john deere 318 electrical problems

[jon c]

I have a john deere 318 that is burning up ignition switches and overheating the wiring leading in to them to the point of melting off the insulation. This will make the third ignition switch I have put in. The tractor just came back from the dealer with a new voltage regulator. Any help would be appriciated.

 

[chevy65]

Sounds to me the voltage regulator was the likly choice
you need to put a volt meter across the battery to see how much its charging
13.8 to 14.2 is normal
If charging more than that it will create a lot of heat in the system
Make sure switch connection is clean an tight for this will melt connector
Check ur grounds as well
If ur adding water to battery this is a sure sign of overcharging
Bad battery will also cause excessive voltage from charging system
Good Luck
Gary

 

[mhmalcolm]

The thing that usually causes this is heat produced by the resistance of a dirty, corroded, or loose connector at the ignition switch. Even if the voltage regulator wasn"t dropping the voltage coming from the stator, the wiring usually gets damaged at the connectors where the resistance is the highest, causing the most heat generation. It will get hot enough to ruin the switch. If you haven"t already done it, I would replace the ignition switch wire terminals. They are available separately from your Deere dealer. For the female spade terminals you will need five of part #U46662, and the plastic housing is M90206.

 

[Anonymous-0]

If ign sw is the type with plug on connectors remove connectors & check contacts in same,if contacts discolored(gray,blue/blue black or contacts have lost their tension)conn is bad & needs replacement OR you are not using an oem ign sw or after market sw with contacts heavy enough to carry charging current & 12v load on tractor,melting insulation is an indication of bad contacts in sw or connector,a poor/loose conection generates heat which travels back into wire and accelerates overheating problem