ATTN: John Deere 318 Owner's, if you want that 318 to last Read This !

   / ATTN: John Deere 318 Owner's, if you want that 318 to last Read This ! #1  
Joined
Dec 27, 2012
Messages
31
Location
Knoxville, Tennessee
Tractor
1983 John Deere 318 & a 1986 John Deere 130
Hello 318 Owner's
If your like me, you are Obsessed with your 318, and Really Care about Keeping it Performing Great, or are Not thinking of Replacing it in the future, then Read on, as most of us that Own Them have a Very Deep passion for them. Let's Face it, The 318 Built John Deere's Stellar Reputation and continues to hold That Honor 30 Past when it was fist Offered. :fing32: But Like anything else, There are a few thing's we 318 Owner's can do to Keep Our Classic 318's alive and well. While recently doing a complete restoration on my 318 It was my Desire to Improve it's Long Haul of extended service. I had a couple of Sage John Deere 318 Owner's help me through the process of refurbishing my Tractor, so it made thing's a Lot Easier, so I would Like to share this experience with Other 318 Owner's.




The First thing I want to mention here is The Importance of the Fire Wall Insulation. Originally John Deere Placed Insulation on the fire wall of these Tractor's before they left the Factory. Mine was Missing all of it's fire wall Insulation when I got it and all that was left behind was The glue strips of the Two sided tape that John Deere used. The Good New's is that a Member of The John Deere forum Named John Lang has come up with a Fire wall Kit for our Tractor's and Other's that had them and it is Far Cheaper than what John Deere Offer's it for !




I Ordered The Kit from John and it was very reasonable at around $27.00. It comes to you with a Good set of Install Instructions and it is Larger than what you need so that you can cut and shape it to fit your Tractor. It cut's easy with a good set of Shears. Upon Installing it on my firewall, I decided to Not go with The Two sided Tape Idea that John Deere used, as it was evident to me it did Not hold the Insulation In Place worth a Hoot ! I used some 3-M Super weather strip adhesive. It is Yellow in color and super Tacky. I just smeared some on the face of my Fire wall and Put the new Insulation up against the Fire Wall Tin. I then used some Masking Tape to hold it firmly In Place and let it set over night





I did mine when my engine was Out of the Tractor so it was not a hard Install. If you desire to Place this Kit and do Not have your engine out of the Tractor, it is not all that Much work for what you get with Mass Air flow Improvement afterwards. You will have to Pull your floor Pan first. Then Un-hook Your Hydro Transmission drive shaft and just let it sit there. Then Un-bolt your Four engine block bolts. You can Then slide your engine far enough forward to Place the Insulation package. When The adhesive dries fully simply Bolt everything back in place.


Keep In Mind since these Onan's are Air Cooled, it is Crucial to have a Good firewall seal which this Kit provides. Once it is installed you will Notice a Ton of new Massive air flow out of your Grill with The tractor running. This In Turn Keep's The Hot under hood air out of Your engine compartment, which allows a much cooler engine extending it's Life span Much more. I would suggest while you have your drive shaft Un-hooked that you check the rear coupler. The early one's did Not bolt up to The stub shaft of The Hydro Pump. This style can wear and make the coupler sloppy on the splined shaft, which in Turn will wear your Hydro Pump spline. The new Improved Version is much more Heavy duty in design as I have shown below and Once it is Placed it should not ever wear out again.




I can save you some Time and Frustration here, by sharing with you what Works. I tried very way to get that **** shaft out of my machine and there is No short cut, it is like they Molded The Machine around it. I Cussed and fought with it for a Long time before I figured out how to make this Process a Lot less Misserable.To Pull The drive shaft out of your 318 You will have to Take a couple of The Transmission Lines loose, so that the front coupler will pass through The frame and tower area. You won't loose much Hydro fluid while the lines are un-hooked so don't worry about it, But this is the Only Way to get the drive shaft out of your 318, and you may have to Take out The Four engine Mounting Base bolt's which are located under the engine front frame area. That in Turn will allow the engine to slide forward enough to give you enough clearance to remove the drive shaft, as this are is a Very Cramped & Tight area of the machine to begin with.


