I have a Jimna 254 with 150hrs on it that I haven't owned for long. I have not used the PTO under load as yet. I have had an issue with the PTO spinning all the time. I sorted that issue out by adjusting the clutch as described elsewhere. The PTO engagement lever down by the right foot works fine. I can put it into nuetral from there however I cannot put it into nuetral via the PTO selector lever which is located further back. I can select 750 or 1000 but it does not do anything in the middle. I can even go from 750 to 1000 without pushing the clutch in. I don't have an issue with this if it is not going to turn in to a bigger problem down the track whilst under load. Any ideas, advice?
Jimna 254 PTO speed selector won't go into nuetral
- Thread starter Jimmy254
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piper184
Platinum Member
The PTO speed change gears are in the rear differential. The lever turns a shaft with a nub on the inside. The nub pushes a fork back and forth that moves a slider to the different positions. The lever is held into the different positions by the external detent.
About the only thing you can check from the outside is to put a witness mark across the end of the shaft and the lever. Then move the lever and check that the shaft rotates the same amount. If not, your problem may be a broken or damaged roll pin where the handle mates to the shaft. If there is no movement at your witness mark the issue is most likely inside the differential.
Unfortunately, to get to it you have to take off the seat and the hydraulic tank/ 3point assembly.
BTW: the PTO speeds are 540 or 1000 when the engine is running in the green range on the tachometer. Most PTO equipment is designed to run at 540 but some things require 1000 to operate correctly. My mowers and post hole digger run at 540 but the snow blower needs 1000. But I usually throttle down a little as it seems to work fine at ~ 800 PTO speed.
My tractor has problems staying in 1000 with a load on the PTO, it just pops back to neutral. I solve this with a bungee cord.
With the engine off and the PTO lever (front one) off, you should be able to easily turn the PTO shaft by hand. Same if the front lever is engaged and the back one is in neutral.
With the engine off and the front lever disengaged, try rocking the PTO back and forth by hand while moving the speed lever. You should be able to feel things changing inside.
If you don't have a parts manual, take a look at an online dealer like Affordable or Circle G. They have good diagrams posted so you can see how it all fits together.
About the only thing you can check from the outside is to put a witness mark across the end of the shaft and the lever. Then move the lever and check that the shaft rotates the same amount. If not, your problem may be a broken or damaged roll pin where the handle mates to the shaft. If there is no movement at your witness mark the issue is most likely inside the differential.
Unfortunately, to get to it you have to take off the seat and the hydraulic tank/ 3point assembly.
BTW: the PTO speeds are 540 or 1000 when the engine is running in the green range on the tachometer. Most PTO equipment is designed to run at 540 but some things require 1000 to operate correctly. My mowers and post hole digger run at 540 but the snow blower needs 1000. But I usually throttle down a little as it seems to work fine at ~ 800 PTO speed.
My tractor has problems staying in 1000 with a load on the PTO, it just pops back to neutral. I solve this with a bungee cord.
With the engine off and the PTO lever (front one) off, you should be able to easily turn the PTO shaft by hand. Same if the front lever is engaged and the back one is in neutral.
With the engine off and the front lever disengaged, try rocking the PTO back and forth by hand while moving the speed lever. You should be able to feel things changing inside.
If you don't have a parts manual, take a look at an online dealer like Affordable or Circle G. They have good diagrams posted so you can see how it all fits together.
Thank you for your reply. What did you think is the issue with your PTO popping back in to nuetral? Sounds kind of related. Have you had your Hydraulic tank off to have a look? Can the internals be accessed by having the right axle out?
It will take a while to look at the tractor again but I will report back. I did have a quick look to see if there was any movement between the shaft and the lever but I didn't use a witness mark, I assumed because it was changing between 540-1000 that was something was wrong internally. I haven't looked at the diagrams yet. I will find the diagrams and try and understand what is happening. I hope it is just the roll pin. Most of the other issues I have had is due to adjustments not being made by previous owner. My main concern would be doing any further damage by not fixing it. I am hoping to learn from anyone else who may have had the same symptons.
It will take a while to look at the tractor again but I will report back. I did have a quick look to see if there was any movement between the shaft and the lever but I didn't use a witness mark, I assumed because it was changing between 540-1000 that was something was wrong internally. I haven't looked at the diagrams yet. I will find the diagrams and try and understand what is happening. I hope it is just the roll pin. Most of the other issues I have had is due to adjustments not being made by previous owner. My main concern would be doing any further damage by not fixing it. I am hoping to learn from anyone else who may have had the same symptons.
piper184
Platinum Member
Here is something you can try. Engage the PTO with the lever by your foot. You should always do this at idle or as slow as the engine will let you engage without the implement stalling the engine. In this case you don't have anything attached so it should engage at idle. If you have a grinding noise then the clutch still needs adjustment.
