Farm Tractor won't start

[Phillip38]

New battery & tested cables 12V Plus, will start quickly with power pac attached to cables on the battery; have cleaned the cable terminals, and are very tight on battery posts. What is goiing on? Have taken off cables from
battery posts and re-tighten-several times. Tractor battery check on instrument panel goes to Positive, then I turn the key starter, and click, then the battery check positive goes down to negative-shows negative until I again move the cables at the battery posts. Do I need new cables, or what?

 

[MoKelly]

Welcome from Missouri.

You very well may need new battery cables. Some can get messed up inside where it is impossible to detect.

Also, have you checked where the cables are attached to the tractor body to make sure it’s clean and well connected?

Good luck.

MoKelly

 

[Phillip38]

Thanks M, I appreciate your response-I will check and see where cables are connected to tractor body, and make sure "it's clean and will connected"

 

[jaxs]

Could be as simple as dead battery. You say battery is new but it's possibly run down or defective. Fully charged a good battery should have 12.7 volts,maybe more but 12 volts isn't enough to crank anything. Charge it,test it and try it agin.

 

[KWentling]

This plus check your voltage at the starter while attempting to start the tractor. That can aid in determining if you have a cable problem or battery problem by the difference compared to at the battery voltage.

 

[denchen]

It sounds like a dud battery. The simple test would be, is to get another battery from somewhere, and try to crank. If it goes, then it's simply a dud battery, irrespective if its a new one. If the symptoms' are the same, then it's time to do more research.

 

[Phillip38]

Thanks to J, K, and D for your advice, I will check all of it out-Thanks again.

 

[hosspuller]

... until I again move the cables at the battery posts. Do I need new cables, or what?

You need new cables or cable ends...

 

[Phillip38]

J, I just recently purchased the battery at COSTCO (Internstate Batt}, my multimeter registers 12.9 V.
K, I think I do have a cable problem, will check check voltage at the starter.
D, I may have purchased a bad battery, I may have to return the batt. and get
a new one.

 

[Phillip38]

H, I think you are right, I may have bad cable ends, I added these ends some time
back, and, although I did clean them good, and scraped them with a metal brush, the connectors may be bad. I will purchase new cables, will let you all know after I replace the older cables. Thanks!

 

[denchen]

If you have those cable ends that have two bolts that tighten onto the cable, it's a good idea to put a bit of metal between the bolt ends and the cable instead of just screwing down onto the cable ends. On my boats, I always used to cut some copper from copper water pipe, and let the screws push down on that.

 

[Phillip38]

D, I should have done that, when I added the cable ends with the two bolts, I did clean and scraped the ends with a wire brush, but still a NO START Problem. I did purchase new cable and a different cable end. The old connector ends with no metal/copper had me going crazy. The new ones work!!

Thanks again to all who sent their advice, and ideas-they worked! However, now I have a new problem: my 1995 F450 dump truck-the dump goes up, but not down.
I will post under Hydraulics.

 

[hosspuller]

...I did clean and scraped the ends with a wire brush, but still a NO START Problem. I did purchase new cable and a different cable end. The old connector ends with no metal/copper had me going crazy. The new ones work!!

Philip38 ... Thanks for coming back to report the solution... It bugs me no end to have a problem with no solution. Your ending post make this thread helpful to someone with the same problem.

 

[Boss 302]

Glad you were able to get her going