battery or starter ?

[Renze]

I have problems starting my tractor. Charged the battery for 3 days, putting out 12.8 volt, but still not fast to start.
My brother let the ignition key on, and when we wanted to feed the horses this morning it didnt crank. Battery puts out 12V and 0.5V when the starter is engaged: Measured at the solenoid.

How much is the voltage allowed to drop when the starter is engaged ? Or in other words: is it the starter, the wiring or the battery ?

 

[Gary Fowler]

Switch out the battery with a known good one. Lots easier and cheaper to change a battery than a starter. Dont really have to switch it, just jump the starter from a good battery and see if it starts. Most parts houses in the states will do a load test on your battery for free to determine if the amps are high enough. Just having the voltage available doesnt mean the battery is good.

 

[Renze]

Gary, i dont have a known good battery available, as both my tractors have starting issues (i worked my butt off during the holiday to catch up with repairs: Finally got the new alternator mounted which i had on the shelf for 2 years)

But what i can do, is try to start the 3011 with the battery of the 5245: the 3011 has a good starter and connections. When it starts fine on this battery, i know the battery is good so i must either blame the wires or the starter.

 

[crbr]

Good luck.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

Put your VOM om the battary and wach the voltage when you try to start the tractor. It shouldn't drop below 10.5v and when you let up on the key it should go back to 12v. If the voltage drops below 10.5 or doesn't come back up your battery is bad. How cold is it in holland?
Bill

 

[Renze]

Its -7 celsius out here. Not that much actually, but i have two batteries that were used to deep cycle to depletion, and then charge for 3 days, the last 2 years. So both are suspicious.

I'll try the battery on the other tractor right after my sunday aft nap.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I dont know what your situation in Holland is, but most places in USA that sell batteries also can check them to see if your battery is good. I would put the battery on charge overnight, then take it to a place that can load test it. My local autoparts place does this for free. Then if it is bad, you already have the core battery to trade in while you are in town.

 

[Trails2004]

Could you use a battery out of a automobile to test the starter?? Just a thought

 

[Mickey_Fx]

I have problems starting my tractor. Charged the battery for 3 days, putting out 12.8 volt, but still not fast to start.
My brother let the ignition key on, and when we wanted to feed the horses this morning it didnt crank. Battery puts out 12V and 0.5V when the starter is engaged: Measured at the solenoid.

How much is the voltage allowed to drop when the starter is engaged ? Or in other words: is it the starter, the wiring or the battery ?

Hope this is somewhat useful to you.

A fully charged nom 12v battery will measure ~12.7v with no load applied. Now while you may measure 12.7v - 12.8v that is no indication of capacity.

If the battery was working OK prior to the discharge from leaving the key on over night then recharged, it should still be OK.

Which side of the solenoid was the measurement made? If the battery, side it is most likely the battery has little/no capacity. Oh, don't forget to check for clean and tight connections, the source of many "battery" issues. If from the starter side could be either the solenoid or the starter.

To check the starter, using a decent set of jumper cables, connect the ground to the engine/chassis close to the starter then hit the starter terminal directly with the positive side of the jumper cable. If starter is good there should be a good attempt from the starter to turn the engine over.

One could also bypass the solenoid by jumpering across the 2 current carrying terminal to see if things are working. If that works, look like both the battery and starter are OK and solenoid is suspect.

Oh, one last thing to check, take a voltage measurement at the solenoid to the small terminal that goes to the switch. You should see full battery voltage when switch is engauged, if not switch and possible solenoid is suspect.

 

[Renze]

Problem solved:

I charged the battery last week, but with no effect. To test the battery charger i ticked the clamps against each other, and they sparked: fuse is intact and there is juice coming through. So i replaced the battery with another gel type one, charged it for 3 days, measured 12.8 volt, but still hard starting.
Overnight my brother let the ignition key on: this morning when we wanted to feed the horses, 12V. Measured when cranking: 5V
I got advice that if there was a short in the starter, it could draw so much juice from the battery that the voltage dropped. To rule this out, i measured the same values on the 3011 with this battery, so this battery is shot.

So i measured the battery i took off the week before: It showed 12.4 volt, but 12V after cranking a little. Cranking voltage was around 8.5 to 9 volt, which means that the original battery is a reasonably fit, but depleted one.

Then it popped my mind to measure the output of the charger: It puts out only 10.5 Volt !! That threw some light onto the matter. So i could finally draw some conclusions to narrow down the search: i have one probably depleted, but maybe busted battery, two definately busted ones, and a busted battery charger.
I borrowed my neighbours heavyweight 30 year old charger (those old ones with copper spools, which allways work) and after an hour i had enough juice to start the tractor. So i could draw some more conclusions: the battery, connections and starter are good.

All thats left for me, is to replace the 3 Watt pilot light in the instrument cluster to get the newly mounted alternator to work. The pilot light plays a vital role in the voltage regulator automatic control switch, so if the lamp broke, alternator wont switch on.

Electricity isnt my thing at all, but i learned a lot today.