Mahindra 4035 caught on fire
- Thread starter Mahindra3355
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DavesTractor
Elite Member
I'm less enthusiastic that MUSA will help with an "out of warranty" situation on a 4530. There were some issues on early 4035's and a handful of them burnt, making MUSA very sensitive to any issues with that model. But it is still ok to ask for help, just do not set your expectations too high. I can say to my knowledge there have not been electrical fires on 4530's. It's a pretty solid machine.
Farmitall40
New member
My 6530 caught fire as well from a wire that chaffed through from rubbing on the lever actuated throttle cable. One more problem with this tractor and its going down the road.
DavesTractor
Elite Member
Ought to be a fuse that blows when a wire rubs through and sparks, at least you would think so. I'm a big Mahindra fan, but I will say that some of the hose and wiring routing on the M&M (India) built tractors do not seem to be protected and secured for the long run. We need more real brackets and rubber grommets and less zip ties and tape. A good idea with any tractor brand is to look over the wiring and secure anything that looks like it could eventually rub through. The positive battery cables on some models just rest along the frame. They are heavily insulated, but in a few years that could be a problem. They ought to be in a protective sleeve. Things like that. We could do better.
Farmitall40
New member
I couldn't agree with you more on everything you said. The very first thing I did when the tractor was delivered was to put a strip of garden hose along the positive battery cable that was as you say "just resting along the frame".
As you say, there should have been a fuse on the hot lead.....the wire that chaffed was "before the fuse"....a big NO NO in any type of automotive wiring. That wire should have been fused directly at the source of power. There was a fuse in line AFTER the connection at the ignition switch.....which failed to protect the entire run.
I've done thousands of radio installs in trucks, cars, buses, trains, barges, cranes and all types of off road equipment as well as built dozens of 500 kw generator sets and wire routing and securing from vibration and chaffing was of utmost importance in every job. Mahindra completely missed the boat when it comes to that aspect of their assembly of their equipment. Their company and assembly personnel need a class on how to properly wire an engine driven vehicle with moving parts and vibration.
Zip ties and tape have their place in automotive type wiring but the person doing the assembly and wiring needs to look at the big picture of operation and see where the pinch and chafe points are and protect them adequately.
DavesTractor
Elite Member
Exactly. Well said.
OP
Mahindra3355
New member
I am applying the "better late than never" tag to this post; it has taken me far too long to give an update on my tractor situation. In the hope of helping others I am going to try to be as thorough as possible, and I apologize in advance if this post becomes rather long. After meeting with Mahindra's national service rep, who was/is a standup guy, he stated that he could not be 100% sure that the fire had started from the hydraulic hoses rubbing through and shorting on the starter motor/starter solenoid, but he thought it was the culprit. Unfortunately since I had the starter motor rebuilt recently, and reinstalled myself he could not pay for the whole tractor to be replaced, or to have it totaled out and give me a new one. After talking with him further he told me that he was going to try to right by me. Long story short Mahindra supplied all the parts for my tractor to be repaired, and I paid for the labor to have the parts put on. My tractor caught on fire 5/12/15, and on 10/02/15 I picked it up from the dealer. The total cost of the parts at dealer cost were a hair over $2900, and I paid $1500 dollars in labor, and then another $1000 for a new battery, hyd top link, the hood repainted, and few other miscellaneous things. Since getting the tractor back I have put about 100hrs on it, and with the exception the neutral safety switch needing to be replaced recently I have had no problems. I have to give Mahindra, and their national sales rep (some of you know who I am taking about) a lot of credit for standing behind their machine and helping me out when they could have refused to pay for anything. Also Singleton's Sales & Service in LA took great care of me, and somehow remained patient with my incessant calls. I am going to include a picture of what they did to secure the hydraulic hoses, and I recently noticed that the hoses were still rubbing, so I went ahead and took some 3/4 liquid tight conduit and wrapped it around the hoses before securing them back. I would recommend anyone with the same tractor or if your tractor has the same configuration as mine to go ahead and wrap those hoses with some type of protective coil. I will include a picture of what I did when I get a chance. Thank you again to all those that provided me with guidance. I am attaching a picture of how the dealer had the hoses secured the day I picked it up, and I will post some pictures of the tractor when it was burned.
DavesTractor
Elite Member
Good for Mahindra that they shared the costs of repair on this out of warranty situation. Singleton's is a top notch dealer in my opinion. Thanks for reporting back.
Iv got a 4530 in that has done the similar act... throttle cable rubbed into a hot wire... but the wire wasn't suppose to be there and some light bar add ons were in place leading to bad routing... still we will get it taken care of and advise him better than the dealer before did.
jcraftenworth
Silver Member
Wow. Message received loud and clear: avoid Mahindra.