Put in a new Battery, got nothin' - I am not dumb, but maybe I'm not bright?

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I have a '93 F150 farm truck. Last year I replaced the battery with an $300 Optima.
Engine cranked over fast & it was fantastic for a WEEK! Wouldn't crank & meter showed 12.7V but dropped to almost zero key to crank. So I got another one and it's been perfect.
New DOES NOT = GOOD!

 

[EPachinski]

I have owned/operated a 2013 LS4041 tractor for 12 years, and I have had battery replacement issues twice.
First time the new battery worked immediately but did not start the next time. After checking multiple solutions, the battery cable terminations I bought cheap were the culprits. Spent a little more for good ones installed securely to the battery terminals and they worked fine for several years til the battery got drained by kids playing with light switches.
Second time the battery would not start, I had checked all my previous work, and traced things backward from the battery to the key switch. Turned out to the one of the starter relays--there are 7 relays under the dash on my model--and as luck would have it, the last one I checked was defective. Got lucky and was able to find the part number on it, ordered on amazon, installed and fixed the issue.
I don't know how you operate without a multi-meter. When get one, I recommend you spend 30 minutes reading the manual to understand how to test for problems, otherwise you will remain in the dark and waste a lot of time (like I did). You will eventually use most of the functions on the multi-meter and be glad you read those directions. Full disclosure I had several advisors help me run my electrical issues to ground. An uncle was a 50-yr maintenance foreman for an airline so he taught me how to trace issues from one end of a circuit to the other to find the problem(s). And a mechanically inclined friend taught me to "check your pecker tracks" when you start to find a problem--the last thing you did might have caused the problem.
Good luck. Patience helps control costs. I have a $400 starter motor I bought that did not fix one of my "won't start" issues. Ouch.

 

[EPachinski]

Forgot something. You can search online for how to use the multi-meter to check your relays to determine if they are good. Also you can find the wiring schematics for your tractor showing the location and function of the relays, which may point you to which relay to check first.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Multimeter 101...
Resistance (ohms) never EVER test on a live circuit.

 

[4570Man]

. But also consider using a load tester on the battery (a multimeter is great for many different things, but to check the health of a battery, a load tester must be used.)

In the event of not having a load tester which most people don’t all you need to do is hold the volt meter on the battery while someone attempts to start the tractor. I keep some alligator clips in my toolbox so I can preform this step by myself. I like to do the test once measuring straight from the battery terminals and again measuring from the starter terminals. If it drops a lot from the battery then you know the battery is the problem. If the battery holds above 12v but it drops a lot at the starter then you know the cables or more likely the cable ends are the problem. There is a 3rd option that for some reason the starter could be drawing too many amps but a dead battery is much more likely than that.

 

[qualsite]

You need a meter or at least a test light... why go probing around like a blind man in the dark, looking for something you can't see, hoping you stumble across something that might work? Meters are cheap, and you aren't going to get away from electricity issues.
Troubleshooting 101
1. Verify you meter is good, by testing on a known good 12v source, like your car that starts
2. Check across the suspect batteries on the terminals themselves, then the clamps.
3. Verify a good ground by keeping + on positive post, and move - to somewhere on the engine, which will verify that you have a good ground link. Then you are confident in using any ground point on the engine for your - probe.
4. Start from the battery + post, working back each section to find out where you lose +12v. Normally, there should be a direct wire from the battery + to the starter or starter solenoid.

And yes, you can have a bad new battery. Lawn and Garden batteries are the absolute low end of the battery world. I replaced all my L&G lead acid batteries with ATV/motorcycle AGM batteries, which last a lot longer, are much more vibration resistant, and are usually smaller dimensions, and sometimes cheaper. Although, you probably have an automotive battery if this is a tractor and not a mower, so you should be able to swap any automotive battery with it that will fit in the spot and fit the terminals, or like some have suggested, give it a jump. And keep a battery maintainer on them.

 

[Aquabird]

The problem I had after changing the battery on my old tractor, was that I had lost the ground. I had to remove the ground from the frame and sand it off. It worked.Much later I noticed the negative cable had a cracked clamp.

 

[Aquabird]

Another time the seat switch would not "make". I had to adjust the switch. Good luck.

 

[dodge man]

First order is to find that big fuse you posted a diagram of. My money is on that.

 

[BigBlue1]

If absolutely nothing powers up (i.e. dash is dark, lights don't turn on) then it isn't a safety switch. At that point it is either failed battery, bad cable(s)/connections or blown fuse.