OP
tpoole12
New member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2010
- Messages
- 24
- Location
- Maryville, Tn.
- Tractor
- Massey Ferguson 1643, Massey Ferguson 245
Hello Everyone
Thought I would pull this thread out of the cellar and blow the dust off......:laughing:
Currently my 1643 is at the dealer where it has been since March 3rd. Since it's prior return home from it's earlier trips to the dealer I worked the heck out of it every chance I got. The clutch continued to perform as it had since it was new. My last project was yard boxing in the pond area gathering enough red clay to install a culvert in the new road to the feed area. During that job the clutch started a new habit. I would back into the pond bed, shift the power shuttle to forward, let out the clutch and it would set there momentarily then start foward slowly then engage fully. Needless to say I was sure that this was not proper operation. I immediatly returned the 1643 to the dealer. The tractor was split...
... and low a behold they found the clutch was all to heck. The service tech told me that it was only catching on the out side and they thought the clutch was cupped. Parts had to be ordered. New clutch was to be installed. Didn't hear anything for a week. Afterward I happened to be in the area and stopped by to check on the progress. He said it was ready last week but they had held a big auction the weekend before and the service tech told me that the tractor was back together but he had not had time with the auction prep and now loading the auction stuff out to check it over. I asked about the steering and he said after they fixed the clutch it worked great. We proceeded out back to find it and after a brief search it was located. I hoped in and fired that puppy up. I raised the loader tried to turn the steering, it turned about a turn left and bound up. I turned it about a turn and a half to the right and it bound up with him standing there. He said he didn't understand. It worked great when they finiished the clutch. He got paged to the phone. I told him I'd check ou the clutch. Ilet the the clutch out and it felt like it did when the tractor was new. It was somewhat functional but if you started to try to ease up on something it would start to shake just like before but at least it wouldn't slip like it did in the pond. I shut it off, went in the shop where I was told that they would get right on that steering that it wasn't supposed to act like that.
I remembered that someone had mentioned in this thread that a dealer had told them that it was designed that way so I asked my salesman to give me some keys. I went to the lot. They had a 1635, two 1643 and a 1648 tha was all powershuttles with loaders. None had a cab like mine but I didn't think that should matter. I tried all of them with the loaders raised. The thirty five was worse than mine, one 1643 was alot better than mine the other was about the same. The 1648 performed flawlessly. I had the loader up and turned the steering full range left and right. I went in and told them my experiment. I was told by the service tech and area agco rep that they should all work like the 1648 did. (Note: The area rep used to work for this dealer and left agco and returned to the dealer because he was tired of being on the road.) That was last Monday. He sent emails to agco asking for help. They have since experimented and measured pressures and want him to try to adjust it. He said it requires disassembly and re assembly everytime you tweak it. I and he both think that a new pump would be cheaper for all in the long run. I finally had all I could take and called agco. I had recieved a customer satifaction survey in the mail a couple of months ago. I had refrained from sending it back till we worked thru this problem. I have done business for many years with this dealer. I know everyones name, their past, most of their kids. I bought my 245 from them and they always have been fair. I've even borrowed tools when I did an inframe rebuild on the 245 at 3600 hrs. I shared all this with the poor guy at agco that answered the phone he assured me that they will help the dealer. I may not be an agco service tech but I now think the problem goes deaper. Instead of a clutch being "cupped" I think we have a bigger problem with castings and alignment issues. I also complained that I had inquired about trading this thing but I keep being told that they are looking for a 1643 or 48 or 52 CL powershuttle. The man on the phone from agco told me I could now go online and build me a tractor and get a quote... I did.... Specked a 1652 CL Dyna Op Powershuttle. Stay tuned......
tpoole12
Thought I would pull this thread out of the cellar and blow the dust off......:laughing:
Currently my 1643 is at the dealer where it has been since March 3rd. Since it's prior return home from it's earlier trips to the dealer I worked the heck out of it every chance I got. The clutch continued to perform as it had since it was new. My last project was yard boxing in the pond area gathering enough red clay to install a culvert in the new road to the feed area. During that job the clutch started a new habit. I would back into the pond bed, shift the power shuttle to forward, let out the clutch and it would set there momentarily then start foward slowly then engage fully. Needless to say I was sure that this was not proper operation. I immediatly returned the 1643 to the dealer. The tractor was split...
... and low a behold they found the clutch was all to heck. The service tech told me that it was only catching on the out side and they thought the clutch was cupped. Parts had to be ordered. New clutch was to be installed. Didn't hear anything for a week. Afterward I happened to be in the area and stopped by to check on the progress. He said it was ready last week but they had held a big auction the weekend before and the service tech told me that the tractor was back together but he had not had time with the auction prep and now loading the auction stuff out to check it over. I asked about the steering and he said after they fixed the clutch it worked great. We proceeded out back to find it and after a brief search it was located. I hoped in and fired that puppy up. I raised the loader tried to turn the steering, it turned about a turn left and bound up. I turned it about a turn and a half to the right and it bound up with him standing there. He said he didn't understand. It worked great when they finiished the clutch. He got paged to the phone. I told him I'd check ou the clutch. Ilet the the clutch out and it felt like it did when the tractor was new. It was somewhat functional but if you started to try to ease up on something it would start to shake just like before but at least it wouldn't slip like it did in the pond. I shut it off, went in the shop where I was told that they would get right on that steering that it wasn't supposed to act like that.I remembered that someone had mentioned in this thread that a dealer had told them that it was designed that way so I asked my salesman to give me some keys. I went to the lot. They had a 1635, two 1643 and a 1648 tha was all powershuttles with loaders. None had a cab like mine but I didn't think that should matter. I tried all of them with the loaders raised. The thirty five was worse than mine, one 1643 was alot better than mine the other was about the same. The 1648 performed flawlessly. I had the loader up and turned the steering full range left and right. I went in and told them my experiment. I was told by the service tech and area agco rep that they should all work like the 1648 did. (Note: The area rep used to work for this dealer and left agco and returned to the dealer because he was tired of being on the road.) That was last Monday. He sent emails to agco asking for help. They have since experimented and measured pressures and want him to try to adjust it. He said it requires disassembly and re assembly everytime you tweak it. I and he both think that a new pump would be cheaper for all in the long run. I finally had all I could take and called agco. I had recieved a customer satifaction survey in the mail a couple of months ago. I had refrained from sending it back till we worked thru this problem. I have done business for many years with this dealer. I know everyones name, their past, most of their kids. I bought my 245 from them and they always have been fair. I've even borrowed tools when I did an inframe rebuild on the 245 at 3600 hrs. I shared all this with the poor guy at agco that answered the phone he assured me that they will help the dealer. I may not be an agco service tech but I now think the problem goes deaper. Instead of a clutch being "cupped" I think we have a bigger problem with castings and alignment issues. I also complained that I had inquired about trading this thing but I keep being told that they are looking for a 1643 or 48 or 52 CL powershuttle. The man on the phone from agco told me I could now go online and build me a tractor and get a quote... I did.... Specked a 1652 CL Dyna Op Powershuttle. Stay tuned......
tpoole12