Same thing happened on my 4310. Thoroghly rinse and gently scrub the oil cooler, radiator, battery tray etc. with plenty of clean water. You want to remove any residual acid on the surfaces. Then recoat the area with paint.

Jeff

[organ grinder]

An old trick to keep the posts clean is to put a light coating of Vaseline on the posts. This prevents a build up of all kinds of stuff, some of which cannot be seen but which will prevent a battery from functioning properly.

[Willl]

Clean the area with 'baking soda' and water.

(baking soda neutralizes battery acid)

[Nuru]

i read abot this issue on other forums and I inspect thhat area once or twice a month. If my battery croaks, I will get an Optima too.