DK45se Electrical Problem

[whatsgnu]

Back about 2 month ago I went to start my tractor. Turned key, dash lights came on, relays clicked. Glow plug light went out and I turned the key.......all went dead. Turned key back off and tried again. This time the lights were very dim and seemed like battery was dead. Hooked up the truck to the battery to jump it and no luck. Removed battery and put it on the charger. Tractor then started, all is right with the world.

Fast forward a month and I want to use it again and lights come on, glow plug light goes off, turn key.....dead. Well, it's the original battery, it's 5 years old, let's get a new one. Install new battery, it starts right up, I run it about 45 minutes and return it to the barn. All's once again well with the world.

Week and a half latter, yup, need some seat time(as well as some things moved around the yard). Turn key, all lights come on strong, relays click, glow plug light goes out, hit start position and all goes dead. Try again and get weak lights and whining sound instead of relays clicking. Battery for all intents and purposes is dead.

Seems something is draining my battery. Everything seems to be ok as far as starting if the battery wasn't being drained.I put the battery on the charger over night and got the dash light strong and the engine turned over a little before all power was lost. ( New battery may be toast ) Hooked up the truck and tried to jump it and I could get the dash lights and a little turn of the engine but not enough umph to start it. I have cleaned the ground where negative cable hooks to frame and the battery terminals. All wiring that I can see looks good so I don't think it's mice.

Where do I start ??

 

[murphy1244]

Get a volt meter and check voltage

 

[Boss 302]

Have someone try to start the tractor while you check for voltage at the starter, red lead on starter cable, black lead on the negative battery post, if you have 12 volts check the connection where the negative battery cable is connected to the tractor frame.

 

[rider7767]

It sounds as if you have a loose ground or a bad ground wire. This is assuming you can hook up a jumper vehicle with the same symptoms. When you have a bad ground, it may be able to carry enough amps needed to run the lights/small stuff, but when the load of the starter hits, it can't handle it. To test the main ground follow these steps.
1. check voltage on battery. Must have at least 12.5 volts.
2. Use Jumper cables. Hook one black cable end to the negative battery terminal. (Terminal must be clean without any corrosion.) To be sure, remove the terminal from the batt and clean on the inside and the batt post.
3. Hook the other black end directly to the the frame. It has to be metal on metal. No paint.
4. Start tractor.
If it starts up with out problem you have a bad ground wire, battery ground, or frame ground. Some times wire will get corrosion on the inside under the insulation. You may not be able to see the corrosion.

This would be my first step. It will rule out the master ground. Let us know if you get it running.

 

[drjay9051]

I had a similar problem with my CK25. I actually had 2 problems. First as noted in post by Rider7767 I had corrosion in the wire. Under the insulation a nice green mess. I changed out the pos and neg wires. Cheap fix.

A few weeks later I had intermittent problems. I had read about a problem with the key switch. New switch was $80. I took it apart and cleaned contacts with emery cloth. Be careful: tiny springs and all. I'd do it indoors over some white paper. Lots of posts on this in the forum.

To this day no more issues. Of course the CK is sold and I'm waiting on my DK40.

 

[ritcheyvs]

You already have some great advice, above. If you don't have a multi-meter, get one. A basic model will do what you need for little money (e.g. 7 Function Digital Multimeter).

Most likely, you have a bad battery cable that works OK for a while after being wiggled (like installing a new battery). The fact that jumping from a known good battery didn't work means the tractor battery was really dead or the battery wasn't the problem.

Measure the voltage at the actual battery terminals to see if the battery is discharged. A good battery will read 13 (or so) volts right after it is charged and then drift down to 12.5 (or so) volts after it sits off the charger for several hours. If the battery is really discharging through the tractor there are only a couple of things that get power with the switch off, like the emergency flashers and the alternator. It's easy to check for current that would discharge the battery with the switch off, Just disconnect one of the battery terminals and use the meter in the current mode to see if there is any current from the battery terminal to the cable.

My main advice would be to find the real problem first vs swapping a bunch of suspect parts.