John Deere 4520 Fuel Injectors

dconine · Jan 11, 2012

jenkinsph said:
No way I can see to justify that much time to change the injectors. What does the "book" allow for this job? How much time is needed for a diagnosis if you know what the problem was before it entered the shop?

This assumes you told the dealer what you found and what you did to try to resolve the problem.

I agree. There is no way a job like that would take that long. If a dealer told me that it would take 3 grand to fix the injectors, you would be about better off putting a new engine in it & keep the old engine for parts. Sheesh! Maybe not, but still, you get my drift.:laughing:

--I looked it up for the heck of it - Replacement engine cost is $8983.12. Add $750 if you keep the core.

Cidertom · Jan 12, 2012

It would be interesting to see the breakdown on the ticket. Since the common rail fuel system isn't like the traditional injectors, you don't bleed them at the injector. I would almost be willing to bet the second stage fuel pump had to be torn down and rebuilt. While we get better fuel economy and lower emmissions there is no doubt that the new systems are less forgiving of crud getting past the filters.

Your shop time quoted is cheap. Many around here are around $90/hr. Don't fault JD too much on maintenance costs. Most of us have had very little go wrong. Any of the power equipment in that class is going to have issues ...eventually... Last year I had a genset with a cummins in it break the crankshaft. Even though the hour meter was saying 260 hours, the age of the machine (1984) says the warranty was long gone. It wound up being cheaper to sell it as scrap and get a new one. (something about it being at full load when it fractured. There wasn't much inside the block that wasn't bent/broken)

caseyvand · Jan 12, 2012

Hi Raymand 50.....is it possible that you are using summer diesel fuel in cold temperature. Summer diesel can gel up and block filters.

AKfish · Jan 12, 2012

Yeah, the hourly rate was low (but, I'm way up here - so, it's hard to know what's a reasonable rate in the rest of the country). Local JD guys charge $98/hr up here.

From the sounds of things - even if the labor charge was really for the entire repair; the OP took it on the chin... or somewhere else in the anatomy!

If he couldn't get a satisfactory explaination from his dealer; he should get in touch with a JD regional customer representative - IMO.

AKfish

jd110 · Jan 12, 2012

raymand50 said:
Thanks for everyones help. The model 4520 I have is a 2008 year model COMPACT UTILITY tractor. When investigating on how to vent the INJECTORS, the two local JD dealers told me that they are not field serviceable. Most tractors injectors are located on the outside of the enjine. THIS MODEL HAS THE LOCATED UNDER THE VALVE COVER and require computer timed.

So back in September 2011 I had the local JD company pick up and solve the issue of not starting. So my tractor has been in their shop for FOUR months. And now it has supposedly beed repaired. FOUR NEW INJECTORS and 40 HOURS labor @ $76 per hour. I now have a bill of labor $3020. and JD will take catre of the parts under warranty.

I'm positive that if I had known this model would have such a high maintenance $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ I would not have purchased a JD.

Thanks again for your help.

Forgive me if I missed something - if parts were covered under warranty, why wasn't the labor covered?

dconine · Jan 12, 2012

jd110 said:
Forgive me if I missed something - if parts were covered under warranty, why wasn't the labor covered?

Under certain circumstances, their warranty works in different ways. You really have to check with your owners manual. It goes over everything of what is and what's not covered, and there are parts that they will replace free of charge but are not covered under the labor part of the warranty.