'94 Ford 4830 is not charging battery

This is a fairly new to me tractor. I've had it about 4-5 months. Prior to me getting it, the previous owner took it into the dealer to have some wiring replaced due to mice eating it.

I've come to the conclusion the battery is not charging when the tractor is running. I can charge the ~1 year old battery up, and it's good for a month, but then I have to jump it every time until I charge it again. If I run the lights, it goes down fast.

I opened the battery tray side hood and can see the bundle of wrong colored wiring the dealer spliced into the original harness. It's towards the front of the head where the alternator wiring harness crosses sides to get to the alternator. I have not got into the splicing yet to see if I can determine if a wire was left off, not making connection, or possibly got crossed.

My question is the charge light indicator on the dash. It never lights up at all. I would expect it to light when I turn the key on before I start the tractor, and I am expecting to the light to be the lower left light on the dash. Is this correct?

Any other tips for checking the charging, short of taking the alternator to the local parts house to have them test it? Anyone have a charging system wiring diagram for this tractor?

Thanks, Todd

Yes, the light is in the lower left of the cluster. It should light when the key is turned to 'run'. So the first step is to pull the
cluster back and check the bulb. It's just a 194 automotive bulb. Make sure power comes to one side of the socket from the key. Check the
bulb continuity... If that is all good... then you need to check continuity from the other side of the socket to the alternator indicator
terminal. This circuit is what excites the alt so if it's not connected you won't get any charge. I can't remember now all of the
connections on them... but there would at minimum be the indicator terminal, the BAT terminal, I think a ground wire, then IIRC, 2 more for
a battery temp sensor circuit... and possibly an RF circuit if it has a cab on it.
I think the indicator wire is a red/purple on that harness. Basically if it doesn't start charging by jumping that terminal from the BA,
then the alt is probably garbage, unless there is an open in the battery sensor circuit. Again, I don't recall specifically if that one has
a battery sensor or not.
I wouldn't spend too much of my life on it before I bought a Delco 10si and dropped that on there...

Rod

Thanks Rod. I removed the dash and swapped the charge bulb with another bulb. The bulb is good, just never coming on.

Next step is to dig into the wiring repair and determine what's going on.

Todd