4320 Blowing blue smoke and way down on power.

bigpete · Aug 5, 2005

...didn't know that, Mike. Thanks /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Cheyenne · Aug 5, 2005

My experience with dealer/manufacturer to customer disagreements/disputes differs only slightly than your suggested letter. I would recommend having the letter originate from your attorney, with you as his client. Expensive---not really, generally only the cost of the letter. And cheaper still if you compose it for him.

bigpete · Aug 5, 2005

It's just my opinion, but in this case the attorney would come next after the dealer and manufacturer do not acknowledge and accept the written request for replacement within the 10 days, as stipulated. Going right to the attorney may throw up a wall that might be harder to take down. If JD says "no new machine...," all bets are off. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

bigpete · Aug 5, 2005

Oh, yeah...I wouldn't alow that tractor to be returned to my property for any reason--even if they say it is fixed. The ballgame changes when the machine is in your posession.

jeffinsgf · Aug 5, 2005

( That is on LG Equipment only...)

Uh, don't know about your dealership, but at mine CUT's are L&G. Maybe that does not apply to the "Promise", but I have to deal with the L&G Service Center.

EDIT: Back on topic, I think Pete's letter is perfect, and I agree that I would not let that tractor back on my property under any circumstances.

KennedyDiesel · Aug 7, 2005

( I left a message for the owner of the dealership asking him to call me in the morning about a 4720 that has been sitting on his lot for months to take back the 4320 in trade, This hole thing is getting out of control and John Deere is still saying there is nothing they can do!!! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Jim )

Did the owner call back?

I think it is time to pay him a visit in person...

RRacing · Aug 7, 2005

Yes He did call back and asked for an extra week to fix the tractor(JD tech wants them to re clock the injectors) I was up there almost all day saturday giving them what fors about the tractor. There mechanic is still out with a messed up back but came in on friday to work on the tractor. I have a meeting with my lawyer monday morning about the tractor. I also printed out the letter previously posted and gave it to them on saturday( with my info of course) but they looked at it as if it were written in German, LOL. I also have a 2210 deal ( Loader cx200, 54" mower , 72" landscape rake) on hold from them until this is all figured out.The dealer says if JD gives them a RA # they would give me the 4720, but JD wants them to eat the 4320 according to the dealer and repair it.

Thank you for all of your help /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Jim

bigpete · Aug 8, 2005

Good steps. Hope the dealer finds a way to take care of it without you having to whip out the attorney. If it gets to that, I'd be curious to see how the attorney pursues this one.

Good luck!

RRacing · Aug 9, 2005

The dealer is checking with the local REP to see if the tractor can be exchanged, They reclocked the injectors and replaced 1 of the injectors today. But I didn't get a phone call so I'm assuming that didn't help. The dealer did tell me that this motor has been used in the skid steers for years and when they get 300 + hours they are use to seeing this kind of problems in this engines /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gifBut they also said that the higher horse versions are not having any or very few issues , Its the detuned versions in the smaller 1's . They also said this is one of the first ones that had this problem from the start.I'll keep you posted.

Thank you.
Jim

tillboy2001 · Aug 10, 2005

I wasn't going to mention anything because your problem seems to be enough different than our old problem that it wouldn't be helpful for me to mention it. Anyway, our problem was similar to yours in that our 4120 was blowing heavy WHITE smoke (not blue), but right after startup...not after running for awhile. The mechanic said the John Deere engineers told him they were aware of this problem and they recommended replacing the coolant temp sensor. Sure enough, after he replaced that the problem was solved. What happened with ours was this. We bought it last winter. Ran fine all winter. Once it warmed up in late spring, many times after startup, the tractor would start running rough (and much quieter) and blow white smoke...power was drastically reduced. It you rev the engine it would blow heavy smoke. Most of the time letting it idle for 5 minutes or so would clear the trouble. Once it was warmed up, the problem was gone. I also found that if I noticed the muted engine noise (the classic diesel pinging sound was very muted) and white smoke, I'd shut it off immediately...then restart. After restarting the trouble was gone. Now that it's fixed, I have the normal 1 or 2 seconds of rough idle, a puff of black smoke and engine rev on startup...all normal and great.

I hope they aren't serious about these engines having problems like this on a regular basis. Ours only has 110 hours. I did notice the same engine on JD's web site is rated at a higher horsepower than what we have in the 4x20 series tractors. They must really be 'detuning' them quite a bit. Wouldn't it be nice to unleash the real power of these beasts? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hope they get your tractor fixed soon.

EDIT: I just noticed on the very first page of your posts that you said there WAS white smoke. You really should have them try the coolant temp sensor. It worked for me. As crazy as it may sound...ask them to give it a shot. My dealer is Bowen Farm Supply in Gardnersville, KY if your dealer wants to call them and ask the service guys about my issue and the resolution. Mechanic is Nick. This is a rural dealer with lots of larger farm equipment and lots of experience. I've been very happy with their service dept.