Battery not staying charged

KubotaM7060 · Jun 25, 2015

We have an old yanmar 2500 Diesel tractor for our hunt club and the battery will not stay charged. We have replaced battery, alternator, regulator...you name it. We are replacing the switch is going to be replaced Saturday and after that I dont know what else it can be.. Anybody experienced this?

HarryN · Jun 25, 2015

Don't know how to solve your particular issue and it seems you tried a bunch of stuff.
There must be some drainage somewhere.
Here is a fix that has worked for me..... a battery disconnect.
Good luck

KubotaM7060 · Jun 25, 2015

where did you install that at?

KubotaM7060 · Jun 25, 2015

where did you purchase that at?

HarryN · Jun 25, 2015

Don't remember where it's been so long ago.
But any auto parts, marine or tractor supply should carry it or something similar to it.

HarryN · Jun 25, 2015

KubotaM7060 said:
where did you install that at?

I did mine on the positive side cable off of the battery. Some do it on negative side. Don't think it makes a difference though....

Markey · Jun 25, 2015

Some simple checks with a voltmeter will isolate your problem. You should have done that in the first place prior to changing parts that may be good.

k0ua · Jun 25, 2015

Markey said:
Some simple checks with a voltmeter will isolate your problem. You should have done that in the first place prior to changing parts that may be good.

True enough, BUT you have to remember most people have more experience handling venomous reptiles than voltmeters, which is to say none. It is not taught in school you know. Unless you pick up that skill along the way in life, you are not going to know how to use either the analog or digital models nor make the deductions involving Ohm's law, or scientific method in isolation and trouble shooting. Just what do they teach in school anyway? So in general I agree with you, but how does a person gain this knowledge?. For some it is a hard road like this fellow has been down.

bfisherman11 · Jun 25, 2015

Years ago I bought a used Ford Probe for my daughter as her first car. A couple days after we bought it the battery died. I checked the alternator and it seemed ok so we just replaced the battery. Couple days later that one was dead. I changed the alternator in case it had an issue but still that car would drain the battery. I took it in to a dealer and they said the alternator was bad. Don't recall how it worked out but we were in twice more. Eventually they said it must have a short some place discharging the battery... The service guy suggested I trade it in because they would never find the problem with all the potential wires that could be bad on a car.

We did trade it but being fairly car savy that always bugged me that I could not fix it.

Could be you have a short some place on a circuit that does not kill power when the key is off.

Bill

crackerjack222 · Jun 25, 2015

KubotaM7060 said:
We have an old yanmar 2500 Diesel tractor for our hunt club and the battery will not stay charged. We have replaced battery, alternator, regulator...you name it. We are replacing the switch is going to be replaced Saturday and after that I dont know what else it can be.. Anybody experienced this?

Some trouble-shooting probably could have saved you some money. That said, I had a car that would run the battery down in about two days. If the car were driven daily, there was no problem. I knew there was some drain, but for the life of me I could not find it. Then one night I saw a faint light coming from the tail lights. The trunk light was staying on all the time. I removed the bulb and never had another problem.
Obviously not a solution to your problem, but I bet it is something similar.