TG1860 becoming harder to start

[Jriedy85]

I have a TG1860 that I bought a couple years ago. When I bought it it had a hard time starting and I installed one of those relays that bypasses the wiring and puts 12volts right into the starter and that worked great. Been running for a year or so with that with no issues. Well starting in about August it started taking longer and longer to start. I thought maybe the battery is just starting to go bad? I threw a multimeter on it while it was off and had 12.35 volts. Was curious if anyone had any other ideas as to what is causing it to take 3 to 5 seconds for the engine to start. Could this be the glow plugs? Or maybe I just buy a new battery and see if that fixes it. Just wanted some input before I go drop the cash on a battery. Thanks.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

so it's what 20 years old ??

How old are the primary battery cables ?
How long do you preheat the glow plugs ?
How much current do they draw ?
What's the battery voltage when running ?
Have the battery 'load' tested ?
What kind of battery ?
When was tank last cleaned, fuel filters replaced ?
what temperature is it sitting in ?

 

[Jriedy85]

LOL! Yes I know its 20 years old. only things I know off hand is it sits in a heated barn that's like 50 degrees...but this was also occurring during the summer when it was in the 80's. I preheat the plugs until the plug light turns off (maybe 5 - 7 seconds?). I think the battery is a cheap rural king battery. I've never cleaned the tank since I have owned it or replaced fuel filters but I can certainly check those. The other things I will have to check out and get back with that info. Thanks.