Once the drive shaft is out of your 318The rear coupler U-Joint will have to be separated. There are two method's for this. One is by using a Press to Push the U-Joint Cap's out of the drive shaft Yoke. This can be done "After" You remove the U-Joint Cap cir clip's that are on the back side of the U-Joint Bearing Cap's. For those of you without the Luxury of owing a bench or floor Mounted press, you can get it apart by using a Large Hammer, and Placing it in the new coupler with a bench Vice. Once your Cir clip's have been removed simply Place an Under sized shallow socket on the U-Joint Cap Placing it downward on your Bench top. Then use the hammer on the welded Portion of your drive shaft striking it until the force moves the U-Joint Cap out of your drive shaft. Never beat on the drive shaft coupler Yoke Portion of your drive shaft as this will destroy The Yoke and you will Then have to replace the entire drive shaft, Instead use the hammer back on the welded area where the Yoke meet's the solid drive shaft, as this is it's Most durable area. On re-assembly, simply place the U-Joint inside the Yoke without it's Bearing Caps. Take one bearing cap and start it into The Yoke from the outside of the Yoke. Place the yoke Portion of your drive shaft in the vice and slowly Crank it down to seat the U-Joint bearing cap. Once it is close to being Level with The Outer Portion of your Yoke use an Under sized socket to Seat it deeper to allow the cir clip to be placed back into it's Groove in the Bearing Cap. Now Spin the shaft over and Press in the Other Bearing cap by slowly cranking down on the vice handle. Once it is flush use the same undersized socket to set it deep enough to get the Cir-clip back in place. Grease the U-Joint's fully and if they are sloppy at all replace them, Now as who want's to do this Job Over ? :banghead3.



Fish the completed drive shaft back down into your machine. Once it is close to where it belong's this is the time to Place the Hydraulic lines back where they were un-hooked from "Before" Bolting the shaft to the Crankshaft or sliding the rear onto The splined stub shaft. make sure they are tight or they can and will leak. You can then place the new Yoke of your drive shaft on The Hydro Pump stub shaft. Take it in as deep as you can , seating it fully to allow the front of the drive shaft to be bolted back up to The engine Crankshaft. If you have not all ready done this to make the job easier Remove both spark plugs so that the engine turn's over easy and Turn the drive shaft as you Place and Torque the flywheel bolts, with a Large screw driver through the rear Yoke area, Be Sure to NOT Puncture or Molest any of the Hydraulic lines that are under the rear coupler. The easiest way to Tourque the crankshaft bolt's back up is to use an Air Ratchet 3/8" in size to Torque the bolt's Tightly. if you don't have an air Operated ratchet a hand Operated socket and Ratchet can be used to do this, But watch them Knuckles when doing so. :praying:


On The Early 318's they had a Two Bolt method used on the front of The Hydro Transmission cross Member. John Deere Learned that some early 318's were breaking the Transmission case or fracturing the case around the bolt holes as The Frame Flex's when using Implements causing this. The Fix is simple. It will Take The newer style shoulder bolt that John Deere Offer's now, at a cost of $3.75. Place the new revised shoulder bolt on the right hand side of Your Transmission cross member Mounting hole and Torque it up. Simply Leave the left hand side bolt out of your cross Member when you are done to eliminate this Transmission breaking issue






Here is what the Insulation Package Look's Like installed on your 318. You leave the top and sides a little Over sized so that they make a perfect seal when your hood is lowered. I hope this Important Up-Grades are of use to you, I know after spending $1475.00 for a new Onan I sure want it to last as long as it can. If anyone else reading this know's of other enhancement's we can do to Keep Our 318's Running better or alive, Please feel free to share them here....:fing32:Here is John Lang's E-mail. he will Provide you the Much Needed firewall Insulation Package. Once you Inquire about it, he will send you Pictures and Instruction's of how it is to be placed. I Highly suggest you do this for the Long Haul of your 318.


jlang@traer.net




014189.JPG

015164.JPG

016132.JPG

bracket_2_MA28123325-0001.jpg

142284_2_.jpg
 
   / ATTN: John Deere 318 Owner's, if you want that 318 to last Read This !
  • Thread Starter
#2  
Hello Forum Member's
I have located a source for the Pesky leaking steering cylinder that is common on 318's. The business name is Bailey International and they have a warehouse here in Knoxville, Tennessee. They handle a multi-tude of Hydraulic cylinder's, Hoses, Pump's and coupler's. I surmise if you take your cylinder's to them that they can quickly match them up to one that they have on hand at a Fraction of the cost of what John Deere want's for one. I think they could even help with Lift cylinder's or Hydro Turn Plow cylinder's as well.
Bailey International | Hydraulic Cylinder Manufacturer | Hydraulic Supplier
 
