When Good Batteries Go Bad

[jinman]

WARNING! The attached photo is very explicit and should not be viewed by the faint of heart or younger members of our viewing audience. Take a deep breath; sit down; then view the attachment.

Here is the situation. After owning my tractor for 5 months (79 hours), I was washing dust off after a particularly enjoyable dirt-pushing session and noticed something fishy about the area between my battery and radiator. The hydro cooling lines were so rusty they looked like they were ready to fall apart. I removed the battery and was shocked beyond words to discover what you see in the photo. YIKES!.... Somehow, sometime long before I got my tractor, the battery had leaked all over the battery platform, hydro lines, and the radiator. When I discovered this, the battery was dry and clean. This had to have happened sometime before I bought my tractor and I suspect it was during assembly or transportation to my dealer. The fact that acid was at least 6 in. up the coolant lines makes me think that the original battery was damaged and someone just replaced the battery without cleaning or neutralizing the acid. I guess if they trans port the tractors with the nose up in piggyback style, that could account for a leak which would get this high up, but nevertheless, I took a picture and went straight to the dealer with it.

My dealer took one look at the 8 x 10 glossy I was holding and stood there in shock. His service manager asked me for the photo so he could give it to the factory rep. and then he asked me if I thought I could point out all the damaged pieces on an illustrated parts diagram. The short story is that we ordered the lines, radiator, battery platform bottom, and a week later when it all arrived, I took my tractor in for transplant surgery. All the damaged parts have been replaced (free, of course) and my tractor has a "happy face" again (it matches mine)/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

I really thought about whether to post this or not for a long time. My dealer is so good and so responsive that I didn't want anything bad to reflect on him. However, in the final analysis, if I heard of someone else having the same problem or worse, I feel pretty guilty about it./w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif... So hey. Let's all go check our tractors to make sure I'm the only one with this unfortunate battery leak. And I would really suggest checking the battery caps often and hosing off the whole area. After all, when you raise your hood, it's all right there in front of you in the open.

Now, does anyone think like me that there should be a plastic container under or completely encasing the battery with a drain hose attached for leaks? I know I'm a little paranoid now, but probably because I've seen so many tractors with damage to the front grille. I have the grill guard, but in my mind's eye, I can just see a sharp limb sticking through my grille gaurd and into the front of my tractor. It's not a pretty thought, but just because it could happen doesn't mean it will happen./w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

JimI

 

[Anonymous Poster]

You have an excellent dealer that knows how to take care of customers. You will always find problems like this but when dealers take care of them like yours did then it makes you feel a lot better. I have never seen New Holland haul tractors piggy back so I do not think that would be the problem probally either a loose cap and it splashed it during transport or during assembly when they installed the battery the guy might have droped it. It is hard to say but everything worked out in the end. I had a couple problems with my TN-65 and everytime if I didn't want to fix it they would fix it free of charge. I had a hydraulic coupler start leaking so they took one off of a new tractor since they didn't have any in stock and gave it to me to fix mine. It is dealers like these that make people want to buy from them time after time.

 

[gator2]

WOW!!
I can't beleive this, the very same thing has happened to my TC40D, What model is your tractor? When I first seen this I called the dealership and told them what I'd seen and they said the alternator must have overcharged the battery and caused it to boil over.
They said they would look at it when they were doing the recall on the hydrostat. Could you please, list what you had to order, so I can print this article and show them. Maybe, this will prompt some kind of recall.
I think you idea of a battery container might work, or maybe even a gel cell battery should be used since the location is questionable. Any one else experiencing this problem? Please respond!

 

[jinman]

Hey Gator2, you can basically see everything that was replaced on my tractor in the picture: 1) hydrostat cooling lines 2) radiator 3) soft foam pad (seal) on bottom of the battery box 4) various rusted fastener hardware. Just be sure and look closely at everything. You could easily have more damage than I do and maybe your whole battery shelf could be rusting. If mine starts to "go" I will take it back and ask for that to be replaced too. Good luck! It is so disheartening to find something like this on a brand new tractor that is otherwise perfect. I hope every NH owner who reads this post will check their tractors. Early detection is important. Oh...my tractor is a TC45D. The smaller (TC33 and below) Boomers have a slightly different configuration around the battery box.

