hour meter

[pasturesnew]

Hi all,

My 254T has now done 65 hours of hard work, without any sign of a leak let alone any problems. Except it hasn't really! I've just noticed that the hourmeter is over-reading - a few carefully timed trials show that it is clocking one hour about every 30 minutes!

The rev-counter seems OK (it matches tach readings), so I suppose it is a problem with the circuit in the integrated instrument unit.

Anyone else notice this problem? Can it be fixed without changing the integrated unit?

Not a big deal, I know, but it would be nice to have more accurate records for service intervals.

many thanks

 

[greg_g]

I was corresponding with someone else recently about hour meter errors. His was a component of an instrument cluster too, the problem being that the hour meter arbitrarily started counting whenever the key was in the ON position - regardless of whether or not the engine was actually running.

Most of the electrical (non-vibration type) gauges operate with a 2nd "trigger" input. That is, they first need 12v from the battery to work in the first place. But to actually count time, they need input from something that only works when the engine is running. This could be oil pressure, charging voltage, water temperature, or even RPMs.

Without a schematic of the actual cluster, it's hard to say what your 2nd input trigger might be. But at any rate, that's where I'd suspect the problem lies. If it's not an actual fault in a remote sending unit, then there's little choice but to suspect the cluster itself

//greg//

 

[JINMA224XR]

<font color="blue"> My 254T has now done 65 hours of hard work, without any sign of a leak let alone any problems. Except it hasn't really! I've just noticed that the hourmeter is over-reading - a few carefully timed trials show that it is clocking one hour about every 30 minutes!
</font>

Hey Ashley,

Glad to hear that your new tractor is doing well.

I have heard others complaining of the same problem with the hour meter. I have not checked mine to see if it is reading accurately or not, but I will make a note to check it soon.

I finally got my garage/shop building up and got electricity to it last weekend and this weekend, I put the lights up, and today, I put up one 12' X 12" shelf and tomorrow I plan on putting in the other 12' X 12" shelf. I used the new 48" All season Shop Lights and so far, I am pleased with the lighting. I used the 48" T12, 40Watt bulbs. The shop lights, I got at WalMarts for $10 a piece and the T12 bulbs were $4, for a twin pack.

Glad to hear from you Ashley and that your tractor is doing well.

Get your tractors running &
Have a nice day,
Joe /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[pasturesnew]

Thanks Greg,

Nice to hear from you - hope all is going well.

I'll telephone the dealer in UK on Monday and see what he has to say about it. Most of the other problems I have read about have been the opposite - i.e. meter recording fewer hours than actual use. At least my problem is 'fail safe' I suppose!

 

[pasturesnew]

Hi Joe,

Good to hear from you, too! Hope the hurricane didn't affect you too badly - at least it doesn't seem to have stopped you getting on nicely with that building.

Despite a few heavy thunderstorms, it is still very dry here in SW France (Although we don't yet have water rationing, unlike about half the country). Hay yields about 30 percent down and maize stunted and not flowering properly. But at least the ground is firm enough for brushcutting the scrub on the steep slopes - and the Jinma managing fine (hence the '60' hours). Planning another fluids change and flush next week, although it is probably premature - better safe than sorry, eh?

Take good care!

 

[greg_g]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Planning another fluids change and flush next week, although it is probably premature - better safe than sorry, eh?)</font>

Premature? Not at all. Assuming you did the drain/flush/fill when new, then a 50 hour change would be the equivalent of changing the "break-in" fluids. After that, every 100 hours should suffice for normal usage.

If you still have the original fluids, a 50 hour change/flush/fill should be considered mandatory. I think I'd do it again at 100 hours, before switching to the 100 hour interval

Slow rotation of the hour counter can be attributed to either an intermittent 12v supply (1st trigger), a "2nd trigger" problem (see previous), or gear slippage (usually due to the cheap plastic teeth).

//greg//

 

[pasturesnew]

Good evening Greg,

I flushed and changed the shipping oils and filters immediately after assembly. Must say that Jinma seems to have improved in this area - the shipping oils actually looked pretty good and there was virtually no sludge, unlike some of the horror stories I've read.

On the assumption that running-in is supposed to produce to some wear, I decided to get the particles out and did another flush and full fluids/filter change at 20 hours on the meter. I was planning the next one at 50 hours work, but now suspect that equates to about 80 - 100 hours on the meter. However, I'm at a convenient point for a break so will probably go ahead with a service in the next day or two. After all, the cost of oils and filters is trivial compared to premature engine and transmission overhauls, eh?

best regards

 

[ToolManRick]

I too have a discrepency with my hour meter (individual gauges), but a little different than yours. My hour meter reads accruately, but I can turn off the "ignition" switch while the engine is running and stop it, thus shortening the hours actually used. Seems to me the hour meter should be wired directly to the altenator through the oil pressure switch and giving an actual engine run time, but hey I want to know how much time I'm running and keep the switch in the charge position.

 

[Soundguy]

I'd think it would be more preferable to have on time also tied to rpm. That is.. hours at X rpm. A tractor running 2 hrs at 1000 rpm has done less 'work' than a tractor run 2 hrs at 1600 rpm.. etc.

Soundguy

 

[pasturesnew]

Hi all,

Telephoned the dealer today. Apparently, on my integrated cluster, the hourmeter is linked to the tachometer and both are signalled by a sensor on the flywheel. Probable cause of over-reading is a defective sensor (in which case the tachometer probably would also be over-reading) or a circuit problem in the integrated cluster.

It seemed churlish to request new items under warranty, so I'll leave it be.

Thanks for all your suggestions!