2004 Branson 4220 Intermittent Electrical Problem

kutter · Aug 30, 2017

My 4220 just started giving me this problem and I have not been able to trace it out yet.

There are times when I turn the key and I get nothing on the dash, no lights, cannot hear the fuel pump, anything, yet in the past if I let it sit a little while then it would start like normal. Well this morning it did it again and now it has not come back on so whatever happened seems to be for real now. I checked all the fuses and they are good, but I did not see any main fuses in the panel and nothing over I think 20 amps so I feel certain I am missing a fuse or relay somewhere. I lost all my manuals in a flood last year so I just downloaded some PDF's until I can find a dealer near where I live now and order new ones. But in the mean time I was hoping someone here might have some insight.

ericm979 · Aug 30, 2017

This thread details a similar sounding problem and solutions: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/century-branson/383595-century-2535-dead-nothing-nada.html

Cougsfan · Aug 31, 2017

I'd start off by checking your battery cables. Even if they look good they sometimes aren't. I'd suggest starting by disconnecting and cleaning the connections (baking soda and water works good) drying them, and putting on some dielectric grease before re-assembly. Vaseline, or even automotive will work in a pinch. Usually it is problematic at the battery connection, but don't overlook where the ground wire and hot wire connect at the other end. I don't know how many times I have seen people tear into their electrical systems (myself included) when the real problem is just a corroded battery cable connection. Often it is the crimp where the wire attaches to the terminal connector as opposed to where the terminal connector attaches to the battery.

kutter · Sep 3, 2017

Well here is an update, I tried to be systematic about it, since in the past I have just thrown parts at a problem hoping to get lucky, I really hate electrical problems.

As Cougsfan suggested, I checked the battery and ground first, I did not think that was it because it was working fine and suddenly just quit, but I was eliminating possibilities. So the battery and cables were good, next I checked the fusible links, both were still good and I had good power to that point. I next decided to check the switch, thinking that being in the elements it was more prone to failure, I only know this since I have gone through 2 on my little grey market Kubota. So, no power at all at the switch, I did not have the specific info to check the switch but I saw clear resistance changes on the switch when I switched positions on it. So I concluded that the issue was somewhere in between my last fusible link and the switch. I had seen the big white multi plug inside the engine compartment and something had set off my curiosity about it at first but I had decided to wait, I should not have. When I separated the plug the big white wire, ie. power to the switch, came completely out of the plug on the switch side, the connector inside the plug had completely corroded away. There was no way I was going to rewire that entire plug right now, so I pulled the power wire out of the plug from the engine side and put a heavy butt connector on the ends and plugged everything back up and Presto Chango, POWER!

My takeaway from this is approach it systematically, don't just throw stuff at it like I normally do. Admittedly the electrical system on it is far simpler
than most other vehicles.

ericm979 thanks for the link, it was the catalyst for how I approached the problem, even if it was not the same problem exactly.