melted wire CK20

[laurencen]

Good evening, need some help, today I spent several hours cutting grass, when I parked the tractor, I tried to start it to move ahead, it was hard starting but had power in the battery, after a few attempts noticed smoke and a odour from the front, when I opened the hood the small wire going to ground on the battery was melted, it did start after a wile, it got dark so did not try to trace the wire only back to the left side, at this point there is 2 wires in the shielding.

Can anyone advise what this wire does, about 6 inches it has a connector and goes to the ground on the battery, I plan on running a new wire tomorrow but curious what it dies, I assume something to do with the starting as it realy bogged the starter motor, it starts fine now, the wire does not get hot anymore, maybe starting with the lights on caused this bur why is there no fuse

Any ideas what it does, where it goes and why it got realy hot, tractor has 48 hours 2006 CK20 gear

thanks

 

[laurencen]

Looked a little futher, it goes into the harness then under the dash, if I disconnect the burnt wire the tractor does not start, connect the wire it starts, will be discussing this with the dealer tomorrow and hoping it is covered under waranty, the trwctor is less than 3 years old with 47 hours of use

 

[laurencen]

Took off the harness, the wire is the ground to the alternator, its about a #14 gauge, I find it hard to believe when not connected the unit will not start, there must be a bad connection somewhere, any ideas

Thanks

 

[J_J]

Check the large wire from the negative terminal to the ground on the tractor frame. The connection has to be good and secure, and if not, the battery will try and get the ground through the alternator ground, and that wire will not support that current. Clean both ends of the neg cable or replace with new.

 

[laurencen]

Well, did a rebuild on the harness and it now works fine again, new harness expected in a couple weeks, anyone have a idea what the wire with the connector going into the area with the ground is for.

Problem was the main ground was not effective enough for lights and starting, I have cleaned the ground up, removed the paint and re attached, this will definatly be a yearly check, harness is 50 dollars but a couple hours to replace and could have been worse

 

[PaPaGus]

J_J you really know some stuff, been reading alot of post lately. Glad you sharing your talent.

Check the large wire from the negative terminal to the ground on the tractor frame. The connection has to be good and secure, and if not, the battery will try and get the ground through the alternator ground, and that wire will not support that current. Clean both ends of the neg cable or replace with new.