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I have a 1993 John Deere LX 178 lawn mower.The yellow battery warning light on the dash has recently come on. Replaced the battery {which was old anyway} but light is still on. What is my problem?
Answer -
What engine is in the mower?
Do you have a DC voltmeter?
Let me know.
Eric
Thanks Eric, The engine is a 15 H.P. Kawasaki K series V twin and I do have a DC voltmeter.
Answer -
It's possible the regulator is bad, I believe that engine uses a regulator. You can check by following the wires coming from the engine, the alternator wire, to the key switch. If you see a retangular or other shaped device that the engine alternator wire go to then that is the regulator.
Can you measure the DC voltage at the battery with the mower running? Do you have at least 12 volt DC?
Let me know about the regulator and voltage.
Eric
Eric, I did find a rectangular box as you described and I'm getting 12.2 volts at the battery with the engine running.
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Is the light still on?
Let me know.
Eric
Sorry Eric, I meant to include that in my last response. All connections seem tight and the light is still on.
Answer -
Does your mower have an electric mower engagement clutch?
I'll see if we have an info on testing the regulator.
Have you checked any message boards, JD mower sites or Kawasaki engine sites for info?
Let me know.
Eric
Eric, I have checked several sites and can find no mention of this problem. The mower does have an electric blade clutch.
Answer -
The battery should read 11-13 volts, check it with a voltmeter and record the reading. Then check the battery voltage with the engine running (if possible) it should be higher, about 13.5 volts if it is, the charging circuit is functioning.
The alternator or stator produces AC voltage, which is sent to the regulator for conversion to DC voltage. The rectifier senses battery state-of-charge and sends DC voltage to the battery when it becomes discharged. These two components are usually not a problem with charging systems unless one of them has a bad connection.
The first step in troubleshooting a charging system is to determine if the stator is putting out enough AC voltage. To do this, simply locate the stator leads (usually two wires together in the same harness coming out from beneath the flywheel or out of the alternator), run the engine at full throttle, disconnect the stator leads from the wiring harness to the battery (which temporarily will not harm the components) and, with your VOA meter set at AC voltage, touch the tester leads to the two stator leads. You should read a relatively high AC voltage--somewhere in the 27 to 45 volts AC (VAC) range. If you have a technical manual available for your machine, check the specification in it or call your dealer to see what it should be. If this test is good, then your stator should be okay.
Next, locate where these two wires go into your regulator/rectifier. You may need a wiring diagram to do this, or you may be able to trace the wires on your machine. Check for the proper AC voltage going into your regulator/rectifier. If you do not have about the same voltage there as you did at the stator leads, then you have some bad wiring between the two.
Assuming you have the correct AC voltage going into your regulator/rectifier, you must then find the wire that sends DC voltage to your battery. It is usually red, and you can normally trace it on your machine or use a wiring diagram to locate it. Set your VOA meter to the DC volts scale, clip the black lead of your tester to a good ground on your engine (or your battery's negative terminal), run the engine at full throttle and touch your tester's red lead to the charge-wire terminal on your regulator/rectifier. You should read about 14 to 17 volts DC (VDC). If you read less than 12 volts, then your regulator does not allow enough voltage through to charge your battery. If you read high voltages, you may be overcharging your battery.
Next, repeat this test, but this time hold your red tester lead at the battery's positive terminal. If you get a very different reading from the one above, you may have some faulty wiring or a bad connection between your regulator/rectifier and the battery (possibly at the keyswitch or ammeter, if present).
If any of the above tests indicate a faulty component, then replace that component.
Your regulator has two AC wires entering it and one DC output wire.
We've found some of the Snapper mowers with the same symptoms as yours and it ended up being a defective PTO clutch drawing too much current. Unfortunately I have never found any specs for electric clutch current draw. The bad news is that clutches are very expensive...we do not like guessing on a part that cost several hundred dollars.
Check the regulator and let me know what you find.
Eric
Thanks for all your help Eric. In searching for the AC stator leads, I unpluged several electrical connectors and when I reconnected them the light was out and the battery was showing 13.3 volts DC. So apparently there was a loose connection somewhere even though the plugs were all tight and pretty hard to disconnect.
Thanks again for your help, Douglas Harris
AnswerSo the light is now off?
These are the worst problems!! I had a similar situation on my motorcycle. Worked all day on it using the factory manual and a voltmeter. Same thing as yours...one of the plugs was not connecting properly. After 3 or 4 times unpluggin/re-connecting the connector it started working.
Eric