JimI<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by jinman on 07/16/01 07:22 AM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Anonymous Poster]

i just checked mine with only 32 hours and it is in exactly the same condition as your photograph. i will call the dealer immediately..........

thanks for the help, ill keep you posted...

 

[jinman]

I'm starting to feel very good about having made this post. I'm also starting to feel a little sick because I wonder how many folks could have this problem and don't have the benefit of this forum. My dealer promised me that he will check all tractors on his lot and will check all future tractors when they arrive. I encourage everyone to ask your dealers to do the same. This is such a basic problem and I believe there may be an easy solution (sealed battery or battery box). If there are enough of us, maybe NH will see it needs to do a recall. After all NH did a hydrostatic tranny recall for something that might happen. This seems much more likely to occur over the life of our tractors.

JimI

 

[DVerbarg]

Jinman,

Thanks for the post. Checked mine (over 200 hours now) and everything looks new. I'll keep an eye on it to see if it develops over time. Hope everyone else checks and if we have a "real" problem then hope that NH would issue a recall.


DaveV

 

[patrickg]

Had the same problem on new Ram 3500 with Cummins Turbodiesel. Battery had a temp sensor in it to allow heavy charging from B I G alernator until temp got up then roll back the charge rate. Good idea, bad implementation. Sensor leaked and dripped acid where things are sensitive to creature drool (Alien, Aliens, Alien III) Dodge was going to order the parts and wait for them to come in. I asked what about the ongoing acid damage and the tech said to take it home and put baking soda on it. N O T A C C E P T A B L E !!! I didn't pay big bucks for a 100000mile Chrysler bumper to bumper waranty policy to get "Helpful Hints From Heloise". It ate a hole in the vacuum line that powers the vacuum servo on the cruise control. They replaced the cruise and patched the line. It went south again, they replaced and patched again. I am on cruise control 5 or 6 I lose count. I made them take the inner fender off and clean and paint all damage. Later acid goo started to run from between the part they had repainted so they had to do it again. They replaced the battery with a conventional battery (in parallel with maint free on other side) so now I add water and take care of one batt but not the other.

I too think A L L acid type batteries should be in acid proof battery boxes (like they sell at marine store) with a drain hose that doesn't drip on anything subject to damage from creature drool. I did this when adding two aux batteries (Trojan golf cart batts 225 AH 6 volt in series for 12 volts. How many old or classic cars have been damaged severly by acid while everything else under the hood was lookin' good? Answer, bunches. It is totally preventable but manufacturers save a few bucks and then make a few on replacement parts as often waranty is over when damage is done.

At least you have been personally able to help prevent problems for others, cause some to discover the problem in a timely manner (within waranty etc) and warn the rest of us to inspect around the battery, a known trouble spot.

You win my vote for gold star of the week.

Patrick
Patrick

 

[jinman]

Thanks for the nomination Patrick, but I'll just be happy to hear that people are paying attention to this possible problem. I pretty much took batteries for granted until a year ago when I had one blow up in my Dodge Cummins 3/4 ton. I had replaced the original batteries (both at the same time approx. 2 years earlier) with two Interstate Batteries and due to my own poor judgement I didn't keep a close eye on my electrolyte level. Since it was a dual battery system, I had no indication that one of the batteries was failing. After changing oil, I went to start the engine and B O O M ! It sounded like a shotgun had gone off. Since I had my hood open, I could see pieces of battery case flying and I instantly sized up the situation. Luckily, I had a pressurized garden hose laying right beside my truck and I hosed the area down (including the right front fender). I must have run 100 gallons of water over the area. What I noticed as I began to run the water was that there was hardly any acid around the battery (a benefit of having it almost dry). If there had been more acid, it would probably have been a lot worse. As it was, my plastic air filter breather cover has a few little spots on it and you couldn't find any other indication if you tried. What happened? I think the battery was so low that it produced a lot of hydrogen and then shorted out internally, causing a spark. To this day I can remember that bang and thinking for an instant that my engine had blown up. Now how lucky can you get? If I had been down the road at the mall or almost anywhere else, I would surely have had a lot more damage. The moral to this story is obvious. Check your batteries and never, never take them for granted.

