Lights & Horn Out. . .AGAIN!

[BSHfieldmaster]

It would be interesting to know what the charging voltage is a various RPM's Wouldn't it?

Sounds like a bad ground, or bad alternator with a problem in the internal regulator, bad or loose battery cables will do it too, the old Ford Explorer had a 50 or 60 inch positive battery cable that would corrode inside the housing causing blown bulbs, blown fuses and even cooked an alternator or two, I used to own a couple of vehicle repair/tire stores and was never surprised at what could happen on electrical problems

 

[k0ua]

Sounds like a bad ground, or bad alternator with a problem in the internal regulator, bad or loose battery cables will do it too, the old Ford Explorer had a 50 or 60 inch positive battery cable that would corrode inside the housing causing blown bulbs, blown fuses and even cooked an alternator or two, I used to own a couple of vehicle repair/tire stores and was never surprised at what could happen on electrical problems

I had a Long 2360 tractor delivered new, and within a week I notice the battery was split and leaking acid into the steel battery tray. The dealer said sorry, and delivered a new battery. After a while I noticed it was split also, and leaking. Here comes another battery. I measured the charging voltage.. WOAH!. 17 volts.. this is a problem. I was overcharging the battery, producing gas and splitting the battery cases. Wonder it did not explode. I went hunting for the external voltage regulator when I found a loose wire on the regulator that went to the field of the alternator. Tightned down the wire, and all is good, charging at around 14 volts. I fought the corrosion problems with the battery pan for all the years I owned the tractor. Lots of baking soda, and wire wheeling, and painting.. Was always rusty.

 

[BobRip]

Yes. The higher voltage might breakdown insulation and cause a current increase. They need to monitor current and voltage to see this. It sounds like you have done a lot of trouble shooting of electrical equipment.

 

[mad deranger]

I had the same thing happen to me two weeks ago. It would pop a fuse 2 or 3 seconds after engine start. I found that the plug at the alt. was loose. The alt would start generating and a sudden load on a loose conecctor would pop a fuse. Good luck.

 

[captaineddie]

I had the same thing happen to me two weeks ago. It would pop a fuse 2 or 3 seconds after engine start. I found that the plug at the alt. was loose. The alt would start generating and a sudden load on a loose conecctor would pop a fuse. Good luck.

I stopped by the dealership and passed on your suggestion. They have the electrical schematic taped to the side of the loader frame and have an electrical specialist coming in and working on the tractor. They're finding that they can also blow fuses under different conditions. Like I said before, they are determined!

 

[k0ua]

I stopped by the dealership and passed on your suggestion. They have the electrical schematic taped to the side of the loader frame and have an electrical specialist coming in and working on the tractor. They're finding that they can also blow fuses under different conditions. Like I said before, they are determined!

I would pay real money to assist them, just for the challenge.

 

[BobRip]

I would pay real money to assist them, just for the challenge.

A man after my own heart.

 

[captaineddie]

Tractor is back home!

I got my tractor back this morning and it is fixed. If I understand things correctly, the headlights and the tail and brake lights came from the factory, all on the same 15 amp fuse. The wiring itself is big enough to carry over 20 amps, which is good, but when a 20 amp fuse was put in, the fuse itself got hot. To fix the problem, the tail and brake lights were moved to a spare slot and now have their own fuse. One again, I'm neither a mechanic nor an electrician, and hope I'm stating this correctly. My dealer really went the extra mile necessary to track down and fix the problem. For their efforts, I'm really grateful.

 

[k0ua]

Re: Tractor is back home!

I got my tractor back this morning and it is fixed. If I understand things correctly, the headlights and the tail and brake lights came from the factory, all on the same 15 amp fuse. The wiring itself is big enough to carry over 20 amps, which is good, but when a 20 amp fuse was put in, the fuse itself got hot. To fix the problem, the tail and brake lights were moved to a spare slot and now have their own fuse. One again, I'm neither a mechanic nor an electrician, and hope I'm stating this correctly. My dealer really went the extra mile necessary to track down and fix the problem. For their efforts, I'm really grateful.

To state it another way, they re-designed the circuit, by offloading some of the potential load onto another circuit with a separate fuse. it sounds like the original circuit design was marginal at best for the possible loads that could be placed upon it. That is why the fuse did not blow catastrophically, but in a slow overheating mode. This is why I asked about an examination of the blown fuses to start with, which would have indicated a slowly overheated fuse and not a "dead" short to ground. I sincerely hope they are correct in their diagnosis, and you have seen the end of your electrical problems. :thumbsup:

 

[BobRip]

Re: Tractor is back home!

That's a good fix. The 20 amp fuse might have handled it even though it was running warm. That is what fuses run at near full load do. However splitting the circuit up is better. And if one fuse blows you still have some lights.