Update for Ron and anyone following this thread -
I got the tractor back and decided to take a look at it myself, the first thing I noticed was that the hydraulic fluid was not full, not a good sign so I decided to drain it and check the seals myself. I ordered a piston rebuild kit from Affordable Tractor ( the repair shop had this also, as well as a diagram of the piston I printed for them) and all of the seals were still in the bag when I got it back from the repair shop. I pulled the cylinder and found that the piston ring was disintegrated and the nylon seals on either side of the ring were broken in numerous pieces, I replaced these rings and had the tractor back together and working in less than two hours. Now the Local Farm-AG John Deere dealer's shop spent 6 hours on it, charged me $270 ($70 of which was for fluid) and could not find a problem.
Thanks to RonMar for the help in this forum and to Affordable Tractor (they walked me thru the dis-assembly over the phone last week). Tractor is working much better and got a workout this past weekend. I have included some steps and pictures for anyone with this same problem, I am no mechanic (I fix computers for a living) so the names may be wrong, but you will get the general idea. I still have a issue where the 3PH will only lift when the engine is rev'd up, but I will search that out on the forums to see if its normal.
Steps to rebuild the hydraulic piston -
1. Drain Fluid
2. Remove Gear Shifter Cover and Arms (you will need to do this to get the cylinder out, its in the way). (See Pic)
3. Pull out the cylinder. (See Pic)
4. Remove the piston from inside the cylinder, on mine it slid right out, the rings were bad, but if the rings have a good seal you will need to tap it on something while holding the cylinder upside down to get it to come out enough to get a grip on it.
5. Replace the ring and nylon washers (See Pic)
6. There is a arm that goes into the cone side of the piston which faces the rear of the tractor) this will drop down when you pull the cylinder out. You will need to pull the plate off the back of the tractor where the 3PH top arm connects and when you put the cylinder back in reach in and put the arm up into the cylinder cone.
7. Replace the 3PH plate, the cylinder and the Shifter and cover. Make sure the shifters line up with the linkage arms. This was not too difficult but took my several tries to line them up as well as the gasket. I had to put the cover on and get the tractor in Neutral in order to line up the shifter with the linkage arms, there are three arms, one for High and Low, and the other two are for Reverse and first gear, the other for second and third gear. You can see them in the picture.
I hope this helps anyone with the same issue I was having. It was much easier to do than I thought. I wish that I would have tried it myself first and saved the $277 that the John Deere dealer charged me to look at it and not find anything wrong.
I got the tractor back and decided to take a look at it myself, the first thing I noticed was that the hydraulic fluid was not full, not a good sign so I decided to drain it and check the seals myself. I ordered a piston rebuild kit from Affordable Tractor ( the repair shop had this also, as well as a diagram of the piston I printed for them) and all of the seals were still in the bag when I got it back from the repair shop. I pulled the cylinder and found that the piston ring was disintegrated and the nylon seals on either side of the ring were broken in numerous pieces, I replaced these rings and had the tractor back together and working in less than two hours. Now the Local Farm-AG John Deere dealer's shop spent 6 hours on it, charged me $270 ($70 of which was for fluid) and could not find a problem.
Thanks to RonMar for the help in this forum and to Affordable Tractor (they walked me thru the dis-assembly over the phone last week). Tractor is working much better and got a workout this past weekend. I have included some steps and pictures for anyone with this same problem, I am no mechanic (I fix computers for a living) so the names may be wrong, but you will get the general idea. I still have a issue where the 3PH will only lift when the engine is rev'd up, but I will search that out on the forums to see if its normal.
Steps to rebuild the hydraulic piston -
1. Drain Fluid
2. Remove Gear Shifter Cover and Arms (you will need to do this to get the cylinder out, its in the way). (See Pic)
3. Pull out the cylinder. (See Pic)
4. Remove the piston from inside the cylinder, on mine it slid right out, the rings were bad, but if the rings have a good seal you will need to tap it on something while holding the cylinder upside down to get it to come out enough to get a grip on it.
5. Replace the ring and nylon washers (See Pic)
6. There is a arm that goes into the cone side of the piston which faces the rear of the tractor) this will drop down when you pull the cylinder out. You will need to pull the plate off the back of the tractor where the 3PH top arm connects and when you put the cylinder back in reach in and put the arm up into the cylinder cone.
7. Replace the 3PH plate, the cylinder and the Shifter and cover. Make sure the shifters line up with the linkage arms. This was not too difficult but took my several tries to line them up as well as the gasket. I had to put the cover on and get the tractor in Neutral in order to line up the shifter with the linkage arms, there are three arms, one for High and Low, and the other two are for Reverse and first gear, the other for second and third gear. You can see them in the picture.
I hope this helps anyone with the same issue I was having. It was much easier to do than I thought. I wish that I would have tried it myself first and saved the $277 that the John Deere dealer charged me to look at it and not find anything wrong.
