O.K. here is the situation and I'll run it as it happened to me. While out plowing snow yesterday, I noticed that my batt voltage was showing lower then normal,(about 13 and steady and not increasing with apllication of throttle) I've after been using the hoe for about 4 hours at this point. I kept on working, next thing while roading to my next lot I notice, while accelerating through 3 and about to change to 4th it went into Neutral rather then 4th. ( it is an an auto shift) I was like What the hell> SO I dropped it into N and then again into D. It acclerated agin through the gears and same thing happened when changing into 4th, just neutral. I looked over and the only thing out of the ordinary was that my batt voltage was below 12 V. I pulled in and turned off all my electrical drain. The batt voltage immediatley started to come back up. I began to high tial it back to my residence when I noticed that it was shifting fine again......so after trouble shooting. Upon initial start-up, I'll turn the key just before the starter engages and the Batt voltage is between 13-14. It will turn itself over just fine ands start no problem, I can turn on all my lighting no problem no drain, the second I turn on my heater the huge draw happens and continues to drain my batt. I turn off the heater and up comes the batt voltage. The hoe is an 04 with original batts, I was thinking Altenator first but if the batt got drained then why the heck would the batt recharge after being drianed???:beatsme I then was thinking Batts, considering they are 8 years old....but if they were toast why would it show good voltage before startup and turn her over no problem????:beatsme So now I am thinking the heater has an issue, when I have it on the lowest setting no problem, middle setting it dips a little, highest setting it dips a lot......so then I think can't be the heater as it would be on all settings wouldn't you thinkg??? Anyone have any suggestions as its damn cold and I would like some heat, and i want to know what I am dealing with. What would you do???:beatsme Thanks everyone King
The first place I would look is the battery cables. Especially, be sure you have a good clean earth at the chassis. Look for sparking or feel if connections are warm with heater on. (high current draw) Seen a bad earth cable give transmission selection problems too.
Those batteries have got to be toast after 8 years. Put a battery load tester on them and see what they do.
I think your going to find 2 things happening , after 8 years the battery have to be weak so figure on a set if they havent been done . Next I think your going to find your altenator has low output , maybe a bad diode . I know on the old GM units you could have 1 or the 4 smoked and it would charge but not much. your heat and lighting is the biggest loads , wipers are a close second .
The alternators on machines aren't very big, if you're running all your lights, blower on high and wipers too you're probably drawing more amperage than the alternator can put out. Find out what your alternator makes and then start adding up your draw. This info should be available on the web with a little research.
Hey, K so I got my Batteries load tested and they were showing fine, I am however going to replace them. I also got my Alternator checked he said it was fine however he literally had the tester on the alt for 3 seconds never wanted me to add a draw on the system or anything. So I am still not for sure on this, my belts for the alternator are slack, I am going to adjust them in the morning.....I nver even thought to look and see what happens with the wipers. I have discovered though that I can have the heater on only and the charge stays up, ut if I turn on anything else it drops off. I have a good friend coming y tomorrow who knows a bit about this and we are going to do more trouble shooting.....I am thinking Alt has some issue, and 8 yr old batteries cant be helping, along with loose belts...I will keep you all posted. Thanks again King
I am having the same issue on a Cat It28 what did you find the problem to be.
King, check your cables and tighten the alt belt then try it again. Your alt should put out 125 amps and at that rate it will get a bit warm. I wouldn't be supprised if the loose belt might be the problem. Later Bob
Almost all my electrical gremlins went away after I removed the ground cable and chucked a wire wheel in a drill and polished up the surface around the bolt hole for the cable. Bad connections build heat and cause a lot of problems.
loose v belts and plowing snow i've gone out on several calls this winter couple backhoes and bunch of graders for shifting problems all caused by low system voltage due to loose belts snow gets on them melts and makes them slip without squeelin . I adjusted them up end of problem.
Hi. Was it loose and wet belts from the snow? Did tightening them solve the problem? Clean the battery terminals and ground? We are all hanging on your every word!!
I'd bet alternator belts too.... the more items you turn on the harder the alternator has to pull,,,, pulley will slip in the belts causing voltage to drop off.
Yup, that sure can happen... :thumbsup OCR