JimI

 

[RickB]

And now for the cause of the problem.

This condition is caused by a large number of batteries overfilled with electrolyte. The dealership where I work routinely removes nearly a pint of fluid from a majority of new TC tractor batteries @ pre-delivery.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: And now for the cause of the problem.

Rick, have you notified NH about the over filled batteries so they can put a post on ASSIST

Another NH Service Tech!

 

[jinman]

Re: And now for the cause of the problem.

Thanks for that tidbit of info Rick. With summer coming full blown, I'd think everyone would want to check this out on their machine, especially if it sits outdoors in direct sunlight (like on the dealer's lot). I can't imagine why the batteries are overfull to begin with, but thanks to you and others who have taken the initiative to eliminate the possibility of this happening to others./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

JimI

 

[scruffy]

Re: And now for the cause of the problem.

JimI, I had a battery short out when I was driving down the hiway. It exploded like yours, and of course everything went dead immediately. Battery was a six month old Interstate 60month warrenty model. Never did find the warrenty date sticker on it, but Interstate replaced it free of charge anyway, they also cleaned the interior of the engine compartment up, and I only (like you) had a few spots that you could see marred paint. Likewise, I will remember the shotgun like sound it made!

 

[jinman]

Re: And now for the cause of the problem.

Strange that yours was also an Interstate battery. I'm guessing that you had a single battery installation rather than the dual batteries I have on my diesel. I know I let the water get low in one of my batteries, but I figure that and the good fortune of it happening when/where it did was the reason I had so little damage. I'm glad you also chose to tell your experience. I think too many of us take the power in these batteries for granted. You'll agree with me, I'm sure, that batteries should always be approached with caution.

JimI

 

[Bird]

Re: And now for the cause of the problem.

I've never, personally, known of batteries blowing up before under conditions described in this thread, but I sure have known of them blowing up while hooking jumper cables from a good battery (or vehicle) to a dead battery (including one of my employees who got showered with battery acid). I won't go into detail here, but if anyone is not sure of the property method to hook them up, either read a manual or let me know and I'll explain.

Bird

 

[Rowski]

Re: And now for the cause of the problem.

Around here boosting dead battery in the winter can also lead to blown up batteries. If a battery is discharged it can freeze. Try boosting and it may blow up. Hasn't happened to me yet.

Derek

 

[dieselpwr]

Re: And now for the cause of the problem.

I actually had a charged maintenance free battery crack in the cold about 4 or 5 years ago. Happened to notice it was bulged & cracked on top when I went to change oil. The car was never once hard to start or anything. Luckily & strangely the damage was almost all to the top & around the post areas. I took it back to Fleet Farm (it was only about a year old) & they gave me a new one no questions asked. I guess the point is they don't have to go dead to crack from the cold. I was just thankful it didn't explode or go dead on me. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif Mine was an easy clean up with a can of nutralizer.

Troy

 

[djradz]

Jim and others, since your fix have you noticed any fluid around the battery??? My parts were replaced, battery fluid lowered, and the battery turned around so the vent caps are more to the tractor front - all last winter. Now I've noticed a little fluid on the side and top of the battery, but no corrosion yet.

 

[PLanger]

In addition to all affected/corroded parts being replaced on my TC40D under warranty, the dealer also installed a gel cell battery - no problems since.

 

[jinman]

Duane, I leave my tractor outside most of the time (gotta get that carport built...) and rain, dew or any moisture that settles on the hood runs right into the grill openings and onto the battery. I don't know how you would stop water from collecting on top of the battery unless you completely cover it. I just rinse mine off real often and I haven't had anymore problems./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif