Leaking braided fuel line.

[DavesTractor]

Little bit of an update on my dealings with Mahindra.
Friday morning @8:33, I sent Mahindra an email on the issues I'm having with my tractor. Friday evening I got an email saying that the delivery of the email had been "delayed."
Just received, Sunday @8:45A.M. notice that the email was unable to be delivered, "unable to connect to their server."
Saturday, I had gone to their facebook page and posted a comment about the problems I was experiencing. When I finished my comment and posted it, I got the message "unable to post, try again."
After the 3rd time of trying to post the comment and getting the same response, I got the indication that unflattering comments are not welcome on their page. There were many posts complimenting them on their product.
On January 18, I had called the 1-877-449-7771 number shown in the owners manual. After going through the obligatory "if you want this, press one " ritual, I finally got to an answer machine that said for me to leave my name and phone number, I did just that.
As of today, Sunday, March 6, I am still waiting for that call.
It appears to me that if you wish to talk to or correspond with someone from Mahindra, you are "up the **** creek without a paddle."
JUST MY EXPERIENCE...

I'm not going to defend a lack of communication from Mahindra, or system issues with the email. You can be sure though that there is not someone reading what you wrote and deciding to send you an email error message because you wrote something negative. No such conspiracy. And email glitches happen. As far as not returning the call, I don't like that, but I would be interested in hearing the message you left. And your calls should be to the dealer. Only if the dealer is unresponsive or unsatisfactory do you need to call corporate. And if you call MUSA and complain that after a year of ownership you don't want to pay for a service call or hauling, what really is there answer other than to refer you again to your warranty coverage?

You are pretty upset that your tractor has a $26 fuel line that leaks. It's covered under warranty, but that does not please you as the service call isn't covered. Haul it to the shop and they will fix it for no charge. People face this issue daily with all brands. Unless the dealer packs a little into the initial price to cover "free" service calls for a year or something like that, you are faced with hauling your tractor or paying for the service call. This isn't a new thing, and it is common with all brands.

You can throw a fit about a $26 hose and then do your best to get a pound of flesh from Mahindra, but I think it is time to drop the bitterness and just man up and spend 15 minutes fixing the hose, or haul it to the shop. But if a hose leak causes such grief to you and such anger towards Mahindra, it might do us well if you sold it and bought another brand. When it has a hose leak, you can beat up another color. But really, life is pretty short. It is a waste of time to spend it like this.

 

[DavesTractor]

If I were in your shoes I would sell it tomorrow and give yourself some time to grieve.

He bought a non-synchro tractor and it grinds if he tries to shift on the fly. That isn't a tractor problem. The 4025 is a stout tractor, but it has a simple and robust transmission and if you want to shift on the fly with no grinding, it takes a bit of skill as it is not designed to do so. Most of the other models are synchro, but also more expensive.

As to the other issue, he has a year old tractor with a fuel leak that is covered under warranty. I agree the line should not leak, it's embarrassing that it does leak and with only a few hours. But it is covered 100% under warranty.

It's not like he has a lemon, instead he has an issue with the warranty policy. I see you have an LS, and they are good tractors. But if you have had, or perhaps have in the future a warrantable issue, chances are you will be faced with hauling the tractor, paying service call, or fixing it yourself. At that point you decide what works best....or you throw a stink on the internet because hauling/service calls aren't covered. I bet you would just make a choice to get it fixed in the manner that works best for you.

I do think there are situations for which your advice is proper, sell and move on. And maybe he should, but this really isn't a tractor issue.

 

[ozley]

Sorry Dave if my reply didn't come through right. My meaning was that he is a little off in some other world thinking about how bad he had it with his tractor. I am sure there is a real story. What you said was right to his problem.

 

[tkevan]

But if a hose leak causes such grief to you and such anger towards Mahindra, it might do us well if you sold it and bought another brand. When it has a hose leak, you can beat up another color. But really, life is pretty short. It is a waste of time to spend it like this.

Dave,
Better he sell the 4025, and pay someone else to do what seems like a very small amount of work, given the hours stated for a years use. I doubt he'll ever be really happy with any tractor, as they all will need things fixed likely larger than the fuel hoses. I have a '14 4025, had it since Sep of 14, got about 60-odd hours, and I'm about to replace the hydraulic line from the pump to the FEL valve, as it's started to seep. No worries for me, but I feel that would cause a serious meltdown for the OP. Better he leave the grief of fixing the inevitable repairs to someone else.

