I wouldn’t have expected anything but the battery to have been damaged. I know it’s hard to give up hard earned money, but you might want to contact a dealer.
JD X495 smoking help
Hi, I have a JD X496. I left the key in and the battery died. We tried to boost it off but I did not attach the positive terminal to the JD battery good enough. It fell over and shorted out the battery. The electronics started smoking and white smoke clouds Came off. I bought a new battery and attached it. Then the alternator started smoking. The lights on the dash still will not turn on. I need help I don’t even know where to start. Any advice would be much appreciated!!!
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kinda doesn't make sense... if you didnt attach the cable well enough, and the cable fell off the battery terminal, then that battery can not be shorted... because the cable is no longer connected to that battery.... The only battery that could be shorted in that scenario, is the one in whatever the vehicle was that you used to provide the boost with....I did not attach the positive terminal to the JD battery good enough. It fell over and shorted out the battery.
the only way the alternator would smoke is if you connected the battery backwards (positive to negative etc), or if you shorted the battery while the tractor was actually running - in which case your battery would probably crack and leak - and spill acid all over the place....
when you say "the electronics" started smoking - does that mean the ECU, dashboard, or what?.....
My suggestion is whatever was smoking, most probably requires replacement:
1. battery
2. alternator
3. ECU or whatever electronics you are referring to
4. wire harnesses
this does not sound like a quick fix... so if this repair job is too daunting, it may be time to call the dealer....
unfortunately when it comes to electronics, cooking it a little-bit is not equivalent to overheating an engine mechanically... an engine will cool down and still most likely be OK..... with electronics it doesnt work like that, once you see "smoke" - whatever part was smoking is "gone".... "toast"... "no-longer-works". It takes a fraction of a second to completely destroy electronic components....
cheers and good luck!
Welcome Grant... sorry to have to meet you under such unfortunate circumstances.
I'm guessing what happened is that the hot from the vehicle shorted through the tractor's frame and/or wiring, depending on what the hot side of the jumper landed on. That would most likely take out all or most of the fuses, quite possibly the wiring harness and... who knows.
If you don't own a multimeter I suggest you employ the services of a dealer or other experienced repair shop.
I'm guessing what happened is that the hot from the vehicle shorted through the tractor's frame and/or wiring, depending on what the hot side of the jumper landed on. That would most likely take out all or most of the fuses, quite possibly the wiring harness and... who knows.
If you don't own a multimeter I suggest you employ the services of a dealer or other experienced repair shop.
I just did a quick search and saw an X495 wiring harness, two parts. One lights and one the rest, bit over $200. An X320 complete harness with fuses and fuse panel was only $90. Then there were used ones much cheaper. If I had to replace a harness and didn’t want to tackle it myself, I think I’d get a new harness and have it installed. At $85 an hour, I wouldn’t want a mechanic tracing each wire, unless they saw something right away and said the could fix it easy.
I am sorry to say, but it looks like this is going to be a very expensive mistake. When the magic (usually blue) smoke escapes from electronics, it is very hard to put it back and without the magic smoke the parts just don't work. Unless you understand electricity fairly well fixing a problem like this is going to be really difficult and will likely cost you more. Normally, there is a fuse to protect the alternator from getting damaged. It sounds like that didn't work for yours. The alternator might or might not have been damaged, but something surely is.
If you don't have a schematic and/or service manual, you should get one. The schematic shows all the wiring and the service manual gives information on how to test things to make sure they are working. There are quite a few things that could be damaged and you need to make sure all of them are working or the broken thing could cause other new stuff to break again.
Does the engine run?
How quickly did the alternator start smoking?
Was it when you turned the key to run or start?
My guess is that you will need a new dash (sometimes available used). You might need a new ECU/ECM and a new alternator and voltage regulator (the X495 might have the built-in VR), some of the wiring might have been damaged
If you don't have a schematic and/or service manual, you should get one. The schematic shows all the wiring and the service manual gives information on how to test things to make sure they are working. There are quite a few things that could be damaged and you need to make sure all of them are working or the broken thing could cause other new stuff to break again.
Does the engine run?
How quickly did the alternator start smoking?
Was it when you turned the key to run or start?
My guess is that you will need a new dash (sometimes available used). You might need a new ECU/ECM and a new alternator and voltage regulator (the X495 might have the built-in VR), some of the wiring might have been damaged
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