Can relays be tested?....John Deere 2320 electrical issues!!!

[kyles974]

John Deere 2320 .....300hrs
But had a battery go bad awhile back. After that ....the gremlins came out!!!
The tractor doesn't keep battery charged and the glow plug light stays on.

Now I have money...going to try and fix.

After many many hrs reading and searching the forums.........

Pretty sure it's a bad safty relay and maybe glow plug relay too. (I've got to figure out which ones they are)(already have dash/cover off)
But I think the safety relay is around $100.....and would like to see if I can make sure before paying out the money.

So...is there a way to test relays to see if they are bad?

 

[TomSeller]

John Deere 2320 .....300hrs
But had a battery go bad awhile back. After that ....the gremlins came out!!!
The tractor doesn't keep battery charged and the glow plug light stays on.

Now I have money...going to try and fix.

After many many hrs reading and searching the forums.........

Pretty sure it's a bad safty relay and maybe glow plug relay too. (I've got to figure out which ones they are)(already have dash/cover off)
But I think the safety relay is around $100.....and would like to see if I can make sure before paying out the money.

So...is there a way to test relays to see if they are bad?

Are the relays isolated or part of an integrated board? If you can separate the leads of the coil and measure the contacts, you can jumper the coil with 12V and measure the resistance through the contacts.

 

[tomd999]

Hiya,

Before you dive into relays and extensive troubleshooting, I would verify the grounds are connected, clean and tight. When I worked as a mechanic I seemed to have all the electrical problems handed to me, the majority of them were fixed by making sure the chassis, engine, harness and cab/body all had good clean and functioning grounds. One that a lot of people forget about is the braided strap from the engine to chassis, that will cause a charging system to flip out and give you all sorts of weird issues.

My 2 cents,

Tom

 

[kyles974]

Are the relays isolated or part of an integrated board? If you can separate the leads of the coil and measure the contacts, you can jumper the coil with 12V and measure the resistance through the contacts.

Isolated

Hiya,

Before you dive into relays and extensive troubleshooting, I would verify the grounds are connected, clean and tight. When I worked as a mechanic I seemed to have all the electrical problems handed to me, the majority of them were fixed by making sure the chassis, engine, harness and cab/body all had good clean and functioning grounds. One that a lot of people forget about is the braided strap from the engine to chassis, that will cause a charging system to flip out and give you all sorts of weird issues.

My 2 cents,

Tom

Yes....I will be doing this also. (Had to do other things....so had tractor already apart)
But...like I said....it all begin to happend after the dead battery.

 

[bumpyrider]

If it's a relay problem, it sounds like the contacts are welded together. If you test it the way tomseller suggests, the relay contacts should be closed/low resistance with power applied to the coil, and open/no resistance with the power removed. If the resistance does not change, or only changes a little, that's probably part of your problem. The relay should be off the board so you don't get misleading readings from the rest of the circuit.

 

[TomSeller]

If it's a relay problem, it sounds like the contacts are welded together. If you test it the way tomseller suggests, the relay contacts should be closed/low resistance with power applied to the coil, and open/no resistance with the power removed. If the resistance does not change, or only changes a little, that's probably part of your problem. The relay should be off the board so you don't get misleading readings from the rest of the circuit.

Yes, and if they are welded, you will need to figure out why they welded. A new relay would likely just weld again unless you track down what is drawing the excessive current causing the relays to weld. There was a model of Kubota that had a factory undersized relay, but that is rare. Generally something is drawing too much current.

 

[kyles974]

Are the relays isolated or part of an integrated board? If you can separate the leads of the coil and measure the contacts, you can jumper the coil with 12V and measure the resistance through the contacts.

Yes, and if they are welded, you will need to figure out why they welded. A new relay would likely just weld again unless you track down what is drawing the excessive current causing the relays to weld. There was a model of Kubota that had a factory undersized relay, but that is rare. Generally something is drawing too much current.

That would suck....because these relays are not cheap.
I'm not sure exactly how to test like tom mentioned. I've got very good comen sence....with decent electronics knowledge. ...but when it come to reading a volt meter.....well....kinda of a beginner there.

Hopefully in next couple days I can start to get hands back on......and hope to try and figure this out.

 

[tomd999]

Hiya,

Any idea why the battery went bad? Could it have been acting up and the battery was a symptom and not the cause of the issues?

John Deere 2320 .....300hrs
But had a battery go bad awhile back. After that ....the gremlins came out!!!
The tractor doesn't keep battery charged and the glow plug light stays on.

If you don't have one already, you should get your hands on the service manual for your tractor. It will have a troubleshooting section for each system and a detailed wiring diagram. These will be a great deal of assistance working on this and any other issues that come up.

Tom

 

[horsepuller]

Check the wire size going to the load section of the relays, that will tell you the approximate current rating in amps. (wire gage should be marked on the wires, 12 gage = 20 amp, 10 = 30 amp, ect.) Go to an auto parts store and buy an auto-resetting relay, they are usually less than $5. Jumper the relays in place of the original ones, one at a time. If the auto-resetting relay clicks on and off, you have an overload that must be tracked down by disconnecting individual loads. If the circuit works OK, then you know the original relay is bad, and can replace it. Good luck.

 

[kyles974]

Check the wire size going to the load section of the relays, that will tell you the approximate current rating in amps. (wire gage should be marked on the wires, 12 gage = 20 amp, 10 = 30 amp, ect.) Go to an auto parts store and buy an auto-resetting relay, they are usually less than $5. Jumper the relays in place of the original ones, one at a time. If the auto-resetting relay clicks on and off, you have an overload that must be tracked down by disconnecting individual loads. If the circuit works OK, then you know the original relay is bad, and can replace it. Good luck.

Thank you so much sir. Even if the resetting relays are $20.....it's still worth it.
I am heading to town and will pick one up.
(I just went out to look at wires and did notice one of the electrical clips that go to a relay was just slightly pulled out....not sure if enough to make a bad connection? Hopefully it was!!!.....but I doubt it....lol)

I appreciate the help so far from everyone!!! Greatly!!!