Grading 2555 Died & Won't Start

[SethWilliams]

After running my 2555
for several hours this afternoon, she suddenly died on me. I was running a box blade down my driveway and it cut off. I popped the hood and checked all connections to no avail. I did, however, see a puff of smoke coming from what I now know is the starter. The starter was also very hot, almost too hot to even touch.

I called my dealer and their field tech said it sounded like a starter as well. They are sending out a tech in the morning to diagnose it and will have to order a starter if that is the problem. If I try to start the tractor now, all it does is click once.

This is the first time I have used the dealer's service for anything, as my tractor only has 99.1 hours. Time to find out how good they are!

Attached are before and after photos of 4 passes with my box blade. The grass had gotten a bit grown up! It looks much better now.

 

[mikeman1]

that seems odd the starter would cause it to die like that. i guess it was shorting out for some time to cause the problem. Please let us know what the result is. good luck with the repair. Hopefully will be doing the 50 hour service on mine this weekend.

 

[RNeumann]

that seems odd the starter would cause it to die like that. i guess it was shorting out for some time to cause the problem. Please let us know what the result is. good luck with the repair. Hopefully will be doing the 50 hour service on mine this weekend.

Yep they usually die suddenly when something plugs the fuel outlet of the fuel tank. Seeing the starter smoke pretty much rules that one out. I had a battery shift and short which killed my truck. I replaced the battery and it fired right up. If the starter and or solenoid shorted I hope a battery is all that is needed. Keep us posted!!!

 

[SethWilliams]

Well, the tech came out and looked today and it doesn't look good. He jumped the tractor and it started for about 3 seconds and shut off. He pulled the starter off and hooked it up to the jumper cables and tripped it, and the starter ran fine. He checked the oil and said I actually had too much, which is odd because I put the correct amount in according to the manual.

He then tried to turn the flywheel and said it was really difficult to turn. He got a bigger bar and said the same thing. He thinks it may be a bearing issue...

I have to call Monday morning and get the dealer to come pick it up and take it to the shop. I am going to ask for a loaner tractor because their shop is backed up two weeks, and who knows how long it will be in their shop for. The tech said if they have to tear the engine apart (which they probably will) that this is the first time that they will have had to do that on a mahindra engine. I'm just glad this is all covered under warranty!!

 

[RNeumann]

That's both good and bad.....several years Mahindra has had this motor out and your dealer hasn't had to take one down yet....good news for us. Hearing you and your machine will be the dealer's first is not so good for you.
Hopefully the tractor wasn't level when he checked the oil. I doubt overfilling the oil is covered under warranty.

 

[DirtHauler]

Wow! too bad, but there's bad news and good. Bad.....it's probably a spun bearing and Mahindra doesn't rebuild engines under warranty. Good news......Mahindra will ship to your dealer a complete new engine, I know this because the local dealer just went thru this same thing. And as of now I have 2,143.2 hrs. on mine and have not had any major issues with the engine...........yet (knocking on wood), other things, well that's a whole other subject.

 

[tkevan]

Wow! too bad, but there's bad news and good. Bad.....it's probably a spun bearing and Mahindra doesn't rebuild engines under warranty. Good news......Mahindra will ship to your dealer a complete new engine, I know this because the local dealer just went thru this same thing. And as of now I have 2,143.2 hrs. on mine and have not had any major issues with the engine...........yet (knocking on wood), other things, well that's a whole other subject.

You have over 2000 hours on a 2015???????

 

[SethWilliams]

That's both good and bad.....several years Mahindra has had this motor out and your dealer hasn't had to take one down yet....good news for us. Hearing you and your machine will be the dealer's first is not so good for you.
Hopefully the tractor wasn't level when he checked the oil. I doubt overfilling the oil is covered under warranty.

It was on a slight incline when he checked it. He did say the oil was really clean so I should be covered there.

 

[CincyFlyer]

... He checked the oil and said I actually had too much, which is odd because I put the correct amount in according to the manual. ...

I put in oil and begin to check the stick after I get about 3/4 of what the factory recommends, then I fill it just to full, start and run the engine, let it sit, and top it off. I've never found an engine that wasn't at least overfilled if you added exactly the amount that the factory recommends.
As implied by others, you can cause grave engine damage with too much oil, though it's unlikely if you only put in the factory recommended amount.

 

[SethWilliams]

I put in oil and begin to check the stick after I get about 3/4 of what the factory recommends, then I fill it just to full, start and run the engine, let it sit, and top it off. I've never found an engine that wasn't at least overfilled if you added exactly the amount that the factory recommends.
As implied by others, you can cause grave engine damage with too much oil, though it's unlikely if you only put in the factory recommended amount.

Good idea. I'm fairly new to doing my own maintenance so I will definitely take that advice. The field tech didn't act like it was that overfilled and that it wasn't a big deal. I will let you guys know what the dealer says tomorrow!