 

[DavesTractor]

Dave,
Better he sell the 4025, and pay someone else to do what seems like a very small amount of work, given the hours stated for a years use. I doubt he'll ever be really happy with any tractor, as they all will need things fixed likely larger than the fuel hoses. I have a '14 4025, had it since Sep of 14, got about 60-odd hours, and I'm about to replace the hydraulic line from the pump to the FEL valve, as it's started to seep. No worries for me, but I feel that would cause a serious meltdown for the OP. Better he leave the grief of fixing the inevitable repairs to someone else.

You may be right, much wisdom in what you say. On another rabbit trail, I wonder if his selling dealer is nearby? I think as a dealer if I had a guy with 12 hours on a machine and he was frustrated, I'd just go fix it for him. Now if he bought it hundreds of miles away out of state to avoid/evade taxes, then the local dealer has no profit to burn for customer satisfaction. That can change things...but I have no idea whatsoever as to where he bought the machine. And I'll still say it is a really bad deal to see a hose fail in 12 hours, I can understand some frustration on that.

 

[texxfletch]

You may be right, much wisdom in what you say. On another rabbit trail, I wonder if his selling dealer is nearby? I think as a dealer if I had a guy with 12 hours on a machine and he was frustrated, I'd just go fix it for him. Now if he bought it hundreds of miles away out of state to avoid/evade taxes, then the local dealer has no profit to burn for customer satisfaction. That can change things...but I have no idea whatsoever as to where he bought the machine. And I'll still say it is a really bad deal to see a hose fail in 12 hours, I can understand some frustration on that.

they are @ 15min from each other. from what I gather.

I got the same dealer, and I live near Elmendorf, myself.

 

[alafarm]

I am constantly amazed at what people will accept on a tractor that they would scream to high heaven if it were a car or truck! I was in the car industry for 30 years. If a person bought a car and had one minor thing go wrong they would swear off that brand for life, and tell everyone they saw what junk it was. Vehicles today average less than one initial quality problem per vehicle out of over 12,000 parts that make up a vehicle. Even at that it is most often something as simple as a loose interior screw. With tractors today, quality seems to be trailing way behind! I have a 5035, and I am about to have it hauled in the second time before it runs out of warranty with 5 separate problems. I had it back last year for several problems. If this had happened on a car, it would be subject to the lemon law. So in todays manufacturing, with all the advancements there is no excuse for these problems and leaks! So do not be so quick to cast off someone for being miffed at having problems with a $30,000 piece of equipment right out of the gate! I don't care who it is, or what company it is, there is NO excuse! Now before I go, I will go ahead and answer someone that will say, this is a tractor, they will leak. NO, I have made power steering hoses for cars that were subject to 1200lbs of HOT oil pressure and we seldom ever had one leak on a vehicle out of millions made. If a hose leaks in a engine bay, on a hot engine you have a fire every time, and someones child dies. That, even in today's profit driven world is unacceptable! So folks, it does not have to be this way! Thanks to letting me vent! By the way, I love the tractor but the quality is LACKING any way you want to cut it!

 

[tkevan]

Now before I go, I will go ahead and answer someone that will say, this is a tractor, they will leak. NO, I have made power steering hoses for cars that were subject to 1200lbs of HOT oil pressure and we seldom ever had one leak on a vehicle out of millions made. If a hose leaks in a engine bay, on a hot engine you have a fire every time, and someones child dies. That, even in today's profit driven world is unacceptable! So folks, it does not have to be this way! Thanks to letting me vent! By the way, I love the tractor but the quality is LACKING any way you want to cut it!

We've already stated that the leaking fuel lines are:
1 a known problem for SOME fuel lines..
2 it's not acceptable
3 it's covered under warranty

As for the hydraulic lines? We're not talking about 1200psi, it's 2300psi, and it's not under a constant load in one direction, but forced to and fro in multiple cycles, and it's plenty hot. Don't think so? Grab the FEL valve body after a hour of loader use. Now leave them out in the sun/rain/ weather, and yeah, it's not the same as a protected power steering line, that, btw, leaked every 3 years on my Dakota.

 

[alafarm]

Just saying, I know what it takes to make a high pressure hose. I have dealt with rubber venders, machine manufacturers, and machine designers, national and international quality people, as well as actually set the machines up to build them. There should have been an active recall and all defective lines replaced before customers had to deal with it! We had a vender send us the wrong rubber compound once. When it was discovered, we pulled everything from the customers vehicles, sent people to change hoses on car lots, everything from the customer back to the rubber vender was scraped! I have one of these tractors with the braided hose, Mahindra knows about it and I have heard nothing except on this forum about it! Just saying, I am probably more versed on hydraulics than most having worked around it my whole life. Good hose's do not leak, at least not for a long while. Seen many last 20 years with no problem.

 

[tkevan]

I'm ok with the NHTSA not covering my tractor, LOL. The EPA is enough.