Alternator not charging battery. Alternator, battery, and fuses all check out fine.

   / Alternator not charging battery. Alternator, battery, and fuses all check out fine. #31  
Did I miss it? I have not seen a reference yet to the charge idiot light on the dash. If there was a alternator or regulator failure, the charge light would come on.

I also see that there is supposed to be a lighting connector for a trailer on this machine. Is this so? Check to see if there is a problem with this connector (dummy plug installed, dirt or crud causing a short). To me, the key clue in this investigation is that the machine dies when the battery cable is pulled off. To me, this means that: The alternator output is zero (dead alternator), or the alternator output is insufficient to provide all the electrical needs (lights, fuel pump, gauges, safety switches, shorts, or other high loads, whatever).

So, check to see what the headlights do when you run the throttle up and down. Look around for any hot spots in the wiring, solenoids, or auxilliary equipment that may be stuck in the ON position (glow plugs??), etc.

I had the exact same issue with my JD 1070, but at least I had the idiot light to tell me something was amiss. It was the voltage regulator.
 
   / Alternator not charging battery. Alternator, battery, and fuses all check out fine.
  • Thread Starter
#32  
Pete and Roger, you are both right. I just don't know what is bringing the charge down.

Coyote, thank you. When I go back out to the barn, I'll get pictures of things and note the colors of all wires. I'll also try switching out the fuse and find my notes on voltage readings.
Extra goats to spare, we have them!
 
   / Alternator not charging battery. Alternator, battery, and fuses all check out fine. #33  
Yes, running a battery flat numerous times will kill it prematurely for sure. Whether one looses a year/run flat instance is anyone's guess, but as stated it doesn't help it maintain a charge. They are not designed to be run flat, they meant to have an alternator/generator feed them 'excess voltage' above the amount drawn off to keep the charge state higher than any potential drain.
The dash light is a good indicator, assuming for a moment it is not a part of the actual no output from the alternator condition, that is almost certain to be the ultimate culprit.

Here is my premise, based on what we've determined so far. Something is causing the charge system to NOT recharge the battery. Even with a new battery we don't know until we get the voltage reading report if there is ANY output from the alternator back to the battery. I highly doubt there is, but I want to be certain, before we go down the wrong road.
Once we know for sure that there is NO feedback to the battery, then the rule out becomes wiring or alternator/voltage regulator. I'd put money on wiring- ONLY because we've been told that the alternator functions on the bench.
We need to know what wires attach to the 'alt' and where they feed to from it. In the diagrams of the service manual I saw what looked like an opaque colored 'fusable link' in the harness clutter up at the firewall near where the hood closes. I could not discern whether this is what I was looking at but they had a red circle around it and reference letters and arrows and stuff, but no clear explanation.
I looked further at the big wiring diagram, which was so compressed it was hard to see when blowing it up to readable size. It seems the wires at the alt show a wire with a built in diode at the top, and a ground wire at the bottom of the pic. The ground is obvious from it's multiple straight lines and a single line drawn down to it. There don't seem to be any other connections BUT hopefully a picture or two will tell us more from the OP. I want to see the 'battery fuse' from the #1 slot in the fusebox changed out just to eliminate it from the problem, like we did with the battery.

Wondering if there are mice near the tractor? Is it stored out or inside? Where the ground wire from the alt is connected, is it a good CLEAN ground?

BTW, feed and water the kids and the goats and arrive at the '*mechanic's',(*HA, HA) door when they ALL have to go 'potty', and let them loose on him all at once- you'll get your money back. Don't forget to cry, and if necessary scream a little about feeling ripped off big time while your husband is away on business... something ought to get through...;) Use what you got going for you!! All's fair in WAR!
 
   / Alternator not charging battery. Alternator, battery, and fuses all check out fine. #34  
So looking at the manual and wiring diagram, there is a ton of stuff on this tractor that will drain a battery, just not in 3 minutes so the battery is likey toast. The alternator is internally regulated and any mention of Regulator and Rectifier means Alternator. It is externally excited through a lamp on the dash with a Battery picture on it. When turning the key to ON, just before engaging the starter the battery lamp should be lit. If not, then you need to find out why. It could be the lamp itself or wiring or fuse.


I can't believe the guy would come out and not fix her tractor. Since he tested the Alternator and it charges another battery, then sell her a battery and be done with the job. If he had to apply external battery to excite the alternator, then why not tell her that the exciter ciruit is faulty but without a wiring diagram he cannot trouble shoot further.
 
   / Alternator not charging battery. Alternator, battery, and fuses all check out fine. #35  
I was told once by a self-described auto-electric expert that every time you run a lead-acid battery down flat, you've taken a year off it's life. If there is any truth to that, it might explain why the 'bought in October' battery is not so good.

Pete

I think there is some truth in that.
 
