I have a 1995 John Deere 445 that keeps running the battery down. At the direction of my dealer he said to put on a new voltage regulator. I did that, now the charge light on the dash is on all of the time and it is still running the battery down. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

There is no TDC on a 445. Given that statement (and please take this the right way) I highly warn against "throwing parts" at a 445 to solve the problem. You can drop some serious $$$ on components and then find it's something very simple. Thorough diagnostics are needed. Since you are not getting the EFI light, nor fuel pump operation, nor spark, it sounds like your EFI module is not working. There is a fuse specifically for the EFI module, and it's not one of the two on the circuit board (where the green light is). By the way, the green means "all go" for start, so your safety systems are OK. I don't remember the exact location of the EFI fuse, but it's in a separate rubber holder that branches off the harness. It may have a rubber cap on it. It is in the circuit board area under the dash. Dig around behind there and look for it. It's a 15 amp I think.

I'll chime in a bit, mainly because there seems to be some confusion. I am no tractor expert, but I am an electrician, so the electrical end of this stuff is right up my alley. First let me start by saying that Mownie is giving you some sound advice here, and knows what he's talking about. Ok, on to my explanation. First off, a starting solonoid is actually better described as a relay, where a 12v coil is first energized, which magnetizes, and pulls up in the "rod" or assembly that is attached to a set of contacts, which closes the circuit to the starter. The starter solonoid can fail in several ways: 1. The coil can stop functioning, resulting in the starting circuit NOT closing, thus you get nothing. 2. The coil insulation can fail, resulting in a short circuit, therefore blowing the fuse. This sounds probable based on your information. 3. The contacts for the starting circuit can wear over time, becoming intermittent, but this would be noticable by choppy starts, and intermittent starting failures. With that said, the way I would go about troubleshooting this is disconnect only the +12v cable from the load side of the solonoid, that goes to the starter itself. Connect your meter to ground, and to the terminal where you disconnected the +12v cable to the starter. Set the meter where you can see it, hop on the seat, and turn the key. One of 3 things will happen. 1. You get +12v when you turn the key. This would mean the solonoid is good. 2. You blow the fuse. This obviously means that you have a short circuit, either in the coil, or the starting control circuit. 3. You get nothing. This scenario will move you to the next step, because it doesn't necessarily mean the solonoid is shot. If you get the 2nd or 3rd test result, you then need to proceed to disconnect the +12v control wire that energizes the coil. Make sure that you do not allow the wire to flop around and possibly short out. With that said, connect you meter to this wire, and the other lead should still be connected to ground. Now hop on the tractor again, and turn the key to start. 1 of 3 things will result. 1. You get +12v. If this happens, your solonoid is bad. 2. You get nothing. If this happens, you have a problem in the starter control/safety circuit, which is inhibiting you from starting. 3. You blow the fuse again. If this happens, you have a shorted wire in the starter control/safety circuit. Now, mind you a lot of this was said, and this pertains to testing the starting solonoid only. You mentioned not blowing the fuse when "the starter wire is not connected to the starter". If you are referring to the control wire, then the above steps will help. However, if you are referring to the large cable that goes from the load side of the starter solonoid, to the starter itself, then you have an issue with your starter. Hope this helps, Joe

Kawasaki FB460V engine. A free PDF manual for the engine can be obtained at "my mower parts dot com" (but translate that into a genuine URL to get there). OP still has not confirmed if this tractor has a electric PTO clutch but some internet searching indicates it likely does. While it is not typical for a BELT DRIVEN blade drive system to result in shearing or bending of a flywheel key it is certainly possible that in this particular case (lift arm disengaged and dropped deck assy) the stopping of the blade belt was abrupt enough to shear or bend the flywheel key. Usually a belt driven blade system (and thus the engine crankshaft) will not stop turning quickly enough when the blades encounter a significant foreign object to cause shearing of the flywheel key. The saving grace in belt drive systems is that the belt usually slips enough that the inertia of the engine is absorbed relatively slowly......and the key survives intact. However.....in the case of the deck being dropped downward suddenly by the lift link letting go......the belt would have been given an added bit of tension (by dropping too far down) and that just might have been enough to shear the flywheel key.