John Deere 4400 hydro bogs down to stall when moving fwd or reverse

[mikeober]

Hello! I have a 2001 John Deere 4400 hst. Engine sounds great, fluid is at the right levels. When I run it, plenty of power to 430 FEL and 48 backhoe. On occasion, after I step off it for a couple of minutes, I will step on the forward pedal and it will move 3-5 feet but immediately bog down to a stall. Same thing in reverse. When in this state, still plenty of power to FEL and backhoe and stabilizers. Some searches have pointed to a shaft around the brakes which I have sprayed and lubricated but this condition still happens randomly.

Any other ideas? Should I be trying to manually move the shaft or tap it a few times? This is driving me nuts and I need the machine running well with all this snow!

 

[GManBart]

Does the manual have a trouble shooting section for the tranny? Have you checked the fluid level, and how old is the fluid and HST filter?

 

[mikeober]

Fluid is good. Filter is on my list of next steps to try.

 

[GManBart]

Fluid is good. Filter is on my list of next steps to try.

It's possible the tranny has a screen as well...maybe not a likely culprit, but worth checking.

 

[pat32rf]

Screen is in the rear where the return line leaves the 3rd member. Is there any chance you are just in too high a range? Does the same thing happen in low range? My 4300 is very sensitive until it warms up at 20 below

 

[Professor Marvel]

Are you running the RPMs fast enough, brake on? Just asking I have made silly mistakes myself.

 

[mikeober]

I'm back. So this issue has continued on again off again for a while. After I changed all 5+ gallons of the fluid, the screen, the filter, adjusted linkages, sprayed the shaft around the brakes, I had a good run through the last part of the 2015 winter here outside of Boston and into the summer. Not many hours on the machine since. For the first time, I realized today that even in neutral, when the condition exists, the machine still bogs down when depressing fwd or reverse. Short of having the dealer come in to haul it out for a look, I am at a loss on next steps other than to just keep trying and hope to get lucky again. Any ideas out there?

 

[mikeober]

I'm back. So this issue has continued on again off again for a while. After I changed all 5+ gallons of the fluid, the screen, the filter, adjusted linkages, sprayed the shaft around the brakes, I had a good run through the last part of the 2015 winter here outside of Boston and into the summer. Not many hours on the machine since. For the first time, I realized today that even in neutral, when the condition exists, the machine still bogs down when depressing fwd or reverse. Short of having the dealer come in to haul it out for a look, I am at a loss on next steps other than to just keep trying and hope to get lucky again. Any ideas out there?

Yea... all I'll say is make sure your seat is making full contact with the seat safety switch... and that you're backhoe seat is not getting in the way, ultimately causing this 'random condition'. All. This. Time. That is all.

 

[Mark from Maine]

Yea... all I'll say is make sure your seat is making full contact with the seat safety switch... and that you're backhoe seat is not getting in the way, ultimately causing this 'random condition'. All. This. Time. That is all.

My backhoe seat prevented my tractor seat from making full contact with the safety switch on my 4200. Took me forever to figure out this simple problem. I am kinda a lightweight at 140 pounds and sometimes the tractor seat will bounce up while rolling on uneven ground and the safety switch will momentarily activate. I have considered cutting the seat springs to make them a little shorter and less springy.

 

[jkrow]

I have never posted to a message board before and am not sure if this thread is still active. I have been having the same problems as Mikeober on a (mechanical) hydrostatic drive John Deere 4200 4x4 (1999 w/1200hrs). Reading Mikeober’s posts made me realize the problem was electrical when engine would stall even in neutral if pedals were depressed . I also noticed that it would stall as soon as the PTO lever moved enough to light the dashboard icon but before fully engaging the PTO. All the stall conditions occurred without load and as soon as any pedals or levers were moved. It was like turning off the key but engine would come right back when you let off pedal. My tractor would work fine for times and act up without warning over the past year or so. This time it would stall immediately when directional pedals or PTO lever was moved (lucky it was in the garage). I noticed the V1 Diode block was in the circuit with the K4 engine run relay and the Y2 fuel shut off relay. I pulled it to check it (center top in relay panel). Checked ok but after putting it back in, everything worked! Time will tell but sure looks like bad connection on block or possibly wiring in back of block. Called dealer and new diode block is only $20. Hope this helps someone else who may have this problem as I have seen it on many other forums and none of the replies to this problem helped my situation. Reading these threads helped me eliminate it being a mechanical issue and narrow it down to electrical. Thanks to all.