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John Deere 5055e battery problem

B

bernieinva

Member
After sitting for about a week, battery is completely dead when trying to start. It's a fairly new
battery and charges up ok. I've put my battery tester on it, and put the load on it and it seems fine.
I've unhooked the battery and it seems to hold charge at least for the couple of days it has been
disconnected now. Any ideas what could be draining the battery?
 
Time to get your test light or multi tester and do some troubleshooting. With positive cable connected and ground cable disconnected test between the negative post of the battery and a good frame ground. If your light or tester shows current, you have a drain in your system. Disconnect one fuse at a time or unplug one wiring connection at a time to isolate the system that is draining electricity. When your light goes out or the tester shows no current, you have found your gremlin.
 
. Remove a battery cable and connect a DC ammeter in series between the cable and the post .
Remove one fuse at a time until the drain is located .
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You have to be careful what type of test light you use. A test light with an LED bulb will not perform this test very well. The test light has to have a an incandescent bulb. The slightest draw will light an LED. I hate to pump Harbor Freight but I have linked one they offer. Someone may also come along and recommend a volt meter. They have the same problem especially digital ones, it only requires a few milliamps to operate a meter. You do not have to make any special connections to a ground it just can connect between the battery post and the disconnected cable. If this is a cab tractor that has an interior light that comes on when the door is open keep that in mind, that is an immediate false draw. So you may want to figure out which fuse powers that before you unhook the battery. If you determine there is a draw I personally would disconnect all the wires from the alternator as the first disconnect before starting in on fuses. Failing diodes in an alternator causing draws are fairly common.
Example test light
 
Thanks for posting. I was about to post same problem with my 2019 Subaru legacy. Let it set a week and batt is to low to start. I have to do this type of test for drain. Is just checking for voltage cable to batt post sensitive enough?
 
Have a neighbor that finally got a new Subaru out of them , same thing with a 2019 . There is a class action law suit about the 19s doing that and no fix. Googel is you friend. You can find all the information about the suit.
 
You left a few words out of your sentence, so if you are disconnecting the battery, then yes. Placing the test lamp in a series with the disconnected battery cables is just as sensitive. The battery cable just runs some distance and makes a negative connection to the engine or chassis, both in actuality. I did not go there on the tractor details but I DID consider the fact that that tractor may actually have a ECM. I was going to wait for his results. Adding computers or ECMs and BCMs (body) complicates this test a bit. In fact I have been away from professional auto repair long enough that I would outright tell you that I probably cannot give you the proper instructions to what I call draw or drain check a car like that Subaru. When a computer is disconnected and it is reconnected there will be a couple seconds of a higher power draw until the memory section repowers at which time the draw will drop to an acceptable level.
 
Until you prove to us you have the ability and proper equipment to perform a true load test your load test is not valid. We do not know the health of the starting charging system other than a new part was installed.

Google How To Perform a Parasitic Draw Test there are plenty of hits.

The best tool to check for this is a thermal imager

Google FIND A PARASITIC DRAW USING A THERMAL IMAGER

I would say that a imager is over kill for a tractor us that use one can knock this out fast with one.
 
We had the same problem with our 18 Subaru last year. The dealer said it needed a new computer, but my wife researched it online and found the original batteries were inadequate. So, we put a new battery in it, and it's been fine so far. There definitely was a parasitic drain, if I would disconnect it would maintain charge just fine.
 
News flash: There hasn't been a car without a parasitic draw for over 40 years. Heck, my 49 Pontiac has an electric clock. Not going 1 or 2 weeks is clearly a problem. Much longer, not so much when the battery gets some age. My 08 Silverado (+- 6k a year) was fine for about 5 years. After that, sitting for 3 or 4 weeks would cause sluggish starts. I connected a trickle charger to a Kasa plug and would run it for a day once a week. I replaced the original battery in 2021 when I gave the truck to my son. I am now using the same setup on the 2018 I got in 21 to replace the 08.
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I thought the clock might be visible.

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08 in 2021.
 
I am well aware of the parasitic drain in modern vehicles, but this was significantly more than that. We had a 13 Silverado that would crank slower if left sitting longer than 3-4 weeks. Now we leave a vehicle sit for 5 months in the winter, I just take the ground cable off the battery, and all is well. I don't leave chargers or maintainers on anything.
 
That's why I use the Kasa plug. Turn it on and off from my phone when ever I want. I have 8 of them so far. Use them on my 3 tractor block heaters also. Hate disconnecting the battery then having to reset everything when I hook it back up.
 
(quoted from post at 22:29:50 12/06/23) Not sure who you are talking to Hobo, the load test is on the battery meter.
Click to expand...

What Equitment are you using to load test the battery. How much load did you put on it and what was the voltage reading when you applied 1/2 of the CCA rating on the battery.
 
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