gtunney
Bronze Member
Well, I've gone and committed to replacing the engine on my X585. I'm approaching 1120 hours on the FD711D engine. Compression is minimum spec on one piston and below spec on the other (90 and 70 as I recall). It is also burning at least a quart of oil between oil changes - enough that you smell it and I get comments from my treasurer on it. A couple months back, it started leaking coolant from underneath the water pump housing. I don't have the time or equipment to give the engine the attention it needs so I've been having my local dealer look at it and propose options.
A teardown to address the piston rings would not be inexpensive and addressing the coolant leak priced in at just over $1200. I started hunting around the forums here and elsewhere on engine fixes a while back, I found mention of RepowerPros. They offer a complete FD791D sans exhaust and radiator for $2950 + shipping and taxes where appropriate. I showed it to the JD mechanic who's been taking care of my machine (the X485/495 and X585/595 are his favorite tractors) and he said if Repower are true to their words, it would be a quicker and easier job than replacing the rings plus I get a zero time engine through and through. My JD mechanic's estimate for time to do the engine swap - just three hours. So, given where things were overall with the engine, I opted for the replacement. I found @4get gto 's post here about his JD 425 (https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums...builder-for-my-425-engine.435448/post-6134846). That post helped seal the deal for me. Not a cheap way to fix a water pump leak, but it fixes the rings issue two and gives me a new, zero-hour engine for a reasonable price.
I just ordered the engine yesterday afternoon and Repower called today to say the engine is shipping tomorrow. It's shipping from PA to CT so my dealer should have it by Friday. And I should get my machine back early next week. In my case, if there are any additional costs, it will be the possible need for new radiator hoses and exhaust/muffler. Will cross those bridges when the installation occurs. I'll post updates to include the mechanic's thoughts on the replacement process and how I feel about the performance. More to come.
A teardown to address the piston rings would not be inexpensive and addressing the coolant leak priced in at just over $1200. I started hunting around the forums here and elsewhere on engine fixes a while back, I found mention of RepowerPros. They offer a complete FD791D sans exhaust and radiator for $2950 + shipping and taxes where appropriate. I showed it to the JD mechanic who's been taking care of my machine (the X485/495 and X585/595 are his favorite tractors) and he said if Repower are true to their words, it would be a quicker and easier job than replacing the rings plus I get a zero time engine through and through. My JD mechanic's estimate for time to do the engine swap - just three hours. So, given where things were overall with the engine, I opted for the replacement. I found @4get gto 's post here about his JD 425 (https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums...builder-for-my-425-engine.435448/post-6134846). That post helped seal the deal for me. Not a cheap way to fix a water pump leak, but it fixes the rings issue two and gives me a new, zero-hour engine for a reasonable price.
I just ordered the engine yesterday afternoon and Repower called today to say the engine is shipping tomorrow. It's shipping from PA to CT so my dealer should have it by Friday. And I should get my machine back early next week. In my case, if there are any additional costs, it will be the possible need for new radiator hoses and exhaust/muffler. Will cross those bridges when the installation occurs. I'll post updates to include the mechanic's thoughts on the replacement process and how I feel about the performance. More to come.