Cub Cadet Collectors dot com

I am very familiar with 12 volt systems, most in large car stereo systems but I am trying to learn how trouble shoot common electrical problems on the cubs as I now have 4 of them.
ok my 147 runs when jumped off but when I remove the positive of the battery it goes dead. Does that mean the battery is shot or the the starter generator is failed, or voltage regulator. Any tips on how to diagnos would be very appreciated. I love this forum also.

Start with a good battery if the problem continues the look elsewhere. The coil needs to have 12v to provide spark.

so does the generator provide enough 12 volt output without the battery in the system. i know with most older car engines if you disconnect the cables from the battery and it goes dead then that means the alternator is dead, if it stays running its charging. just curious. thanks

I got an PM from redneckarchery about this thread

The tractor should run when you take the + terminal off the battery(not good to run without a battery). You must first determine if the problem is the S/G or the VR or maybe both. You should have a multi-meter Have every thing hooked up and a good charged battery(12.5 V) and start the tractor and check the battery voltage across the battery which should be 13.5 V at1/2 throttle. Now take a clip lead and put it on the "F" terminal of S/G and touch it to a good ground and you should hear the engine rpm's drop. If it don't pull your S?G and have it checked and and will probably find the generator field winding needs replaced. It may be cheaper to buy a used or rebuilt S?G at this point. If it checks out OK check the wiring to the VR, Battery and to going to the S/G for opens(I have found wiring errors that were wrong?). Now put everything back together and start the tractor and start the tractor and when you disconnect the Battery it should keep running. if it quits you have a bad VR.

so this might help others

okay that helps out alot. of the 3 terminals on the vr what do i need to look for on each. i tested 12v on one. luckily i have 4 starter generators.

weill my volt meter decided it wants to display 18.5 on a car battery sitting on a table so i couldnt use it. but i fugured out what was going on. i usually rub this thing at a very low idle putting around the cart and such. i touched the test light to the f terminal and didnt have anything and i cranked up the idle 3.4 and then it dawned on me that the sg was being ran at sop low of an idle that it couldnt output a measureable dc to charge the battery. but when it was idled up i could see an immediate jump on the light. sure enough i ran it for 10 minutes and the battery was good. i also decided to make up a jumper and do as you instructed me to and after grounding it shortly i noticed the rpm change in the engine. so thanks for that. now i have a 128 and a 108 i bought from a guy in jacksonville that are in really good condition and i will need a some assistance with these as well. but because of you guys i have more knowledge than i did yesterday. i want to be able to do all troubleshotting on these things myself becasue everyone is dying off who helped maintain these machines. hope that didnt offend anyone. its true though. now if any of you guys need anything for car stereo be sure to check out my website , i sell all over the us and canada and definitely know this better than the tractors. thanks again, and i will be adding more questions