Highbeam
Super Member
So I've had the unfortunate experience of getting all ready to run the tractor, sometimes after trailering it for 50 miles, and turning the key only to hear nothing. No clicks buzzes or lights. I have a 3 year old Optima style AGM battery and when I checked the voltage with my meter I got 0.20 or very dead. So I jump start the tractor with my truck or even a Honda car one time and everything works great, the battery recharges and the voltmeter reads 14 or so when running after I get back to the truck. The next day it will either start perfectly or it will be deader than heck.
The battery holds a charge when disconnected, the alternator charges just fine, and everything works fine when the tracor is running. I must have a short somewhere. So with the key out of the tractor and a fresh charge on the battery, I removed the ground cable from the battery and touched it back to get a satisfyingly large spark. Ah hah! I have a parasite, a leak, a short.
I've been having some glow plug issues over the winter where sometimes I get no GP action and the only thing other than a short that would suck so much juice is the GP system so I traced the GP wire from the head and it is a black wire with red stripe. I found the relay on the firewall with a black wire and red stripe and unplugged the relay. No more sparky at the battery terminal!
For peace of mind I think I'll do a little more testing on the tractor side of the relay plug to make sure that the GP timer is working right. The dash GP indicator always worked like normal. The GP relay plug was not corroded but was muddy inside which is odd since it is so far away from mud.
So is this a typical problem? The relay is easy to remove and replace, can't be too expensive. Does anyone have any other ideas or do you think I found it? On my Ford truck, the GP circuit draws 200 amps so I'm sure the GP system could drain a battery in short time on our tractors.
Oh and the Kioti starts up just fine without the GPs when it is 68 degrees out.
The battery holds a charge when disconnected, the alternator charges just fine, and everything works fine when the tracor is running. I must have a short somewhere. So with the key out of the tractor and a fresh charge on the battery, I removed the ground cable from the battery and touched it back to get a satisfyingly large spark. Ah hah! I have a parasite, a leak, a short.
I've been having some glow plug issues over the winter where sometimes I get no GP action and the only thing other than a short that would suck so much juice is the GP system so I traced the GP wire from the head and it is a black wire with red stripe. I found the relay on the firewall with a black wire and red stripe and unplugged the relay. No more sparky at the battery terminal!
For peace of mind I think I'll do a little more testing on the tractor side of the relay plug to make sure that the GP timer is working right. The dash GP indicator always worked like normal. The GP relay plug was not corroded but was muddy inside which is odd since it is so far away from mud.
So is this a typical problem? The relay is easy to remove and replace, can't be too expensive. Does anyone have any other ideas or do you think I found it? On my Ford truck, the GP circuit draws 200 amps so I'm sure the GP system could drain a battery in short time on our tractors.
Oh and the Kioti starts up just fine without the GPs when it is 68 degrees out.