Two year / 70 hour reflection on Max 26

[linuxman51]

5 hours later, opinion is trending down... (could be the weather, could be work, could be everything else contributing).
pulled it out of the shop last night, retrieved a box from the storage shed (transmission, ~120lbs give or take) and brought it back to the shop, no problems. spent some time cleaning things, go to bring the tractor (And the trans) into the shop, buzzing from the dash, dim lights, what the ****. It showed no signs of having a weak battery a mere hour prior, nothing was accidentally left on. I should mention, I de-funked the terminals in mid-feb when we were attempting to pull a buddy's truck out of the mud along side the driveway(its real, and it's deep) and needed something to power a winch. At the time I do not recall the terminals being any kind of super fuzzy or deep green. Since then, it's lived a life of luxury for the most part, in the shop out of the elements and only occasionally disturbed.

Last night, by flashlight, I checked the terminals again, and my positive end is just about trashed. the negative terminal isn't a whole lot better, but at least a 10mm still fits on it. the battery retention bar is also showing some.. extreme.. signs of exposure.

I tapped on the terminals enough to get it to light off and put it back in the shop.
22 months (well, 22 months in about 6 days). 75 hours.

That's pretty **** sorry. The OE battery that I just replaced in my volvo is 13 years old and still works (though, it's showing it's age). the dang autozone battery I put on my ztr is going on 4 years and doesn't even have that much rust on the bolts. That whole deal is hosed, and really the whole positive lead will probably need to be replaced given the sudden influx of GFS. I've never had it on a battery tender, and it's never been run down low and had to be charged/jumped off or anything else like that. bah. Ambivalence is starting to give way to dislike these days. I'm hessitant to contact my dealer, not because they've never been anything short of awesome (or at least straight forward), but rather I don't want it to sit over there and run the risk of another one walking off... although... I doubt I would be nearly as upset about this one disappearing. It would be replaced with something of another color though more than likely.

 

[dickfoster]

I hate standard car batteries and as soon as one gives me any fits at all out it comes. I replace it with a good AGM. They cost more but you get what you pay for. Zero maintenance and no corrosion. I prefer Odyssey AGMs.
That said you can clean up your terminals then get some of those corrosion prevention felt washers and protective grease at the local autoparts store and it will restore things until you get around to replacing it for good with an AGM. BTW seldom or infrequently used batteries are especially prone to an early demise. Especially if you don't run the engine long enough to fully recharge the battery after you start it.

 

[mike69440]

Time to regrease my terminals!

 

[dickfoster]

On second thought it occurred to me that the battery could be overcharging from a bad regulator in the alternator. I'd stick a voltmeter on it and check the voltage with the engine running. Out gassing from over charging could be causing the corrosion. It's easy enough to check and you should see no more than 14.something volts with the engine running.

 

[linuxman51]

I might check that a little later (assuming it starts again), you're not the first to mention that. Still not a good look IMO, but at least it would explain things a little better.

 

[dickfoster]

I might check that a little later (assuming it starts again), you're not the first to mention that. Still not a good look IMO, but at least it would explain things a little better.

Well there has to be a reason for all of that corrosion. Either overcharging or the battery was submerged allowing battery acid to spill out all over the place, the battery was tipped or rolled over and spilled acid or something.

 

[oldpilgrim]

Those batteries are a problem in many of the Mahindras. The gases leak out between the battery posts and the battery case. It's a battery problem. Take the cables off, clean them, and put a slab of grease on and around the posts to seal that area and put a felt washer over the post before reinstalling the cable. This works well for me.

 

[linuxman51]

Well there has to be a reason for all of that corrosion. Either overcharging or the battery was submerged allowing battery acid to spill out all over the place, the battery was tipped or rolled over and spilled acid or something.

it's not been tipped over, rolled over, or underwater. so the only possible thing would be an issue with the charging system on the tractor (which is what I was referring to when I said it's not a good look either way)

i'll put the dvom on it in a little bit when I kick it out of the shop to let it think about what it's done.

 

[oldpilgrim]

It's not the charging system, it's the leaky post/case as I mentioned above. It's a well known/documented problem.

 

[arrow]

It's not the charging system, it's the leaky post/case as I mentioned above. It's a well known/documented problem.

Pilgrim is correct on the problem and how to fix it. Mahindra had a slew (Exide I believe) of very poorly constructed batteries they put in their tractors. I got a free battery (Interstate) on warranty as they are aware of the problem.