Then while at idle, observe the PTO shaft as you change back and forth between the speeds. You should be able to easily tell the difference.
If there is no difference, then something inside is not working as it should be and you are probably stuck in just one speed. If it easily changes speeds so that you can notice, there should be a neutral position in the middle. Kill the engine, leave the front lever engaged and try turning the PTO shaft by hand as you move the speed lever. You should be able to feel the selector change and feel the neutral spot in the middle.
I have had the 3 point off to work in the differential but it was before I had the snow blower and had not used the 1000 speed. I suspect it is just a case of the slider not going on the gear as far as it should. In any case it has not been enough of an issue to warrant the work required to look at it. And I usually forget about it until it is too cold to work on it anyway.
You might be able to see what is going on if you had the entire axle assembly out, but I doubt you could get to it to perform repairs. Taking the tank off would be way easier unless you had a reason to pull an axle for something else.
If you have the rectangular cover plate just above the PTO shaft you may be able to take that off and with the help of a mirror or borescope camera see what is going on. That cover is where the backhoe hydraulic pump mounts. I am not sure if all 200 series tractors have that cover plate.
Then while at idle, observe the PTO shaft as you change back and forth between the speeds. You should be able to easily tell the difference.
If there is no difference, then something inside is not working as it should be and you are probably stuck in just one speed. If it easily changes speeds so that you can notice, there should be a neutral position in the middle. Kill the engine, leave the front lever engaged and try turning the PTO shaft by hand as you move the speed lever. You should be able to feel the selector change and feel the neutral spot in the middle.
I have had the 3 point off to work in the differential but it was before I had the snow blower and had not used the 1000 speed. I suspect it is just a case of the slider not going on the gear as far as it should. In any case it has not been enough of an issue to warrant the work required to look at it. And I usually forget about it until it is too cold to work on it anyway.
You might be able to see what is going on if you had the entire axle assembly out, but I doubt you could get to it to perform repairs. Taking the tank off would be way easier unless you had a reason to pull an axle for something else.
If you have the rectangular cover plate just above the PTO shaft you may be able to take that off and with the help of a mirror or borescope camera see what is going on. That cover is where the backhoe hydraulic pump mounts. I am not sure if all 200 series tractors have that cover plate.
I can engage/disengage front lever at idle without any grinding.
I did observed the pto speed difference between the 500 and 1000 setting. There was a discernable difference. Easy to tell because I could see daylight through the hole in the PTO shaft. I'll try the test you suggest with the engine off to see if I can feel any clues. I do have the rectangular cover plate, access through that will be my first course of action if I need to inspect the inside. I had to remove the backhoe to test if the 3pt and PTO were working. Tractor is 16 years old without the 3pt linkage arms ever being installed. Strange having a tractor with quite a lot of issues but with an almost new rear end. 150hrs on a 16 year old tractor poorly maintained tractor, I go from thinking it is a lemon to a bargain several times a day.
I did observed the pto speed difference between the 500 and 1000 setting. There was a discernable difference. Easy to tell because I could see daylight through the hole in the PTO shaft. I'll try the test you suggest with the engine off to see if I can feel any clues. I do have the rectangular cover plate, access through that will be my first course of action if I need to inspect the inside. I had to remove the backhoe to test if the 3pt and PTO were working. Tractor is 16 years old without the 3pt linkage arms ever being installed. Strange having a tractor with quite a lot of issues but with an almost new rear end. 150hrs on a 16 year old tractor poorly maintained tractor, I go from thinking it is a lemon to a bargain several times a day.
piper184
Platinum Member
Good news that you can actually see the speed changes. That says to me that the linkages are all working properly inside.
So all you are missing the neutral of the speed change lever, everything else seems to be OK.
Does the handle say 540 N 1000? Mine does and it was built in 2006, about the same vintage as yours. Does the lever have a detent in center of the travel?
Jinma is known to make design changes in the middle of production with no regard to year or serial number. They just add a few pages to the parts book.
Testing the shaft by hand will hopefully give you some useful results. It is possible that when in N the shaft is still turning because it is "just going along for the ride" and is not really engaged
You said it was not well maintained before. Have you changed the fluid in diff? If not, it might be a good idea especially since the factory stuff is such crap and you don't know if it was ever properly drained. The next best thing it to pull a sample from the bottom of the sump and put it in a clear jar or bottle. Let is stand for a day or so to see if there is water in it. There may be more than one drain plug, I don't remember. It is not likely that the PTO is rusted since it is changing speeds properly, but you never know until you "know".
So all you are missing the neutral of the speed change lever, everything else seems to be OK.