   / ATTN: John Deere 318 Owner's, if you want that 318 to last Read This !
  • Thread Starter
#3  
I have a couple of other Important Service Pointer's that will serve to the Long Haul of our Beloved 318's.First let's Talk about the Belly screen. John Deere Placed a Belly screen on all 318's. it's purpose is to keep all of the Grass and Debris from entering our Onan Blower housing when Mowing Grass or working our Tractor's in a dusty Environment. Many 318 Onwer's Take these screen's off to service the Hydro Pump filter's and Fail to place them back on the Tractor. Mine had been removed when I bought my Tractor used a few year's ago, so I suspect for this reason of it not being there that my engine wore out Much before it should have as it was constantly sucking Dirt, dust and debris right into my engine's Blower housing, which also causes it to enter The Carburetor air box housing. If you have one I would suggest that you keep it in place and also that you keep it free of Grass and debris as they can get plugged up causing the engine to suck it's fresh air intake over the top of the machine's rear end Now being Unfiltered air directly Into the blower housing now Un-filtered, Possibly reducing your Onan engine life. Next Up, Let's discuss the old worn out seat cushion's on our 318's. Due to the age of our Tractor's, The seat's often crack or deteriorate. The solution is to replace the seat but John Deere want's The Moon for a replacement seat for our Tractor's which Procludes most of us from buying them. I found a Good Link that show's a break down of our seats. You can Now replace the outer Vinyl seat cover of your Tractor without the High cost of replacing the entire seat assembly. I have never had any John Deere dealer's in the past tell me of this way to keep the cost down, but now have found a way to replace my seat cover for around $25.00. All you have to do is click on the link below. Oddly this is a John Deere Link but it is not shown on their Internet Part's Browser anywhere ! Once you have found your seat part Number, simply go to the Home Page John Deere Part's Network and type in that Part Number. It will then show you that part and the Projected cost of it. I hope this helps.


https://jdparts.deere.com/partsmkt/document/english/pmac/6083_fb_SeatsCushionsCovers_CCE.htm


https://jdparts.deere.com/servlet/c...maincontroller.SessionStartup?userAction=null
 
   / ATTN: John Deere 318 Owner's, if you want that 318 to last Read This !
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Hello Forum Member's
I would Like to Bring up the subject of The Belly Shield Screen. John Deere Placed a Tin screened style Belly shield on our 318's to filter out the air that comes in above our Mowing Deck. This shield fit's flush to The frame with 10 Small 1/4" Head screws. It has to be removed to service the Hydro-Pump filter. Many Guys Take this Belly shield off to change their Transmission filter and do not Put it back on. That is The case with my 318 it did not come with one when I Bought it Three & a Half Years ago. I also did Not Know Just How Important it was or that I even needed one. It was Brought to my attention by forum Member on another forum. He had been following the Thread about my Restoration and Notice I did Not speak of it or show it in my Full Restoration of my 318 Thread about a Month & a Half ago. He expressed his concern to me that running my Engine without This belly shield was Not a good idea as the Machine can suck Dirt, Dust and Debris into The Blower Housing Thus Placing it right into my Carburetor. After dropping $1475.00 Into my New Re-built Onan P-218 Performer engine I am striving to every thing that I can to get the Most Hours out of it, so I can Express to others Enough, Get that belly shield on your Machine to save the Life of Your Onan engine.

Since I did not have one I Looked it up on The John Deere Parts Network. I about Passed Out when I saw how Proud they were of it at $114.95, so I set out to Locate a Good Used one. I quickly Learned they do not come up often used and when they do they average $50.00-$75.00 for a good one. I Kept Looking and found from a Guy that Lost his 318 to Fire He had some Parts listed for a 318 That had caught fire by an shorted Electrical Issue. He was Kind enough to go out and Take off this Belly shield and responded back to me Telling me that it had been burned and had a hole in the screen Portion of the Shield caused by The Hot dripping Grease and wiring during the fire. His Price was very Modest as he offered it to me $18.00 shipped to my door, so I paid him for it and it arrived yesterday



In Looking it over I could see the hole in the screen Portion that was about the size of Three fingers in Width by 1" wide. I sat that Looking at it, trying to think how I could repair it, When it came to me that this screen looked just Like the screen they use in large air cooled engines being the recoil assembly. So, Now knowing what I Needed I drove Over to my Buddies Lawn Mower Bone yard earlier today. He happened to have one off an engine right by his shop and said that it came off a 16 Horsepower Kohler single cylinder engine. I tried to pay him for it, But we swap back & forth with Favors so a handshake was the Payment.


