Mahindra Service on Warranty Sucks.

[DavesTractor]

Jack, first let me say I am glad you survived the heart attack! Good for you.

Now to the tractor. I think your thread title isn't the most accurate for what happened. This isn't a warranty issue. Understandably due to the heart attack you failed to latch your clutch pedal and over several months it stuck. But it is a service issue for sure.

There are a couple of ways to unstick a clutch. One way, that I do not recommend, is to get going down the road and push the clutch pedal in. Of course with a stuck clutch, that will do nothing except release the pressure plate pressure on the disc. Then a careful operator hits the brakes pretty hard and several things could happen. 1) The clutch can come unstuck, and you are a hero. 2) The clutch stays stuck and either the brakes do not hold, the tires skid, the engine bogs and dies....or you bust something like a ring and pinion or a set of gears. For that reason, because I personally busted a ring and pinion on a Yanmar about 15 years ago doing this, we will not allow our guys to do the "slam on the brakes and hope" method of unsticking a clutch. I might try it gently, once, but what happens is you try it gently, then a little more, then you get going fast and slam on the brakes...and then you get results, but perhaps not the results you want.

If that happened, and I do not know that it did, then this is not a quality issue or a warranty issue. It's an issue with the dealer. He should have split the tractor and fixed it correctly. But again, I did it myself once and learned the hard way. But I certainly did not return the tractor broke, I bought the ring gear and pinion and fixed it correctly.

 

[kthompson]

Have you paid for the tractor? If financed the lender may be a friend in this.

A question, why do some brands have this issue of sticking clutches and not others or is weather related? I have never heard of one in my part of the world but then there lot in my part of the world I do not hear about. lt

 

[DavesTractor]

Have you paid for the tractor? If financed the lender may be a friend in this.

A question, why do some brands have this issue of sticking clutches and not others or is weather related? I have never heard of one in my part of the world but then there lot in my part of the world I do not hear about. lt

We rarely ever see a stuck clutch in California unless someone gets in a creek or something like that and gets moisture in the bell housing. In coastal or humid areas it is more common.

As far as advice on not paying for the tractor, the loan company is entitled to their money as per the contract so I think that is not helpful. They didn't build it, use it, break it or sell it...they just provided funds, if in fact this is financed.

The only issue I can see with Mahindra on this is that they ought to answer their phones and direct the call to the correct person. That person can call the dealer and prompt them to get this fixed. They can be an advocate to get this done.

One other thought. If the dealer says the trans was busted when it arrived at his shop, then I'd sure be looking into the 5-year power train warranty on that problem, separate from the clutch. Clutches generally aren't covered. Broken gears inside the trans generally are covered, except in cases of abuse, etc. I do not know how old the tractor is, but I sure wouldn't deliver a tractor back to a customer with no first gear. I'd be calling him and asking questions if it arrived that way. And I'd be seeing of it was covered under warranty. And then when I was fixing the trans under warranty, I'd take a minute or two and unstick the clutch since the transmission will be out anyway.

 

[mike69440]

Have you paid for the tractor? If financed the lender may be a friend in this.

A question, why do some brands have this issue of sticking clutches and not others or is weather related? I have never heard of one in my part of the world but then there lot in my part of the world I do not hear about. lt

Yes to both. Clutch material plays a part. Same with brakes.
I've been driving my 03 Cobra the past month. When I finally get back to driving 2014 my Subaru the brakes will be almost welded to the discs. Happens if it sits much more than a week. The Mustang brakes do not stick much, even laid up for months on blocks.

 

[burzynsr]

"Cerametalic" (non asbestos and don't check the spelling please) clutch material in the new models is likely to stick in humid and wet conditions. There are directions in the owners manual on long term storage.

 

[mcfarmall]

"Lot Rot" is another term for stuck brakes, clutches, etc. for vehicles that have been sitting for extended periods of time.

 

[kthompson]

Daves Tractor, I did not imply, certainly did not say do not pay a lender at all...but they often can help as they have a relationship with the dealership again, often. A lender sees both the dealer and the person with the loan as important to their success or should for without either they are out of business.

One big reason I always use credit card for certain purchases is this very reason...has been important at least two business purchases. Only way I got a computer company to honor their on site warranty and another company to honor their contract. Neither had issue putting what they would do in writing, just had issue with not doing it. In both cases the credit card company with copies of the contract provided the motivation for the computer company to honor the on site warranty and the other company to make refund. Never did i not pay the credit card bill.

If a person were not to pay the lender then they are setting themselves up for legal issue there...kt

 

[oldpilgrim]

I'm shocked at all this talk of stuck clutches.

Playing with cars for 55+ years, I've never seen a car with a stuck clutch. Above it was mentioned if it sits for a couple months, it's likely to stick. I've had my cars sit for years and never one stuck clutch. I've pulled cars out of barns that have sat for 30-40 years with no stuck clutches. My Model A has been in storage for over 2 years and I don't expect a problem...gas, battery and drive. Why is a tractor different than a car or truck?

 

[sixdogs]

I'm shocked at all this talk of stuck clutches.

Playing with cars for 55+ years, I've never seen a car with a stuck clutch. Above it was mentioned if it sits for a couple months, it's likely to stick. I've had my cars sit for years and never one stuck clutch. I've pulled cars out of barns that have sat for 30-40 years with no stuck clutches. My Model A has been in storage for over 2 years and I don't expect a problem...gas, battery and drive. Why is a tractor different than a car or truck?

If you live in the right area or have things stored in a building that "sweats" inside during periods of high humidity, it can happen. In fact, my Kubota arrived with a small stick to put under the clutch pedal during periods of longer storage. Instructions are in the owner's manual. Doesn't happen all the time but it happens.

 

[dickfoster]

I'm shocked at all this talk of stuck clutches.

Playing with cars for 55+ years, I've never seen a car with a stuck clutch. Above it was mentioned if it sits for a couple months, it's likely to stick. I've had my cars sit for years and never one stuck clutch. I've pulled cars out of barns that have sat for 30-40 years with no stuck clutches. My Model A has been in storage for over 2 years and I don't expect a problem...gas, battery and drive. Why is a tractor different than a car or truck?

It must be something about the materials used for the clutch disks. It seems to be common with tractors of all makes. Maybe clutches in tractors have more metal in the friction material and last longer or something. That would make sense as changing the clutch in a tractor is one huge PITA compared to swapping out the clutch in a car. You don't have to split a car in half to change a worn clutch. I know I won't look at dropping the tranny, crawl box and transfer case in my truck as all that big of a PITA anymore.