John Deere 2320 Electrical/starting problem

[Ecoskidder]

I have a 4 yr. old 2320 with 120hours on it. I've owned it since it was new and have never had a major problem with it until now. This morning I fired her up for the first time in 2 weeks. I was turning the compost bin with the FEL. After about 5 minutes I shut it down to do some shoveling. When I went to restart, it was dead. I checked the battery with the multimeter and it read 12.6Volts. After some trying, my buddy and I were able to jump start it but came to a few conclusions:
1) Battery pretty dead: Goes down to low 4's and to 0 when starting it.
2) Alternator when running putting out: 25VAC and 21V DC when charging.
3) When it was running and I raised throttle to high idle/2000rpm, the glow charge light came on. Wierd. Some dash lights flickering/surging when running after the jumped restart.


So...It looks like I need a new battery BUT...our suspicion is that the alternator and/or voltage regulator are pooched. Does this have a volt.reg. built into the alternator or is it external. If external, does anyone know of the location of the voltage regulator? Behind Dash?

Not sure what to do next. Please advise if you have experience with this problem. ***Have read elsewhere that there is a Safety relay near the voltage regulator that could be the issue. Elsewhere, some people have just recommended getting a new battery. Don't want to start pulling it all apart until I get a little advice. Thanks for any advice you might be able to give. -Kirk (Ecoskidder) PS: If there are any step by step diagnostic directions that you might have and/or pictures and diagrams for replacing the Voltage Regulator, that would be great.

[Zebrafive]

The regulator is separate. Key #11, beside it is the starter relay key #12 there are also timers for the fuel shutoff key #1, the glow plugs key #7, relay for the glow plugs key #9.

Use your meter on ohms and check both battery cables. You may have a bad cable connector or bad ground.

[glc24]

TO TBN Ecoskidder

I have a 4 yr. old 2320 with 120hours on it.

I would suspect the battery is shot. You're one of the lucky ones to get more than 2 years out of the OEM battery.


Greg

[Ecoskidder]

Thank you both for your responses. Does anyone think that these voltage readings are strange and that the problem goes beyond the battery being shot? As in: did my higher voltage readings effectively fry my battery? Thanks again!

[Gator6x4]

Take the battery out and take to a battery sales facility. Have them do a carbon arch test. If the battery test bad, purchase a new battery and place in the tractor. After starting check the voltage on the positive and negative posts with a DC Voltage Meter. With the tractor running at around 1800 rpms you should receive a voltage reading of around 14 volts or above.

[Tx Jim]

I have a 4 yr. old 2320 with 120hours on it. I've owned it since it was new and have never had a major problem with it until now. This morning I fired her up for the first time in 2 weeks. I was turning the compost bin with the FEL. After about 5 minutes I shut it down to do some shoveling. When I went to restart, it was dead. I checked the battery with the multimeter and it read 12.6Volts. After some trying, my buddy and I were able to jump start it but came to a few conclusions:
1) Battery pretty dead: Goes down to low 4's and to 0 when starting it.
2) Alternator when running putting out: 25VAC and 21V DC when charging.
3) When it was running and I raised throttle to high idle/2000rpm, the glow charge light came on. Wierd. Some dash lights flickering/surging when running after the jumped restart.

I also think you may have volt.reg. problem. Be sure and check all 4 battery cable connections especially the ground cable that attaches to tractor.

[Ecoskidder]

I also think you may have volt.reg. problem. Be sure and check all 4 battery cable connections especially the ground cable that attaches to tractor.

Thanks to all. Had woods work this morning (sans tractor) so only got to pulling voltage regulator and alternator this afternoon. Will get both tested tomorrow. Battery is absolute done for. Will keep all posted. Again, thanks for your helping sleuthing everyone. -Kirk

[Ecoskidder]

Hi folks!
Sometimes life gets busy and you don't get back to the people that helped you soon enough. A belated but sincere word of thanks to all of those who helped in problems solving. To update: when I had the alternator, voltage regulator tested, the alt and vreg tested out to be fine. With the battery, while the specific gravity checked out ok, it went right down to 0 volts when subjected to a load. No real surprise. Bought a 450CCA battery and put everything back together and things have been fine ever since. It was very strange that the dead battery caused all of my gremlins but as someone said either in this or another post, a healthy battery really does seem to act as a regulating buffer. At any rate, lots learned from this experience and all of it was good. Thanks to everyone for the help and suggestions you lent. I'll be paying it forward at some point. Best to you all in weathering Sandy if you're in the Northeast. Gratefully, Kirk