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John Deere 445 Electrical problems

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Fred Emerson

10-09-2004 15:50:00




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I went to start my 1996 John Deere 445 yesterday and it made some clicking noises like the battery was dead. I tried to boost it but had no results. I went to the dealer and bought a new battery. Well, it still doesn"t start. I have no lights except for an oil light and the green light on the control module. When I try to start it the oil light and the green light dim. When I try to turn on the lights the green light dims and the oil light will go out. I borrowed a manual from the dealer and started doing some troubleshooting. My meter shows 12 volts and I have 12 volts at the ignition. I found that I only have 12 volts (when the key is turned) coming out of the ignition when the yellow wire coming out of the lower right hand connector of the control module is taking out of the connector. It seem like I have a draw or short somewhere. There are no fuses blown. The starter doesn"t even try to turn over due to the lack of voltage ing the system. I was only getting 3.5 volts to the system with the yellow wire plugged in and the brake switch made. I decided to bypass the seat, pto and brake switches but there was still a voltage drop (i was getting 12 volts to the switches before they are made). I decided to unplug all three relays, the fuel injection control, and the harnesses to the motor to isolate the problem. I found that when I bypassed only the seat switch I had 6 volts coming out of the ignition and when I bypassed the brake switch also I had a total of 8.5 volts. I can hear the relay click when I make the brake switch and the second the relay turns on I get the 4 volt drop. I beleive the control /fues module has been damaged or there is something else shorted out. Does anybody have experience with these? Help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Fred skidogmxz800@aol.com

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Joe MD

10-12-2004 13:02:53




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 Re: John Deere 445 Electrical problems in reply to Fred Emerson, 10-09-2004 15:50:00  
Is there a white plastic fuse indicator on the inside of the hood. It will pop-out like your turkey is done when a fuse blows.

Our 430 is 10 years older, but the clicking sound is what we get when it needs to be pushed back in.



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Teej

10-10-2004 23:44:01




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 Re: John Deere 445 Electrical problems in reply to Fred Emerson, 10-09-2004 15:50:00  
Check, clean, and tighten each and every ground connection. According to John Deere's manual, there can be no more than 0.1 ohm of resistance in the ground system. The manual has tests for it. If the manual you borrowed is the service manual, its quite thorough (and thick), and it can help you better than I can. I've worked on them before, and usually problems likes yours was because of a dirty, lose or corroded connection someplace, or more than one such connection.

The battery ground is on the side of the motor block, down in the frame. A real bummer to get to, but its also a good place for oil dirt and crud to build up, and with the heating and cooling cycles from the engine, its possible the bolt has loosened up over time. Just follow the battery cable, and check all the ground wires as you go, as well as plugs and connectors.

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txblu

10-12-2004 10:47:01




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 Re: John Deere 445 Electrical problems in reply to Teej, 10-10-2004 23:44:01  
Teej speak truth.

A full sized 40 hp tractor takes bout 100A to start (average). Gonna guess a 20 hp tractor will take about 1/2 or so of that (50A). You have a 12v battery. If the circuit resistance is only 1 ohm, 50A x 1 = 50 volts..(You don't have but 12v to spend...just lost 50)....even at the stated book max of .1 ohm it's still 5 volts.

5 volts off a 12v system is a loss of 40% in voltage. You are approaching the drop out voltage (if not there) of your solenoid. The clicking you hear is it releasing then (voltage rising due to load being released, to 12) on the way to 12 it passes the energizing voltage of the solenoids coil (CLICK) it closes, but in closing it loads the battery (trying to turn the starter) and the needed voltage shows up acrosss your "dirty parts" so the voltage falls (across the solenoid) back below "hold in" value and it drops out (CLICK) and on.

Mark

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fred emerson

10-12-2004 18:20:28




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 Re: John Deere 445 Electrical problems in reply to txblu, 10-12-2004 10:47:01  
I found the problem. What was confusing me was after I tried to start the engine I would loose power to my lights, fuel pump and only have a dim oil light and dim green light. Even if I shut the key off and turned it back on and didn't attempt to start it. Sometimes if I disconnected the battery then hooked it back up again I would get everything back but once I attempted to start it again I would loose everything again. I replaced the control module but that wasn't it. I test the resistance of my ground and I got a .1 ohm resistance. I assumed it was ok but I ended up doing two things I replaced the fusable links and then run booster cables from the battery to the engine block and solenoid. The tractor started. So I removed the positive side and the tractor again started. So with the process of elimination I clean the ground connection on the frame. The connector and bolt looked to be in excellant condition but I cleaned them anyway and removed the paint from the frame and reinstalled it. Now it is starting fine. I did notice a drag when it starts sometimes. The battery the dealer sold me is a 300 CCA battery and the original was a 330 CCA. It might just need to be run a charged up. Thank you to all that replied to this post! I am mowing again. :)

Fred

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txblu

10-13-2004 10:14:18




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 Re: John Deere 445 Electrical problems in reply to fred emerson, 10-12-2004 18:20:28  
That's why we're here..... well almost. Wanna have a little fun too....which we seem to be having.

Mark



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