[AT] Update: John Deere 70 Diesel

[Greg Hass]

As you may remember, a month or so ago I posted about a John Deere 70 
Diesel with pony start that my brother bought; which after he drove it 4 
miles home had no oil pressure or oil on the dipstick. Well, the dealer 
did pick it up the next day and was going to take it to a private 
mechanic who had worked for him a few years ago when he owned a John 
Deere dealership. From here the story takes many twists and turns. Last 
week he called my brother to see if he still wanted the tractor. This is 
where the story begins. It appears the dealer called the original owner 
to see if he could provide some insight about the problem or had any 
idea what could be the problem with the oil pressure. The original owner 
said that to his knowledge nothing was wrong with the tractor and it had 
no problems. The surprising thing was that the original owner said that 
he traded the tractor as good and that he is honest and as such he would 
pay for the repairs. He then took the tractor to his own mechanic which 
just happened to be one that has done work for my brother also. He to, 
is a private mechanic and his rates are quite reasonable; the repairs 
were around $800. My brother then called the mechanic to get the scoop 
on things.
Now to the problem: On the clutch side is a main bearing; it is a sleeve 
bearing 4 inches in diameter and about 2 inches wide. All the way around 
on the inside middle of the bearing is a grove about one fourth inch 
wide and maybe a sixteenth inch deep for the oil to flow. The bearing 
split in half at the grove (we have the bearing) and the outer half 
pushed sideways and forced out the seal allowing all the oil to be 
pumped into the transmission, which is where the mechanic found the oil. 
He said that the oil pressure gauge gets its reading from this bearing. 
In fact when he fixed it he said he set the pressure down as it was 
higher than it should be. As to the engine itself, he didn't check it as 
no had told him the whole story. Someone on this list had posted that my 
oil capacity figures did not sound right- and he was right. When the 
mechanic drained the oil a little over four quarts came out. He does not 
no exactly why but said that JD must have designed the system so even if 
the oil pressure were gone, somehow the engine was getting oil or it 
would have seized up driving it home. He also said he had it running for 
over an hour and drove it up and down the road and heard no unusual 
noises. He also put in new engine oil and filter as well as changing the 
trans oil. After getting the call my brother told the dealer he would 
like to try the tractor before buying it again. He drove it home last 
Saturday and the first part of the week we tried it out on a 12 foot 
harrow. It was set quite deep but we were going almost 5mph and the 
wheels were slipping a little. I drove it a couple of rounds and I must 
say it was great fun listening to that great sound. My brother has since 
called the dealer to tell him he would take it but just got the 
answering machine but I'm sure they will get it straight. To backtrack a 
little, my brother put a stop payment on the check to protect his 
options and the dealer knew this so he stapled the check to the receipt 
until things were settled and set it aside. Well, as always seems to 
happen, the dealers  secretary torn the check off the bill and sent it 
through the bank thus causing another $30 fee. Surprisingly, the dealer 
says he will cover the fee. A lot of drama and trouble, but it looks 
like everyone is trying to be fair and it will turn out OK for all 
concerned. If anyone has any other questions I will try to answer them.
           Greg Hass