Good News, had a Battery Failure

[Cocre]

Went out this morning to box blade the drive with the 2006 JD 3320 after some heavy rainstorms over the last several days, the tractor cranked and ran fine. I pulled it out from under its cover to drop of the backhoe and pickup the box blade. I turned the machine off to disconnect the hoe hydraulics and connect them to the rockshaft, started the tractor up, and as always it was an almost instantaneous start. I then drove to where I store the 3-point hitch parts and installed them. I again turned the tractor off when I decided to check the torque on rockshaft assist mounting plates used to attach the backhoe to the tractor, something I had never done but had been meaning to do. This was quick; I could not get to but half the bolts with the wheels on. The bolts did not move when I hit 125 ft/lbs, so I figured everything was OK. Sat back on the tractor seat to go pick up the box blade, turned the key to start the Deere, the display panel flashed as normal as it went through its tests and as I completed the key turn to engage the starter there was a brief, very brief, starter engagement, then nothing but flashing symbols on the display panel.

A slight panic came over me as I turned the key to the off position and then back to start, and nothing but flashing lights. There were no error messages, it was if I were turning the key off and back on, off on, off on, off on, at a rate of once per second or faster. When I turned the key to the off position and left it, the fuel level needle read full, the tach needle was pegged at 3000, and the temp gauge needle was pegged in the red, and they stayed that way even in the off position.

I checked the seat switch, all the fuses, pulled the relays and reinserted them, but still nothing but the display panel going crazy. At this point I could only think that the onboard computer had failed, and that I was out for a ton of money. I next went to the battery, disconnected both cables, cleaned the posts and etc, and left it disconnected for about an hour hoping the computer would reset and go to working. When I reinstalled the battery and tried starting the tractor, I still had the same symptoms.

I then went and pulled the battery out of the 8N (12 volt), took the Deere battery out, and connected the 8N battery up best I could. It would not fit in the space provided, but it was OK for a test. I said a brief prayer (honest), turned the key, and the tractor immediately started. I turned the tractor off, turned in back on, it started right up and I started jumping up and down, whooping and hollering.

I went to NAPA, bought a new battery; the tractor is back to its merry self. The bad battery was the original three year old OEM.

 

[mfreund]

I know that feeling and have said the same prayer!!

 

[ddivinia]

It is amazing how they can just die.

D.

 

[MikeD74T]

I had the same symptoms on Memorial Day on my DK45S. Tried to start and got a brief turnover then everything went dead -no dash lights-nothing. Turned key to off & tried again - started like nothing was ever wrong & moved the tractor then shut it off. Went to restart got nothing except buzzing under the hood then a buzzing for 5 seconds under the dash when put key to off ?? Tried again & found the fuel pump relay buzzing with the key on. What else to do but disassemble the dash. After 15 minutes of screw/bolt removal I'm looking at a '"timer relay"??? Then light dawns on Marblehead - relays buzz from end of life OR LACK OF POWER!!!
Reach for the battery -hot positive terminal on 4 year old OEM battery. Cleaned ,tightened, sprayed with terminal protector, problem disappeared. 20 minutes of reassembling the dash & I'm finally back to work.
Lesson learned (probably not !!) always clean & tighten any connections before major disassembly or buying any parts. MikeD74T

 

[crazylunker]

Just had the same thing happen with my 03 4610, started machine to turn around to drop the hoe, shut it off and disconnected the hydraulics. Got back on the machine and went to start it,,,,,just a click, checked connections etc,,,nothing. Found a couple shorted cells, I pulled the battery from my 1977 300 garden tractor and she fired right up.

 

[tugboat-2]

COCRE : ...just thinking about your story,...and wondering if all the starting and shutting down, then starting again several times in brief succession with perhaps not enough running time in between starts to actually build up the battery? Could have been a week battery to begin with or just tooo many starts and not enough regeneration?
You might try charging that battery and try it again before you scrap it, as it could make a decent spare? Just my 2 cents. Good luck.
. . . Mike

 

[Cocre]

You might try charging that battery and try it again before you scrap it, as it could make a decent spare? Just my 2 cents. Good luck.
. . . Mike

The battery was traded in as a core when I bought the new one. Prior to that event it exhibited no weakness at all. I thought if charging it, but I just didn't trust it not to explode or something.