Mahindra 4025 4wd no power no start

[TXMike06]

I haven't checked anything yet but I figured I'd post here just for ideas what to check when I get home this evening to make the most of what little daylight Ill have. This morning I got up and was taking some hay out to the pasture. The temperature is very mild right now. I let the glow plugs warm up, cranked it up and let it idle for a minute or so and drove to the hay barn speared a bale and lifted it up. When I pulled forward the motor stalled and there was a big flash under the passenger side of the hood. Then no power at all, turn the key off and back on and nothing comes on. No lights no wts. I figure when I get off work and get home ill check fuses but I'm wondering what would have been going to ground right there to flash up like that. Thanks.

 

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

Take a look at the main power terminal on the starter solenoid. There is also a pigtail with a heavy duty fuse, located in that vicinity.

 

[TXMike06]

I checked every fuse I could find last night and they were all good. Behind the starter a little ways there was a pigtail with 2 relays and a fuse. The fuse had a cover that had a fan symbol on it and it wasn't blown. I was looking through the wiring diagram and it says there's a inline fuse somewhere between the main power wire and the ignition but I haven't found it.

The positive battery cable goes straight to the starter and when I checked voltage on the cable at the starter to the frame I had 12 volts until I turned the key on then it was 0 volts. When I checked on the battery terminals it was reading 12volts no matter what position the key was in.

 

[TXMike06]

Well I figured it out... I was checking voltage everywhere and it was all good until I'd turn the key on... So I checked continuity from the frame to the negative battery terminal and got nothing. Pulled the cable loose from the frame and it was painted.... I scratched the paint off brushed up the connection bolted it back down and everything works... Kinda thought mahindra would think about something like that....

 

[Tkblacktail]

Well I figured it out... I was checking voltage everywhere and it was all good until I'd turn the key on... So I checked continuity from the frame to the negative battery terminal and got nothing. Pulled the cable loose from the frame and it was painted.... I scratched the paint off brushed up the connection bolted it back down and everything works... Kinda thought mahindra would think about something like that....

A fine example of electrical trouble-shooting!

 

[Coyote machine]

Nice work! Now go back and undo the cable and put a coating of copper antiseize on the bolt hole, bolt and end of the cable where the bolt goes through, and tighten her nice and snug. That will help the situation going forward!

 

[Oorah]

thanks, checking it out.

 

[rodneumann]

Well I figured it out... I was checking voltage everywhere and it was all good until I'd turn the key on... So I checked continuity from the frame to the negative battery terminal and got nothing. Pulled the cable loose from the frame and it was painted.... I scratched the paint off brushed up the connection bolted it back down and everything works... Kinda thought mahindra would think about something like that....

I am posting about a blown Main fuse. I was hoping for paint under the ground lug as this other fellow relates was his problem -- but mine was the main fuse.

Two days ago I bought a used 4025 Mahindra from the local dealer. Looks good and only 300 hours. Ran it with the shredder for 15 minutes with the lights on when I got it and then the next day shredded for 2 hours. Got stuck in the soft ground (I have to say I thought 4wd would get me out of there but....) and I cut off the motor and I then went and got my old tractor and a chain.... came out there and hooked it up. Then hit the key on the Mahindara 4025...Nothing. No cluster lights, no horn etc etc. It had just been running just 15 minutes before. After a couple hours in the field (not the best place to be troubleshooting) I Traced it to the blown main fuse. FYI on my 4025 it was behind a plate near my left foot and it was on a block with two relays. The fuse had a cover with a fan looking icon. It was a 30amp fuse and shaped like the regular double blade fuses, only bigger. But the schematic says should be a 40Amp and so I wonder why it is a 30Amp fuse? Maybe it blows periodically due to some other problem like an intermittent short... so maybe the previous owner thought it might be safer to put a 30 Amp fuse in?

I pulled the fuse and it was open, then I measured the resistance to ground on the load side of the fuse socket. It was infinite till I turned the key on and it went to 218 ohms. That's about a 6 amp load. That seems reasonable. Shouldn't blow again immediately when I replace the fuse.

It looks to me that the instruments, the lighting and the heater (for cold start) and the starter solenoid all together should be several amps, but not 30 amps...it should NEVER blow the fuse unless there's some chafed insulation some where or something like that. Or it could be the starter solenoid going out ... some device drawing too many amps.

I've notified the dealer and asked they investigate for deeper information about this trade-in. It wouldn't be beyond the customer to trade it in for a bigger tractor knowing there's a lurking short in the electrical system (that being an additional reason for his trading up, perhaps).

Does anybody have any ideas about likely surges that could cause the main fuse to blow other than bad insulation somewhere? (BTW, the starter motor of course is direct to the 12+ and not through this fuse.).

 

[burzynsr]

OK, amps equals volts divided by resistance. 12 volts divided by 218 ohms is .055045 amps. You did not say if the replacement fuse blew when you tried it. If your manual says it is supposed to be a 40, I would put a 40 in it. You can't trouble shoot a fuse that is working. I do not know the load of the glow plug but as you crank and have the glow plug running the voltage will actually drop and result in a higher amperage. Make sure it says 40 amps in the manual and go with it. I am not an electrical engineer but have 38 years in the business. If I am wrong someone please let me know.

 

[rodneumann]

OK, amps equals volts divided by resistance. 12 volts divided by 218 ohms is .055045 amps. You did not say if the replacement fuse blew when you tried it. If your manual says it is supposed to be a 40, I would put a 40 in it. You can't trouble shoot a fuse that is working. I do not know the load of the glow plug but as you crank and have the glow plug running the voltage will actually drop and result in a higher amperage. Make sure it says 40 amps in the manual and go with it. I am not an electrical engineer but have 38 years in the business. If I am wrong someone please let me know.

I didn't say if the replacement fuse blew when I tried it because at the time I posted I had just discovered the bad fuse and I had to go to town to get a replacement fuse before I could try it out. The reason I posted in this thread is because I figure if someone else has a dead 4025 and it's not the battery and it's not the paint on the ground lug connection, here's info on where to find the main fuse. It took me 15 minutes to finally find the silly thing and the location is not in the manual.

Yesterday I got the new 40A fuse and put it in and that's all there is to the story, unless it's going to blow again due to unknown reasons. I went back to the dealer and showed them the blown 30A fuse. He said something like "Yeh, sometimes in India they do things like that... they substitute what they have when building the assemblies instead of using SPECIFIED parts.". So maybe that 30A fuse WAS the original factory fuse. He also noted the fuse looked a bit corroded. Even though this was a year 2015 tractor, maybe being parked outside in the humidity and rain the fuse was corroded and that led to an early failure. I'd like to believe that explanation over believing there's some other fault in the tractor -- time will tell.

But the 60mA draw (I had typed 6 Amps. I meant to type 60 milliamps. Thanks burzynsr for pointing that out.) seems reasonable for just turning on the key. So I was assured that if there had been a short, it was no longer present. BTW burzynsr, this tractor does not have glow plugs... I understand it turns on an airheater for a short period of time to heat the air on starting.

So yesterday, being a bit flustered with having the tractor blow the main fuse after only two hours of work and for no reason, I told the dealer to at least give me a new fuse. So he gave me a couple 40 amp fuses. I put one in the tractor and one in the tool box so it will be handy if this happens again. If this blows again then I'm going to look for some chafed insulation somewhere... I hear the field mice are bad about chomping on cables.