I would appreciate some advice from the members on how to handle this. I purchased a new 2011 1023E from an out of state John Deere dealer late last year (2013). It was sold as "new old stock" with a full warranty. It had six hours on the hobbs meter when delivered. When I purchased the oil and filters to do this maintenance my local dealer ran the vin and mentioned to me that my tractor had the rocker shaft replaced prior to the sale due to a "PIP" (similar to a recall apparently) because of a faulty cap that allowed water into the transmission. I am doing the 50 hour service at 53 hours as this was the first day warm enough to work on it outside.
When I started the job I discovered that the drain plug bolt was rounded over and, far more importantly, when I pulled off the strainer housing, I discovered the strainer sitting in the transmission sump. I was able to reach in with my finger and pull out the strainer. It was not connected to the housing and had been bent. There were no magnets in it. There were gunky debris on the strainer and in the sump that look like the remains of a blue paper towel or a shop rag. There were a few metal flakes, but nothing like the shavings I have seen on the pictures I have seen on this forum. The lack of metal isn't surprising since the magnets are missing from the filters. I have no way to know whether the magnets were left out, or were sucked out and are stuck inside the transmission case. I documented all this with pictures and have saved the strainer and oil filter. The manual specifically warns against putting the strainer in at an angle and states that doing so could cause the hydraulic pump to fail.
Prior to the service the tractor appeared to be running correctly, though there have been sounds from the transmission which seemed odd to me (however this is my first tractor with a hydrostatic transmission, so they could be normal) and there were times when the bucket didn't seem to lift or dump as rapidly as it should for the RPM the engine was at. I used it for dirt work with the bucket and a fair amount of snow removal with the bucket and rear blade.
I contacted the dealer who sold the tractor and they are sending out a new parts (drain plug, strainer and magnet). However, when I requested that they either have the local dealer inspect the tractor or extend the warranty with regard to the transmission and hydraulic pump, I received no response.
I would appreciate advice on what I should do to determine if the tranny or hydraulic system has been damaged and how I should handle the dealer and or elevate this to John Deere corporate? I'm concerned that I paid for a new tractor and because of negligent work by the dealer's mechanic, I may now have a tractor that is likely to fail well before it should.
Thank you for any advice you can provide.
When I started the job I discovered that the drain plug bolt was rounded over and, far more importantly, when I pulled off the strainer housing, I discovered the strainer sitting in the transmission sump. I was able to reach in with my finger and pull out the strainer. It was not connected to the housing and had been bent. There were no magnets in it. There were gunky debris on the strainer and in the sump that look like the remains of a blue paper towel or a shop rag. There were a few metal flakes, but nothing like the shavings I have seen on the pictures I have seen on this forum. The lack of metal isn't surprising since the magnets are missing from the filters. I have no way to know whether the magnets were left out, or were sucked out and are stuck inside the transmission case. I documented all this with pictures and have saved the strainer and oil filter. The manual specifically warns against putting the strainer in at an angle and states that doing so could cause the hydraulic pump to fail.
Prior to the service the tractor appeared to be running correctly, though there have been sounds from the transmission which seemed odd to me (however this is my first tractor with a hydrostatic transmission, so they could be normal) and there were times when the bucket didn't seem to lift or dump as rapidly as it should for the RPM the engine was at. I used it for dirt work with the bucket and a fair amount of snow removal with the bucket and rear blade.
I contacted the dealer who sold the tractor and they are sending out a new parts (drain plug, strainer and magnet). However, when I requested that they either have the local dealer inspect the tractor or extend the warranty with regard to the transmission and hydraulic pump, I received no response.
I would appreciate advice on what I should do to determine if the tranny or hydraulic system has been damaged and how I should handle the dealer and or elevate this to John Deere corporate? I'm concerned that I paid for a new tractor and because of negligent work by the dealer's mechanic, I may now have a tractor that is likely to fail well before it should.
Thank you for any advice you can provide.