Deere 317 will not start

[Johndeere3720]

Well, I should have known it was coming, the battery finally gave way on my 317 last night. It took a while to figure out how it comes out and I am in a pickle, the boom must be raised to remove the battery. :confused2: How am I supposed to raise the boom if I cant even start it? I have no other machine around capable of lifting the boom either. I tried jumping it with both the battery on the pickup and a booster and when you turn the key you get nothing. First time i went to start it i got a long beep when i tried to start it and now nothing. The gauges do turn over now when you're in the seat however the head lights will not come on. So what do I do now? I know i need a new battery, i had one that I though might work but it is too small so that's out of the question. How do I remove the old battery? The only way I could see it coming out is tipping it on its side which would get battery acid all over so I would prefer not to go that route. I believe I have an error code off of it, F9D5 which I browsed through the manual and found nothing. Any ideas guys?

 

[murphy1244]

Maybe flip the machine on its side and cut a inspection hole with a sawsall.

 

[Cam-Saskatoon Canada]

Have you actually tested the battery? It should start if you are boosting it, so I would think that you probably have a bad connection (dirty connections) and that is stopping it from turning over.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Have you actually tested the battery? It should start if you are boosting it, so I would think that you probably have a bad connection (dirty connections) and that is stopping it from turning over.

I will have to check again, the connections appeared clean but I will take a wire brush to them to make sure. I will also wire brush the ground cable.

 

[Johndeere3720]

You can see by the pictures what kinda space i have to work with, the battery will not come out with the boom down. :confused2: Poor design if you ask me. :ashamed:

 

[murphy1244]

Man, That is tight. I can't believe JD did not see that coming. How many machines blow a battery with the boom up? Very bad design.:thumbdown:

 

[Johndeere3720]

Okay guys, last night I went out and cleaned the battery cables, terminals, and the ground with a wire brush. Hooked the battery back up along with the booster and got in the cab, still no response from the switch. By now I was stumped, so i put everything away for the night. I kept thinking about where else i hadn't looked and then I realized why didn't I look in the fuse box? When i turned the key it usually made at least a click which was the solenoid engaging. However it wasn't doing that plus the lights would not come on. Of course it was already dark out when I thought about it so this morning I went out and took off the fuse box cover to see what the fuses looked like.

Continued in next post....

 

[Johndeere3720]

I pulled out the first fuse which goes to the ignition switch. Once I saw it i had to pull out the second one to compare. :laughing: As you can see, this is why my ignition switch was doing nothing. So I knew I had some extra fuses, I went in the garage and found out i had atleast 5 brand new fuses. So I grabbed one of the new fuses, stuck it in, and put the key in the ignition. Without the booster, she fired right up. So i pulled it out of the barn, took the bucket off, and parked it out of the way with the boom up so I could pull out the battery. I keep having to jump it so I am still getting a new battery but i am so glad I got everything figured out. :thumbsup:

 

[murphy1244]

Good Job!!!!

 

[Johndeere3720]

Good Job!!!!

Thanks!

 

[Johndeere3720]

Just got back from town with a new battery. I called Deere before we left and they wanted $186 for a battery. Went to Les Schwab and they wanted $116. So I got the Les Schwab battery which even has better cold cranking AMPS than the Deere plus a handle so it is easier to put in.:thumbsup: But I still went down to Deere and got some parts for my L118 and a new headlight for the 317 as a spare since a tree limb destroyed one a couple weeks ago but i luckily had an extra to swap it with so I dont have and ugly skid steer. :laughing::thumbsup: I also grabbed an SMV bracket so I can mount my SMV sign to the back of the 317 for when I am operating on the neighborhood roads. :thumbsup: I still have to install the new battery along with a hydraulic line i got a while ago after I found that one had been crushed.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Battery is installed, hydraulic line is changed, the 317 is ready to go. The new battery is a little taller though so i need to make a new bracket to hold it down but no big deal. :thumbsup: