Why do you think the battery is dying?, the battery cannot be dead if you can hear electrical buzzing, that black unit on the firewall with the wiring connector plugged into the bottom is a relay, could be the starter relay, could be the relay for the fuel stop solenoid, you could have a faulty relay that is shutting down the fuel stop solenoid, without a wiring schematic to trace the runs, we are only guessing.

 

Also, do keep in mind that just because you purchased a 'new' battery don't mean it's good. Flooded cell batteries begin aging when the electrolyte is put is, so if you bought a battery that has been sitting on a shelf for a protracted amount of time, it may very well be shot. New for you, but not really new at all.

One mistake people always do is buy a 'new' battery and install it immediately. You should always trickle charge (1 amp or less) a new to you battery at least overnight to insure it's charged to capacity. Batteries loose charge when sitting idle.

I agree with Fred on this one. You have an electrical issue and you need a diagram of where and what each wire does and where it goes and a good multimeter.

 

With "juice" motorcycle batteries (electrolyte), I was taught the initial charge needs to equal the amperage rating..... 50AH battery--- 10amps x 5 hours, 2 amps x 25 hours. Sure way to end up buying a new motorcycle every year is to drop the juice and install it in the bike without charging it.

 

110% correct. You buy any flooded cell battery and don't pre charge it and just install it, you shorten the useful life appreciably. You ALWAYS pre charge a new battery and Bob.. The proper term for a flooded cell battery is a 'Jar' I trickle charge all of them, always. I use a smart trickle charger myself.

 

When I turned wrenches at a Honda shop, we had a "battery Rack". Parts Man knew what batteries had the most demand. He would add the electrolyte and hook them up on the rack. It was wired so you could trickle charger 10-12 batteries at a time. Customer wanted a battery, it was charged up and ready to go. I switched over to gel batteries in my bikes about 10 years ago. They cost more, but last 2-3 times longer, especially if you use a trickle charger when they sit for a long time.

 

Me. I use the dust on the top of the battery determination when buying one, that and the turnover frequency. If there is dust on the top, I don't buy it and I almost always buy my jars from a volume dealer like a truck repair facility where you know they are getting turned over regularly.

TSC has to be the most blatant offender when it comes to flooded cell jars. Too stupid to put the old ones in front of the new ones so if I get one, it's always from the back of the rack.

 

DO you guys think I need to buy another battery? I honestly just thought it was some sort of electrical problem thats either short circuiting or that the alternator wasn't charging the battery properly and was hoping you guys would give me advice on what to check and how to check it since i have 0 idea what I am doing at the moment, but obviouly the battery is the easiest thing to rule out.

I do have a multimeter and no idea if its a good one or not, but it works.

I have been checking the voltage the last few nights and my first reading was 11.80.
12 hours later it was 11.78
24 hours after the initial reading it was 11.76. The tractor was stored inside my shop which is probably like 60*F.

I just took the tractor out for a spin to plough some dirt. Before I started the tractor (i charged the tractor a few days ago but didn't check the voltage after I charged it) the voltage was at 13.17. After I started the tractor and let it idle for 5 minutes, the voltage read 12.14. After 40 minutes of a various throttle ranges and putting this tractor through its paces pulling a 2 furrow plow, its not at 12.40 volts. I did not run the tractor until it died since it got dark out. This seems backwards to me, as normally the voltage should have dropped instead of increased. I will test this again tomorrow to see if it continues to charge rather than die.

 

If you're not sure about the multimeter check it on a know good car or truck. Good battery should read about 12.7v, then start and should go to 13.5 to 14.2 (roughly).
Nowadays especially new doesn't mean good. It doesn't sound like alternator is doing it's job. Running it should go higher.
Battery any auto parts store or Walmart should be able to load test it for you.

Sent from my SM-S205DL using Tapatalk

 

Ok so I checked the multimeter on my 7.3 powerstroke and it read 12.7 exactly.

Idk how but I forgot the check the voltage of my tractor before I started it, but it turned over extremely slow so it was most likely right around 12v. After letting it idle for 10 minutes, it read 14.4 volts.

I then used the tractor for about an hour to do some more ploughing and moving dirt to make some jumps, and came back to park it and it read 11.14v, and after idling for another 10 minutes to let the motor cool down it was at 10.8 volts. I don't understand why one second the tractor is charging, and then its not.

 

Sounds like a bad cell in the battery. Get it load tested.


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Tested the tractor again today and did the same thing. Charged it until it was at 12.4 volts, started up just fine, jumped up to 14.5 volts and let the tractor warm up for 20 minutes and was still at 14.5 volts. Used the tractor for about an hour and voltage was down to 11.8. Im going to swap in a battery from my 7.3 powerstroke and see if it changes anything.