New farmall wont stay charged after i shut it off?

Anonymous-0 · Jun 10, 2012

Hey all, i am still trying to get this new farmall figured out. First off, i just painted it and everything and then it wouldnt start. So i charged the battery, fired right up and ran strong all was good then i ran it maybe an hour. Then i shut it off and tried starting it about 15 minutes later and it just barely rolled over and then stopped. Is that battery or alternator? Also, radiator seemed pretty low so i topped it off, now when im at full throttle it drips out of the overflow. Did i just fill it up too much? And last question, what kind of oil pressure do these things run? I have right at about 50lbs cold at full throttle. Is that too much? It does blow out some puffs of grey smoke at idle especially when cold. Could i have a stuck ring? Sorry for all the questions but thanks in advance!

old · Jun 10, 2012

Would help us help you if you said what tractor you have since there are 100s of model it could be and that can make a difference as to what maybe wrong. First thing I would do is use a meter to check battery voltage when not running and then with it running. If battery voltage is less then 12 volts battery needs to be charged. Then with it running the voltage should be around 13-14 volts. As for the smoke that could be a number of things but probably nothing to worry about. The radiator many of the older Farmall's you just fill till the fines are covered and that is it or yep they will spit some out

El Toro · Jun 10, 2012

When you have it running measure the charging voltage across the battery terminals with the engine at 1/2 throttle or better using a volt meter. Should see 14-14.5 volts across the terminals. I wouldn't complain about your oil pressure. The coolant will expand when the engine gets hot. Don't fill the radiator completely full to top of the fill neck. Hal

Anonymous-0 · Jun 10, 2012

Sorry, i guess i forgot to put on there i have a 49 M. With the tractor running i have 12.6 volts and when i shut it off and it sits for a while i only show 7.4 volts and just goes down from there. Is it the battery thats bad or do i have something pulling me down while its off? The tractor doesnt have any lights or anything like that. Only thing i see is a resistor before the alternator and a voltage regulator. The amp meter on it doesnt ever move so i think its bad. Sorry again for soo many questions, just trying to get this thing in good running condition without dumping a ton of money in it! Thanks again!

clint s · Jun 10, 2012

Also Genny or alternator 6, 12, or 12 converted. If it was converted and not done properly the self exciting coil in the alt could be drawing power.

old · Jun 10, 2012

Pull the battery cables off and charge the battery. Then say after an hour of charging it take the charger off and check voltage on the battery. Then come back another hour later and see if the battery has gone down or stayed the same. If it stayed the same then most likely you have a problem with the alternator. But what alternator system do you have that has a V.R. wire up to it instead of the more common internal V.R. which most people use

CNKS · Jun 10, 2012

The early alternators, or at least some of them did not have internal regulators. I had an M with an alternator that used an external regulator.

Anonymous-0 · Jun 10, 2012

It is a 12 volt conversion. It was done before i got the tractor. Doesnt seem to be too bad of a job. I can get some pics tommarow of some of the components if that helps. Only thing i saw was the resistor is not mounted to the tractor, its just hanging out in the open above the distributor.

old · Jun 10, 2012

Yes I know that the early alternators had external V.R. I have been working on engine be it car/truck/tractor since back in the early 70s so been around the block a few thousand times but ask things like I do so as to make sure how to tell a person how to fix what might be the problem

Anonymous-0 · Jun 10, 2012

i cant find any numbers on the alternator but it looks new, it has 2 wires going to the plug and one on a stud on the back of it.

rbooe05 · Jun 10, 2012

I did some looking on the internet and the alternator looks like a Delco S10. So should i take out the external voltage regulator?

rbooe05 · Jun 10, 2012

looks like this

Jon Hagen · Jun 10, 2012

OK, with that plug on the side, it is a SI series Delco with internal regulator.
The drawing in the link below gives a good diagram of the wiring for that tractor / SI alternator conversion.
Delco SI series alternator on an M.

Phil Tibbetts · Jun 11, 2012

If it is a GM alternator it could be internal or external regulator. Internal regulator plug terminals look like this -- external like this =.

mkirsch · Jun 11, 2012

Anything can happen, but odds are the alternator has an INTERNAL regulator.

If the original regulator is still in the wiring, you need to remove it. In fact it's probably going to be easier to just rewire the whole thing. The wiring on these old tractors is very simple, and there are wiring diagrams available online for alternator conversions.

It takes more than a few minutes, or even an hour, to charge a battery. Leave the battery on low (10A or less) charge overnight to fully charge it.

old · Jun 11, 2012

External V.R. is not needed or wanted on that alternator and could be part of your problems

dej(Jed) · Jun 11, 2012

You need a battery.........

El Toro · Jun 11, 2012

Charge your battery overnight using a trickle charge. Use a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity (acid) in each cell and compare the readings. Should see 1.270 readings or somewhere near that. If one reads 1.100 you have dead cell. If every cell has very good readings disconnect your battery ground and see if your battery will start the engine when the
ground cable is reconnected the following day. it starts ok you probably have a drain on the battery. You can disconnect the ground cable each time you're finished with the tractor or install a master switch between the ground cable and another short battery cable to where your battery is grounded. This will isolate your battery from being grounded and won't drained the battery. You need to turn on the switch when making a start and to shut it off when finished for the day. The military has used master switches for years on their vehicles. Hal

CNKS · Jun 11, 2012

Old, sorry, you have been around the block longer than I have, and I thought that you knew that. But, the way you worded the statement, to me, meant that you didn't.

LarryM · Jun 13, 2012

I am going to backslide here a little and simply state that most people are idiots when it comes to troubleshooting an alternator. The number one thing you need to know is what your system voltage is when the tractor is running. If it is less than 14 VDC (volts DC) then your alternator is NOT working proeperly It really should be about 14.5 to 14.9 VDC. Start there. If you have the correct voltage then you need a diode kit to stop the alternator from draining the battery.

WSJ · Jun 15, 2012

The above information looks good.
To resolve the problem you need to make 3 measurements.
1. Alternator output voltage 14.4V, measured with a charged battery.
2. Battery self discharge. After removing the cables, charge the battery until the current meter reaches the end of charge level and stops decreasing. While charging measure the charger voltage for 14.4V. Remove the charger, after 24 hours reconnect the charger and watch the current meter. The current should be the same end of charge level after 5-10 minuets.
3. Alternator leakage current. With the engine off remove the alternator output wire, measure the current between the alternator and the battery wire. I measured three Delco alternators, 1.96 mA, 1 uA and 1 uA (1 mA = 0.001A, 1 uA = 0.000001A).

A 45 Ah flooded lead acid battery with 2% per day self discharge is 0.9 Ah per day.
With 2 mA alternator leakage the discharge increases by 0.05 Ah per day for a total of 2.01% per day.

Pics of my Farmall H and electric car.
http://public.fotki.com/WAYNEWANG/

New farmall wont stay charged after i shut it off?

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