JD4500 Problem

[Roger2561]

Hi all,

It's been a couple of years since my last post due to having cancer surgery and grieving the loss of my dad. Thankfully, I am cancer free and I'm slowly recovering from my dad's passing.

One of the smartest things I did, this past Fall I purchased and installed a Curtis cab with a 20,000 BTU heater on my 4500. I have an Erskine frontmount snow blower attached to it and what a joy it is to clear the yard without looking like a snowman and frozen upon completion. I live on side of a mountain with nothing to stop the north wind from overtaking me. You can imagine what I looked like when trying to throw the snow north when the wind is coming from the there.

The title of this post states I have a problem. I do. Since mid January when operating the tractor with the headlights turned on, the tachometer with fall all the way to zero and the lights will go dim, but, the tractor engine does not lose power. This will happen about 4 to 5 times, lasting approximately 5 to 10 seconds each time, after that everything appears to function properly. I have looked for a loose wire, chafed wire; anything that would lead me to the problem. Unfortunately, this is an intermittent problem; it doesn't happen all the time, just sporatically. Any help and advise will be appreciated. Thanks, Roger

 

[AKfish]

Roger --- welcome, back.

Sincerely hope that your Dad had and full and happy life. And it's certainly good news that you're cancer free and back in the tractor seat once again!

Your electrical problem --- has your battery been maintaining it's charge? First thought is that your alternator is headed south... and if you're battery has been drained and/or needed to be replaced lately that would be in line with that thinking.

Your diesel engine will keep running (until the fuel seleniod clicks off..) even if the light's dim and the tach drops off, etc.

Many alternator's for cars and trucks have the voltage regulator "built-in" as such; if your voltage regulator or the diodes in the alternator are failing you could see that intermittent drop under load.

I'd try to have the alternator tested as a first order of business. Hopefully, you have someone close-by that can do that type of work. Or, your Deere dealer may be able to bench-test your alternator for you.

My $0.02 sense.

AKfish

 

[Superduper]

What type of heater do you have in the cab, electric or coolant? If it is electric, 20,000 btu is a lot for most small tractors with the small charging systems they typically have. If your heater cycles on/off, perhaps the large current draw (in conjunction with headlamps) is sufficient to cause voltage to drop enough to exhibit the symptoms you are observing. Perhaps you can test your tractor with lights and heater OFF and see if the problem goes away.

 

[Roger2561]

Roger --- welcome, back.

Sincerely hope that your Dad had and full and happy life. And it's certainly good news that you're cancer free and back in the tractor seat once again!

Your electrical problem --- has your battery been maintaining it's charge? First thought is that your alternator is headed south... and if you're battery has been drained and/or needed to be replaced lately that would be in line with that thinking.

Your diesel engine will keep running (until the fuel seleniod clicks off..) even if the light's dim and the tach drops off, etc.

Many alternator's for cars and trucks have the voltage regulator "built-in" as such; if your voltage regulator or the diodes in the alternator are failing you could see that intermittent drop under load.

I'd try to have the alternator tested as a first order of business. Hopefully, you have someone close-by that can do that type of work. Or, your Deere dealer may be able to bench-test your alternator for you.

My $0.02 sense.

AKfish

AKfish; Thanks for the kind words. My dad definitely had a full and happy life. He and mom raised us 9 children together and they had a wonderful partnership. Plus, dad loved driving my tractor around. He thought it was the cats meow when he purchased his first Farmall Super "A". When I purchased the 4500, I nearly had to fight him for seat time. He thought he was driving a cadillac.

Back to my tractor problem - For the past few snowstorms (if you have been watching the weather station, you'd see that we had at least 2 a week for the past month) the battery has been nearly dead; to the point that I had to jump it to get it started. I chaulked it up to the battery being the original equipment - never changed it. However, now that you mention the alternator, that makes sense if it's giving out. Luckily for me, there is a guy in the neighboring town whose business is testing anf repairing alternators and starters. I'll give hime a call on Monday and see when he can take it.

Thanks for your $0.02 worth. Roger

 

[Roger2561]

What type of heater do you have in the cab, electric or coolant? If it is electric, 20,000 btu is a lot for most small tractors with the small charging systems they typically have. If your heater cycles on/off, perhaps the large current draw (in conjunction with headlamps) is sufficient to cause voltage to drop enough to exhibit the symptoms you are observing. Perhaps you can test your tractor with lights and heater OFF and see if the problem goes away.

Superduper - The type of heater I have in my tractor is coolant with a 12 volt fan drawing less than an amp of current. I agree that 20,000 btu is too much for the smaller tractors with the electric heater, that's why I went the coolant type.

Thanks for answering, however. Roger

 

[Superduper]

These are the types of symptoms sometimes associated with a main power connection issue, perhaps at the battery terminal connection, main ground, or fusebox, or ..... I personally would remove the terminals from the battery, clean them good, both the clamps and terminals and also check for corrosion in the cable-to-clamp connection. Sometimes the cables look good on the outside but are corroded inside the clamp. If those are good, then proceed further.

I don't think a bad alternator would cause the symptoms you are describing unless the battery is either dead, or near dead. A bad alternator with an operable battery might cause the lamps to dim somewhat during the intermittent failure but the tach going to zero tells me that the main power or main ground is completely seperated from the battery and/or alternator -- probably a combination of both. With the symptom you described, I would expect that if your tractor had a gas engine, it would have died during the intermittent power failure and either the battery connections or fusible link would have been the first items investigated.

 

[nightrodjc]

My 4610 tach was acting up under 1300 rpm's, the tach runs off the altn. on these tractors. While checking the altn. wires I noticed the belt was a little loose. So at low r's it would slip and cause the tach to drop or get stuck. You might want to check that first.

 

[Roger2561]

Hey everyone! Thanks for the ideas. Seeing today is Sunday, it means NASCAR is on TV and I must get my weekly fix of NASCAR. I'll be working on the 4500 this week evenings when I get home from work (stupid stuff gets in the way of my play time) so I'll let you know how I make out later in the week.

Thanks for everything.

Roger

 

[dbdartman]

Roger, IF you go with an alternator rebuild, I highly recommend not only replacing the battery, but also the battery cables. A lesson I learned many years ago playing with old cars is: Charging systems are just that; a SYSTEM, which includes not only the charger (alternator), but also the regulator, the battery, & it's cables. If any one part of the SYSTEM isn't up to snuff, it will cause the other parts of the SYSTEM to suffer & fail prematurely.

 

[pat32rf]

Don't forget to check the connection between the GROUND cable and the chassis. A bad main ground will act just like a "soft" short in the positive leads, just won't blow fuses.....