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

[SPYDERLK]

I use my test light to put a small load on small gauge wires but that wouldn’t prove anything on starter cables.

It would assuming normal discrimination on the ~ 20 V range. Normally the lowest applicable scale for 12V will discriminate to the second decimal ... (0.01V) .

For example, as in the OP case say the battery terminals are 12.63 NO LOAD. With a meter set up to apply a 1A load thru its leads the measured voltage may be 12.59. The loss is from slight battery suppression and loss in the meter leads carrying the current. Now move the Neg probe to a clean chassis ground .. 12.58 -- probably ok.

Affix that probe securely. Now move the + probe from + terminal to the + clamp .. 12.55 -- something wrong there - fix it. Now move the probe onward to the lug at far end of + cable .. 12.56 -- probably ok. Now move the probe to the stud the lug bolts to .. 12.47 - FIX IT. (That loss of 0.09V at 1A would equate to a loss of 9.0V at a 100A starter draw - no response at all, or a chatter click.)

Now, the starter should operate. Remove the meter load setup and get some help while you assess each of the previous connections under the substantial starter drain.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

If you ever have an open electrical wire you want to splice simply pull on it...insulation snaps where the break is.

 

[coast40]

LADIES AND TRACTOR HEADS, MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE. Epstein didnt k..oh wait wrong forum. After getting out the metal wire brushes, taking everything apart (finally have time to do so), getting a new 40 AMP green fuse, readdress every spin of the irons with small prayer, getting the mutimeter along every step back to the butt of line, using a tester light, and enjoying all of your advice, wisdom, even your electronic fist fights and peacocking, I give you....a WORKING TRACTOR!!! Yeahhh yeahhhh crowd goes wild ahhhhhhhhhh
THANK YOU for being there for me, a lot of this advice I believe is good for a lot of situations.
There will be a netflix remake.
You may ask, well Flynn, what was it, what was the cause. I do not know, all of those things I did and it came back from the dead. I am not sure of the one thing I did that was the silver bullet, I just know it started.

View attachment 4417012

Good job!!!

 

[woodm]

I bought a LS tractor knowing diddle squat about tractors, but man do I love it now. I put in a new battery for the winter, I got nothing. I checked the terminals, clean. I checked to make sure I didn't put it in backwards. I tightened it down with a torque wrench. I swore at it a lot. I am not getting lights, dashboard activity, not a sign of life. I know nothing of tractors but I am ok with cars. Does this have a starter solenoid? Is there some sort of reset button when you change the battery that I cannot find? Anyone have any ideas apart from taking it to a shop 200 miles away?

I have had the exact same issue with my 2008 Kioti CK20...turned out to be a corroded main electrical connector between the battery and the rest of the tractor. Follow the heavy guage +ve cable from the battery and check every/all connectors as you make your way to the starter/solenoid connections and beyond. In my case, the connector looked fine but once I separated same I found major corrosion inside. I cut the connector out and replaced same which corrected the problem. Hope this helps.

 

[BigBlue1]

Literally every single time test the battery with a volt meter and test the battery again with a volt meter while the tractor attempts to start. It should be noted to make sure the tractor is in neutral before you stand in front of it and attempt to start it. That should be the first step in any trouble shooting before any parts are bought. Assuming the battery passes that test repeat the same process except measure the voltage from the starter terminal. Probably 80 percent of no start issues are a result of failure to maintain above 12v at the starter while it’s attempting to start. The result you get from doing those 2 test should dictate the rest of the troubleshooting.

That's great advice for situations where "everything seems normal but the tractor won't start (or turn over)". But the OP had a situation where NOTHING turned on, including dash lights. Even a weak, partially failing battery with 12.x volts would be enough to turn some dash lights on.

 

[4570Man]

That's great advice for situations where "everything seems normal but the tractor won't start (or turn over)". But the OP had a situation where NOTHING turned on, including dash lights. Even a weak, partially failing battery with 12.x volts would be enough to turn some dash lights on.

He still needed to check that the new battery had voltage which was done earlier in the thread. If the starter cable was checked and found to have voltage it would have been further evidence that the smaller auxiliary wire wasn’t getting power which was my working theory early on.

 

[SPYDERLK]

He still needed to check that the new battery had voltage which was done earlier in the thread. If the starter cable was checked and found to have voltage it would have been further evidence that the smaller auxiliary wire wasn’t getting power which was my working theory early on.

I never saw that the OP checked the batt under any load -- until, of course, the end. A battery can present normal voltage to ~ zero load, like a voltmeter, without being able to put out any real current. Fortunately this batt did not have that malady.