Once I got home I used my 3-Pound Mason Maul with a short handle to flatten out The piece of screen on my Concrete floor. Once I had it all flat I cut it in half and trimmed off the excess screen that I did not need. I then used my Air Orbital D-A sander with some 40 Grit sand Paper to strip down the Burned screen on both sides. It cleaned up to a nice shinny metal as I finished up with some 120 Grit sand Paper. I then sanded down the Piece of Recoil screen with 120 grit sand Paper and got out a Tube of 3-M Super weather strip adhesive that I often call "Snot" due to its Bright yellow color and it is super Tacky. I smeared the adhesive on the Belly screen then laid the Patch Piece down onto it. It dries pretty fast, so I was able to use a Number 6 Finishing Nail down through The 1/8" screen holes to remove the excess adhesive. It Takes a little time, but once you are done this stuff sets up good in 24 Hours it will never come off the Belly screen again. And so it goes my 318 Now has its correct Belly Screen Guard on it as it is shown during the Process of Repairs to finished product below. If you do not have one and want to Purchase a brand new one here is the Part Number for it, or if Your's has hole's in it I hope my Post here help's Guide you through The repair in these cold winter Month's it is a good time to Repair those hole's in your Belly screen, to Keep that Onan Getting fresh clean air. Regards, Hammerdown


Part Details
Part Number: M84964
Part Price: 114.95 USD
On Hand: 0 Check Other Stores
Description: SHIELD, BOTTOM



001589.JPG


002522.JPG


Here is what the Patch material Recoil screen will look Like, Prior to Pounding it flat to use it for a Patch on the Belly screen
003488.JPG


004445.JPG


006337.JPG


008299.JPG


Now with The Hole in the belly Screen repaired and Painted you can't Even Notice that is has Been repaired and it will filter The Dirt and Debris Perfectly.

016135.JPG


015169.JPG
 
   / ATTN: John Deere 318 Owner's, if you want that 318 to last Read This ! #5  
I installed J. Lang firewall insulation kit on my 318 and had good success with using 3M spray contact adhesive. Spray both surfaces, allow to dry, apply material to firewall, trim insulation as needed. Clean easy install.
 
   / ATTN: John Deere 318 Owner's, if you want that 318 to last Read This !
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I installed J. Lang firewall insulation kit on my 318 and had good success with using 3M spray contact adhesive. Spray both surfaces, allow to dry, apply material to firewall, trim insulation as needed. Clean easy install.

Hello manwith2jd
Good suggestion. I used the same product more or less but what I used is called 3-M super weatherstrip adhesive... AKA "Yellow Snot". It is yellow in color and super Tacky. It cures in about Fifteen minutes and will not dry up or deteriorate over time. I simply smeared some on the Insulation Pad and stuck it to my fire wall. It will hold itself in place one it is Patted down a bit.;) Regards, Hammerdown
 
   / ATTN: John Deere 318 Owner's, if you want that 318 to last Read This !
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Hello All
If you Guy's own an Onan Engine with a Point's and Condensor Ignition system you have to be aware of a Burnt Point's issue. I have replaced Two set's in my P-218 in the past Two Years and I don't mind telling you that I do Not like Paying the Premium Price for these Point set's that seem to Burn up on a Regular Basis Prematurely. The current Manufacture Making these new Generation Onan Point's is Unknown but the quality of them is Far, Far Less than what Onan used to offer in Point's set's. I found a Product that will end all of this Nagging issue. It is called a Point's Saver and is made & Offered by Kirk engines. What it does is replaces your existing Condensor. You Mount the Moduel on the firewall or a good location where Heat and vibration will Not be factor. You Then wire it to your Point's box, eliminate your condensor and Place the other Two wires to ground and a 12-Volt Power feed line. The addition of this $32.00 Moduel will make changing Point's set's a Thing of the past. Mine showed up yesterday so I Plan on get it Installed on my 318 today. Here is a Like to it as well as the Technical Information on it. I hope this Helps