   / Alternator not charging battery. Alternator, battery, and fuses all check out fine. #36  
So...how did you make out at the repair shop with the 8 kids and goats? Inquiring minds need to know? :laughing:
 
   / Alternator not charging battery. Alternator, battery, and fuses all check out fine.
  • Thread Starter
#37  
Well, he opens at 8:00am. We were there by 8:15am when everyone was coming in to drop things off, pick up, etc. The kids behaved flawlessly which was not my preference at that time. I told him I wanted an itemized bill to show what I was charged for. He tried to say it was all mileage but wouldn't make me a receipt showing such. 31 miles does not add up to that much. I let him know my next stop was to file a BBB complaint and with Consumer Protection Division of our state's Attny General's office. I was quiet about it but he was not. I fear it was humoring at least 2 of the gentlemen there. In the end I got all put $93 back. He felt he was owed that for mileage and time spent. I can't argue as he was owed something for his time and mileage. As we were leaving, 2 older gentlemen by the door commented on the children and winked. I think they got the drift as to what was going on. I'm happy with how it turned out.

He was not the same person who tested my battery or alternator. 3 different guys there.

The tractor is up and going and keeping its charge now. I was ready to pull my hair out so I started over with step one. I played around with fuses even though they all checked out. I replaced each one in turn to see if it made a difference. The one for the glow plug seemed to make the difference. When I switched it out, it was the middle of the night so it was super quiet in there and I could hear the faintest clicking noise under there. I tracked it down and it was the glow plug relay. It was clicking non-stop and wouldn't quit. So I replaced the glow plug relay yesterday and left the replacement fuse for the glow plug there. I have run the tractor for 6 hrs non-stop and the battery does not wind down on voltage readings. In fact it comes out even or higher than when it first starts up. I used it a lot today and same thing. It does not wind down and goes up only slightly but it is still up so I'm thrilled.

As best I can figure the relay was winding down the battery and it got to the point it couldn't recharge with the alternator. If yall have better ideas as to what was going on, I'd love to hear them. I also managed to replace a light bulb and now the other lights work just fine. I think it was just a separate problem with suspect timing.

Thank you everyone, so much. There is no way I'd have EVER figured this out without yall stepping me through things one thing at a time to narrow down possible problems. I so truly appreciate your time and suggestions. Yall are wonderful!
 
   / Alternator not charging battery. Alternator, battery, and fuses all check out fine. #38  
Well, he opens at 8:00am. We were there by 8:15am when everyone was coming in to drop things off, pick up, etc. The kids behaved flawlessly which was not my preference at that time. I told him I wanted an itemized bill to show what I was charged for. He tried to say it was all mileage but wouldn't make me a receipt showing such. 31 miles does not add up to that much. I let him know my next stop was to file a BBB complaint and with Consumer Protection Division of our state's Attny General's office. I was quiet about it but he was not. I fear it was humoring at least 2 of the gentlemen there. In the end I got all put $93 back. He felt he was owed that for mileage and time spent. I can't argue as he was owed something for his time and mileage. As we were leaving, 2 older gentlemen by the door commented on the children and winked. I think they got the drift as to what was going on. I'm happy with how it turned out.

He was not the same person who tested my battery or alternator. 3 different guys there.

The tractor is up and going and keeping its charge now. I was ready to pull my hair out so I started over with step one. I played around with fuses even though they all checked out. I replaced each one in turn to see if it made a difference. The one for the glow plug seemed to make the difference. When I switched it out, it was the middle of the night so it was super quiet in there and I could hear the faintest clicking noise under there. I tracked it down and it was the glow plug relay. It was clicking non-stop and wouldn't quit. So I replaced the glow plug relay yesterday and left the replacement fuse for the glow plug there. I have run the tractor for 6 hrs non-stop and the battery does not wind down on voltage readings. In fact it comes out even or higher than when it first starts up. I used it a lot today and same thing. It does not wind down and goes up only slightly but it is still up so I'm thrilled.

As best I can figure the relay was winding down the battery and it got to the point it couldn't recharge with the alternator. If yall have better ideas as to what was going on, I'd love to hear them. I also managed to replace a light bulb and now the other lights work just fine. I think it was just a separate problem with suspect timing.

Thank you everyone, so much. There is no way I'd have EVER figured this out without yall stepping me through things one thing at a time to narrow down possible problems. I so truly appreciate your time and suggestions. Yall are wonderful!

As best as I can figure it, you were nothing short of amazing! I know there were lots of people offering tips, but you approached this thing logically and systematically and even out performed the pros. (especially that guy from the shop) Job well done!
 
   / Alternator not charging battery. Alternator, battery, and fuses all check out fine. #39  
As best as I can figure it, you were nothing short of amazing! I know there were lots of people offering tips, but you approached this thing logically and systematically and even out performed the pros. (especially that guy from the shop) Job well done!

x2 Really good job, you should be proud.
 
   / Alternator not charging battery. Alternator, battery, and fuses all check out fine. #40  
As best I can figure the relay was winding down the battery and it got to the point it couldn't recharge with the alternator. If yall have better ideas as to what was going on, I'd love to hear them.

That was probably what was wrong with it. A alternator is not designed to charge a battery it just maintains it.
 
 
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