How much oil usage to be expected

coloradotrout · Sep 29, 2005

I have a 4100 that seems to be using/burning more oil than is considered "ok". That begs the question -- what is "ok"? The capacity is 64oz or 2 qts. The change interval is 200 hours.

If it's using 1/2 qt in 200 hours is that OK?
1/2 qt in 100 hours?
1/2 qt in 50 hours?
1/2 qt in 20 hours?

When should I be concerned?

jcmseven · Sep 29, 2005

CT,

I think for me to offer a moderately good opinion on this, as others (I am NOT a John Deere mechanic) I would need to know how many hours are on the machine, what type work you do with it, how long does it run generally when you are using it, and do you vary RPM a lot? Diesels, even Yanmars, will burn some oil when new (this would be about 100-200 hours in most cases) then they should slow down. My 595, which I sold with 150 or so hours on it, used about 1/2 quart over the first 30 hours, then over the next fifty. It then used virtually none for the rest of the time I had it. I would say 1/2-1 quart every 75-100 hours is not unusual, but it could be more if the engine is new, or certain usage habits exist.

John M

coloradotrout · Sep 30, 2005

Whack! can't believe I did not say that!

1088 hours.

It's a year 2000, probably bought early 2001 used by a rental firm. I bought it at 1079 hours. I'm now logging oil and other info.

It starts up fine. Seems to run smooth. There is a light blue haze ~ I wouldn't say smoke.

A farmer brother-in-law said he had a JD tractor that used some oil after a few hundred hours. The dealer said to put in break-in oil and work it hard for several hundred hours. That did the trick. Maybe as rental, this did a lot of idling. That leads to another question -- when not working, should we just shut it off? Is it better to turn off/on several times vs idle for several minutes?

Thanks much,

coloradotrout · Sep 30, 2005

I use it now for odd jobs -- leveling driveway, boxblading rocks out of ditch, using the FEL to haul the rocks, etc. I run it at about 1800 rpm usually.

It's going to be used for misc "stuff"; no mowing planned yet -- just misc boxblade and loader work.

jcmseven · Oct 1, 2005

Off the top of my simple minded head, One quart every 100 hours would be OK (to me). That would be on the high side of the scale as I compare it to the four small Yanmar engines I have had. I cannot personally attest to one over 1000 hours, so I asked my neighbor who has a 4410 with just under 3000 hours. His machine uses one quart every 150-200 hours, on average, but he uses his machine ALL THE TIME, and usually for hours each time he starts it, which makes a difference. On the scale of Yanmar engines, you have still a young pup.

John M

coloradotrout · Oct 2, 2005

Yeah, that is what concerns me. My guestimate is more like a quart in 10 hours, based on my reading of the dipstick when I took possesion and when I needed to add. I filled 'er full about 2 hours ago, and it's down a 1/4" on the dipstick. I'm not feeling good about this. Doggone thing seems to run fine though.. I even had it over to the dealer to look at something else, and he didn't seem to notice anything unusual. It wasn't until I started watching things closely that I saw the low oil level. I change oil and filter and now I'm keeping a close eye on it.