Kirk Engines, Inc. >> Garden Tractor Performance Parts

http://www.kirkengines.com/downloads/TransistorIgnitionAdvantages.pdf
 
   / ATTN: John Deere 318 Owner's, if you want that 318 to last Read This !
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Hello Forum member's
I bet many of you are riding your 318 in a backward stance, do to the flat Leaf spring's being weak. Another issue with the factory 318 seat's is that they do not go back far enough for a Man of Taller stature. I happen to be 6'-4" and always felt cramped up on my steering wheel. John Deere did make a Heavy duty suspension seat for these 318's as well as the 320's, & The 332's but they are very hard to find and very Pricey when you do find one. I decided to change my current worn flat spring seat with a newer style suspension style seat. I found one on Evil-Bay that came off of a John Deere 345. It is a flip forward design that has Two coil springs to support one's weight. I took off my old seat and Placed Black Plastic plug's where it's attachment holes were, then Placed the new seat as far back as I could get the adjustable seat Tracks to go. I drilled the new 5/16" holes for the newer design suspension seat and bolted it down tightly.



I Then Mounted the tractor and quickly noticed that the factory coil springs were not heavy enough to support my weight, so Now that I was committed to using this seat as I drilled my floor pan I had to figure a way to Modify it to work better with my 250 Pound weight. I went to Lowe's and scoured their hardware aisle and found a set of Porch swing coil springs about Twice as Heavy dusty as the original John Deere ones were, and the Package said that they would support 350 Pounds of weight. The Price was right at just $8.00 for the pair so I bought them and headed back to my shop. Once I got home I measured the Original coil springs and they had a Height of 4" so I used my Gas torch to cut the new springs to a Length of 4-1/4" in Length. I decided to Place them to the rear Portion of my seat in line with The Rear seat Track bolts. I Modified a Fender washer to fit into the Bottom coil of the spring to hold it in Place, Then ground the round coil Portion of the spring flat so that it would sit Level on my seat Track which measured 1-3/4" In width and these new Heavy duty springs were 1-1/2" In diameter. I Placed the Modified fender washer then used the seat Track 5/16" Nut to tighten the springs down good. Once they were tight, I Moved the seat back down into it's normal seating Position and noticed that the new heavy duty springs straddled the rear seat bolt's nicely. By adding an additional 1/4" in Length to Them when I cut them compared to the original spring height it allowed the rear heavy duty springs to come in contact with the seat Pan first when sitting on the Tractor.


I sat back into the seat once I had the new Heavy duty springs in place, and now was sitting Level in the seat. With The new suspension seat being adjustable now by simply sliding the adjustment lever in the front of the seat I could put it far enough away from my steering wheel to give me some extra Breathing room. I Know that this seat is not quit as Rugged as the Original Heavy duty suspension seat that they offered on these 318's but it will certainly fill my needs and I only have $57.00 total in this whole Project Including the new heavy duty springs that I Installed. Here is how the seat turned out and I am very happy with it now that I am Not Leaning Back while Operating my Tractor. It also sit's Higher than the Original seat did being about 5" Higher, so you cane see much better around the entire Tractor now while Operating it.





001598.JPG



002530.JPG


003494.JPG
 
   / ATTN: John Deere 318 Owner's, if you want that 318 to last Read This !
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Hello All
With some recent warm Temperatures here in East Tennessee, I decided to turn our Vegteable Garden over. Late last fall we placed all of our Leaves in it and I like to Turn it twice before we plant our Garden. That said, I have a Model 30 tiller for my 318 with the Optional 12" tine extension making it a full 42" Cut. It Operates off a Belly Pump mounted with quick attach Pin's on my frame and uses the same belt to Operate the Pump that run's my 48" Mowing Deck. I do Not have a Three Point Hitch on my 318 as John Deere offered the bracket's to hook this tiller right up to your existing rock shaft. This tiller is an Animal as after i made just Three Passes with it in our Garden it had the dirt tilled down to about 10". I will have to Till it one more time before we plant in a Month or so but it will Take no time at all now that I have hit it once. Here is my 318 with the tiller mounted on it as I finished up in our Garden with it.






005398.JPG


006343.JPG


007338.JPG
 
   / ATTN: John Deere 318 Owner's, if you want that 318 to last Read This ! #10  
Nice tractor you have! We have the same one at the college I work at. They are an animal!
 
 
Top