Does the handle say 540 N 1000? Mine does and it was built in 2006, about the same vintage as yours. Does the lever have a detent in center of the travel?
Jinma is known to make design changes in the middle of production with no regard to year or serial number. They just add a few pages to the parts book.
Testing the shaft by hand will hopefully give you some useful results. It is possible that when in N the shaft is still turning because it is "just going along for the ride" and is not really engaged
You said it was not well maintained before. Have you changed the fluid in diff? If not, it might be a good idea especially since the factory stuff is such crap and you don't know if it was ever properly drained. The next best thing it to pull a sample from the bottom of the sump and put it in a clear jar or bottle. Let is stand for a day or so to see if there is water in it. There may be more than one drain plug, I don't remember. It is not likely that the PTO is rusted since it is changing speeds properly, but you never know until you "know".
fidowanttobe
Platinum Member
Welcome,
I too have a "vintage" 2007 Jinma 284. Has I think over 1100 hrs. now
Don't get too discouraged with it, they are simple easy to work on tractors that are surprisingly durable.
Several great vendors here also.
I too have a "vintage" 2007 Jinma 284. Has I think over 1100 hrs. now
Don't get too discouraged with it, they are simple easy to work on tractors that are surprisingly durable.
Several great vendors here also.
Lots of info on this forum, one of the reasons I bought the tractor was that there seemed to be more info around about chinese tractors than the name brands.
I can't remember if the handle says 540 N 1000. It definetly says 540-1000 because I rember it was upside down, so I assume it does. I am fairly certain that there is a position in the middle where it kinda feels like it clicks in to. I think from memory I did stick my boot on it in nuetral (at the rear lever) to see if I could stop it but I couldn't slow it down. Haven't changed the fluid yet, I did have a quick look at the gearbox dipstick and there was oil in it and at a glance it looked ok, changing it is on my list of things to do. I'd say the oil changes have been done on it, but there was a lack of use and with that comes issues. It also spent 10 years out in the weather so it should have been drowned in grease and oil but wasn't.
I had a look at the gearbox diagram and I am none the wiser. I would need to look at the area and the diagram at the same time for it to make any sense.
I can't remember if the handle says 540 N 1000. It definetly says 540-1000 because I rember it was upside down, so I assume it does. I am fairly certain that there is a position in the middle where it kinda feels like it clicks in to. I think from memory I did stick my boot on it in nuetral (at the rear lever) to see if I could stop it but I couldn't slow it down. Haven't changed the fluid yet, I did have a quick look at the gearbox dipstick and there was oil in it and at a glance it looked ok, changing it is on my list of things to do. I'd say the oil changes have been done on it, but there was a lack of use and with that comes issues. It also spent 10 years out in the weather so it should have been drowned in grease and oil but wasn't.
I had a look at the gearbox diagram and I am none the wiser. I would need to look at the area and the diagram at the same time for it to make any sense.
piper184
Platinum Member
Yes, the exploded views are a little too compact to easily see what is going on.
These tractors are not for the "haul it to the dealer for a burned out headlight crowd" (the guy next door to me) . But they are a fairly rugged little tractor for those with the ability to wrench on their own. Nothing on these tractors intimidates my abilities except perhaps the engine fuel injection pump. There are lots of good people on this forum with expertise in that area so I wouldn't hesitate to dig into a problem if it ever comes up. in the mean time they are completely affordable where so many others are priced out of reach.
Have a look at my web site www.harnerfarm.net under the Jinma link you may find something useful. Help yourself to any of the documents you want to download. I didn't create them, just passing them on for others.
I doubt there is anything seriously wrong with your PTO. The only time I use the neutral is when I am running the backhoe. The front lever has to be engaged to run the shaft that connects to the pump. In that situation there is no need to run the PTO shaft and put wear on the bearings and seal. The rest of the time the front lever is off and nothing is turning unless I need to use the PTO for something.
These tractors are not for the "haul it to the dealer for a burned out headlight crowd" (the guy next door to me) . But they are a fairly rugged little tractor for those with the ability to wrench on their own. Nothing on these tractors intimidates my abilities except perhaps the engine fuel injection pump. There are lots of good people on this forum with expertise in that area so I wouldn't hesitate to dig into a problem if it ever comes up. in the mean time they are completely affordable where so many others are priced out of reach.
Have a look at my web site www.harnerfarm.net under the Jinma link you may find something useful. Help yourself to any of the documents you want to download. I didn't create them, just passing them on for others.
I doubt there is anything seriously wrong with your PTO. The only time I use the neutral is when I am running the backhoe. The front lever has to be engaged to run the shaft that connects to the pump. In that situation there is no need to run the PTO shaft and put wear on the bearings and seal. The rest of the time the front lever is off and nothing is turning unless I need to use the PTO for something.
