rekees4300
Elite Member
:confused3: I would just buy a new tractor but different strokes for different folks.
My new 4300 project
- Thread starter larboc
- Start date
- Views: 52122
:confused3: I would just buy a new tractor but different strokes for different folks.
OP
larboc
Silver Member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2013
- Messages
- 233
- Location
- hancock, MI
- Tractor
- John Deere 4300, Deere 455, Ariens GT17, Cub Cadet O, Wheelhorse 50
Ehh, I decided to take the boring way out and just keep it at a stock rebuild. The thing had plenty of power and realistically I don't think I'll ever want to spend the time to do a nice turbo setup without it coming out hack.
Dropped the block, head, and crank off at the machinist yesterday, should have it back middle of next week. The maxiforce kit arrived wednesday and everything looks pretty nice. Gaskets are all made in U.S., no idea on the pistons. The kit did not come with conrod bolts and maxiforce does not yet make them so I had to order them from JD along with crank bolts. Probably could have reused them but the manual repeatedly says not to and as much fun as it would be to have one fail after I just rebuilt the engine I figured it was $60 well spent. After all, not heading the "do not use starting fluid, immediate engine damage will result" warning on the air cleaner is what cracked the piston and got me into this mess in the first place.
texasranger556
Platinum Member
I would have liked to have seen the turbo project, but unfortunately I agree it doesn't make a lot of sense. Not that it would prevent me from doing it if I'd already decided on it.
I was going by tractordata.com which listed a 99 engine for a 4400. Maybe it's wrong, I'll have to find the tag on mine.
I was going by tractordata.com which listed a 99 engine for a 4400. Maybe it's wrong, I'll have to find the tag on mine.
Larboc , could you post a link to where you got your parts from. Mine had the same symptoms so I had the head rebuilt. Against my gut feeling I did just the head ,the cylinder walls looked great. Finished assembly yesterday and still have a lot of blow by so now I start all over. How hard was the tractor split.
OP
larboc
Silver Member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2013
- Messages
- 233
- Location
- hancock, MI
- Tractor
- John Deere 4300, Deere 455, Ariens GT17, Cub Cadet O, Wheelhorse 50
I just searched "3tne84 kit) on ebay and found the lowest price kit was from "mytractor". I ended up calling them up at 1-877-298-3210 and told them what I was looking for to make sure the kit I was buying was the right one and ended up just ordering over the phone (saved a couple bucks). They are a maxiforce dealer out of canada. They took my order and then had maxiforce send me the kit directly from an illinois warehouse. I ordered on a monday morning and had the kit wednesday afternoon. I found that prices varied WIDELY for the same kit depending on where you looked. This is the kit on ebay, the application guide says komatsu but they verified from maxiforce that it's interchangeable with the JD application part number. Yanmar 3TNE84 3TNE84T Engine O/H Kit .25 Oversized G1 GH G1A | eBay
Keep in mind you'll need to order rod bolts and flywheel bolts as they don't come in the kit and maxiforce doesn't make them. I got them from an online deere dealer, I priced them out through a yanmar dealer and it really wasn't much cheaper.
O, and splitting the tractor wasn't really all that bad. Honestly getting to the head is harder than splitting the whole tractor since it requires pulling the fuel tank and all that entails. (WTF john deere?). I was wondering if I could split the tractor without pulling the tank (especially since I have a cab) but decided not to try it and glad I didn't. There are two bellhousing bolts that you can't get to without pulling the tank.
General procedure:
1) Pull all the cab components that go over the dash, take the dash off and all the hydraulic lines and cover them with rubber glove fingers for the steering valve. Pull the fuse block off to the side
2) Take all the brake pedals and shafts out
3) Disconnect the hydraulic hard lines and cover. You don't need to drain the hydro oil. Carefully take the feed line coming from the tranny and cap it and wire it high so it can't fall down and dump fluid out.
4) Take out the radiator/oil cooler
5) Disconnect the engine harness, fuel lines, pull the tank
6) Chock the rear wheels, lift the front of the tractor slightly off the ground.
7) Support the tranny with a single, big, jack stand.
8) Support the engine with an engine hoist, and start pulling engine plate to bellhousing bolts.
9) Roll the engine/front frame forward and support the frame rails on both sides with jackstands. Pull the frame to oil pan bolts. Remove engine. Be careful as the frame can tilt side to side a lot since the front axle pivots. It's pretty well balanced so you can flop it around by hand and set it down on the floor in a safe spot.
Fairly straightforward, I did it in a sunday afternoon.
Last edited:
OP
larboc
Silver Member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2013
- Messages
- 233
- Location
- hancock, MI
- Tractor
- John Deere 4300, Deere 455, Ariens GT17, Cub Cadet O, Wheelhorse 50
I didn't take the time to do a compression check. With the amount of blowby I had and the missing it would have been a waste of time, especially considering how stuck the injectors were. It was all I could do to get them out with the slide hammer I use for pulling wheel bearings. IIRC I would have only been able to get to cyl. 1 anyway since the tank is in the way of the other two.
I left the pistons on the rods when I dropped them off at the machine shop. When I get them back I'll take a picture of it. Could not see it from the top at all. Somewhat vertical cracks running through the ringland. I probably could have gotten by with just replacing the piston but like I said, given the economics it made more sense to overhaul. I think you can buy a single piston from maxiforce. My time is worth more to me that the additional cost of parts and machining so I did the whole thing while the engine was out.
FYI if you're thinking about just doing one piston:
I could be wrong, but I don't think it would be possible to pull the pan without pulling the engine from the tractor. It sure wouldn't be any easier. The pan bolts to the frame rails and also to the engine so you'd have to support the front half of the frame and the back of the tractor to do it. Kind of a split without splitting. The tank would still have to come out which is the bulk of the labor of pulling the engine anyway. Getting the pan back on without messing up the gasket or getting crud in there would further complicate it.
OP
larboc
Silver Member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2013
- Messages
- 233
- Location
- hancock, MI
- Tractor
- John Deere 4300, Deere 455, Ariens GT17, Cub Cadet O, Wheelhorse 50
Block is done, head should be done by wednesday hopefully. Talked to the machinist and he said that one of the pistons was about .0025" larger than the other two. He just bored one cylinder a little bigger so there is good clearance across the engine. I'm glad I took him the pistons. He refused to bore the block until he had pistons in hand, and this is why.
He said it's fairly typical of service parts these days and he wouldn't have expected yanmar parts to have had a chance of being much better.
He said it's fairly typical of service parts these days and he wouldn't have expected yanmar parts to have had a chance of being much better.
texasranger556
Platinum Member
Wow that seems like a fairly big difference. I just put a new top end in my RZR and the new pistons were down in the tenths, but perhaps they match them at the factory before sending them out. How are the ring gaps?
My deere dealer took mine apart the first time but I put it back together after having the head redone so I know the pain the fuel tank is. Thank you for all your information. Was your blow by grey and smell like exhaust.