500 hr service ?

oscer · Oct 8, 2012

Hi fellas, I have a JD 4110 and I have 515 hrs. on it, so I was reading the manual and going down the check list of things to do when I came to the last 2 check fuel injectors and check the valve clearance ( see dealer ). My question is do you all haul your tractor off to the dealer every 500 hrs when everything seems to working just fine or can I check the injectors and valve clearance myself ? Is it really necessary to do this ? I also was wondering how many folks change the Tranny fluid every 200 hrs. Thanks oscer

JDgreen227 · Oct 13, 2012

oscer said:
Hi fellas, I have a JD 4110 and I have 515 hrs. on it, so I was reading the manual and going down the check list of things to do when I came to the last 2 check fuel injectors and check the valve clearance ( see dealer ). My question is do you all haul your tractor off to the dealer every 500 hrs when everything seems to working just fine or can I check the injectors and valve clearance myself ? Is it really necessary to do this ? I also was wondering how many folks change the Tranny fluid every 200 hrs. Thanks oscer

My 2003 4210 has never seen a dealership for service, after the initial 50 hour transmission fluid and filter change I did the next one at 500 hours, planning to do the third one next spring at about 1020 hours. I may be a minority here but I think changing the transmission fluid and filters at every 200 hours is simply overkill unless you are using your tractor in an extreme situation like constant mud and dirt. At 990 total operating hours and 490 since the last change the hydro fluid in mine still looks excellent. As for the injectors and valve clearance...never had mine taken to the dealer for that and it still runs fine. Anybody else want to advise on that issue?

JD755 · Oct 13, 2012

I do my own maintenance and follow the factory recommendations. But a couple years ago I was talking with the local JD service manager and asked him about checking the valve clearance and the injectors on my 755 since I had about 600 hours on it then. He told me not to bother as long as the engine was performing correctly. It was, so I did not.

oscer · Oct 18, 2012

Thanks for the replies fellas, I just changed the tranny fluid at 515 hrs. and it looked clean but that probably isn't the whole story. I agree that every 200 hrs may be overkill. I changed mine at 50 hrs and found a good bit of metal filings in the suction screen, however as I expected I found very few at 515 hrs. I also changed the front axle oil the other day and it looked exactly like the oil that I put in. My engine seems to be running fine so I'm going to let her be. I'll probably do as you did J D green and do it all over again at 1000 hrs. This has been an excellent machine so far I hope it keeps on going this way.

JDgreen227 · Oct 18, 2012

oscer said:
Thanks for the replies fellas, I just changed the tranny fluid at 515 hrs. and it looked clean but that probably isn't the whole story. I agree that every 200 hrs may be overkill. I changed mine at 50 hrs and found a good bit of metal filings in the suction screen, however as I expected I found very few at 515 hrs. I also changed the front axle oil the other day and it looked exactly like the oil that I put in. My engine seems to be running fine so I'm going to let her be. I'll probably do as you did J D green and do it all over again at 1000 hrs. This has been an excellent machine so far I hope it keeps on going this way.

Same here, I found a lot of crud and metal on my JD suction screen at the 50 hour change...which is why they recommend doing it at that mark.

megaboz · Oct 18, 2012

Looking or smelling the hydraulic fluid is not going to give you any indication if it is good/bad.

200 hours is probably overkill if it the hours are put on the machine quickly, but it also depends on how long it is in there and the conditions around the tractor. 200 hours every 5 years is not overkill for example, but I would almost call that neglect unless you have it analyzed.

Some hydraulic fluids aren't as good as others when moisture isn't present and most hydraulic fluids will break down considerably when there is moisture in the fluid.