304 Compression relief inoperative

[jinmajim]

This 304 suffered a bearing failure on a gear on the primary shaft, and after 6 months to get the parts, 4 months to find somebody to do the open heart surgery, and 4 months for them to get around to it, it is back home and running. Thanks to Tommy at Affordable for phone assistance to the local mechanic and more parts.
Having not run for that long I knew I would have some issues, and this is the biggest one. It is down in the single digits here and I can get it started by putting a heat lamp on the top of the engine at the very back, favoring the fuel lines for about 4 or 5 hours. 30 seconds of glow plugs several times and it cranks up. I must admit I am very impressed. I didn't think I had a chance. I am thinking that if the compression release was working I wouldn't need the 4-5 hour prep. I tapped the arm on the shaft where it enters the engine with a hammer to see if it was just a corrosion thing at the entry point but it was solid and I didn't want to push it. Anyone ever had this happen before. Any suggestions on how to fix it? Any problems with starting it this way? I am cranking for between 5 and 10 seconds, and only have to crank 2 or 3 times.
I looked around locally for any kind of engine heater but they were sold out everywhere. Meantime I have moved a lot of snow.

 

[DwayneB]

The compression release takes a bit of force to operate. You are opening valves.

A good coolant heater for the lower hose is a must for cold weather use.

 

[jinmajim]

I've been looking for a block heater. The guy at the auto parts store got a blank look on his face when I told him what it was for. Wanted to know hose sizes which I didn't have a clue.

I have used the compression relief before. I had about 20 hours on the engine when the transmission hiccuped. The handle will not move. Tapping on the shaft arm attachment produced no spring whatsoever. It was rock solid. What do you think, WD-40 at the head?

 

[tat2z1969]

I've been looking for a block heater. The guy at the auto parts store got a blank look on his face when I told him what it was for. Wanted to know hose sizes which I didn't have a clue.

I have used the compression relief before. I had about 20 hours on the engine when the transmission hiccuped. The handle will not move. Tapping on the shaft arm attachment produced no spring whatsoever. It was rock solid. What do you think, WD-40 at the head?

sounds like when they did the gear job and unhooked the release arm the fork inside the valve cover jumped off the arm. Unbolt the valve cover lift it up and get the fork back over the pin arm. easy job

 

[DwayneB]

I've been looking for a block heater. The guy at the auto parts store got a blank look on his face when I told him what it was for. Wanted to know hose sizes which I didn't have a clue.

Ebay has the kats heaters for around 26 bucks. You will need the ID of the bottom hose though. If you have a set of calipers measure the OD and buy a heater that is close in size.

 

[jinmajim]

Thanks for the input. I think my next step will be to pull the valve cover off and see what's what. I think I will wait till the temp comes up a bit, though. Supposed to get above freezing on Saturday.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Jim

 

[bootstraps]

Hello Jim, I read about your transmission troubles and am interested to know why it took 6 months to get parts? I've heard you can get them sent from China in a week. Is that not always the case? Is obtaining less common parts for Jinma's pretty simple and straightforward, or can it be a real nightmare? You don't seam down about your tractor dispite the troubles you've had with it.

 

[jinmajim]

The reason it took so long was two-fold: I left on vacation the day after it happened and was gone a month, and I let the outfit I bought the crate tractor through get the parts under warranty. He took a long time but had lots of excuses whenever queried. He finally came through with the tranny parts and I asked him about the other parts (bad swing cylinder on the backhoe, etc.) and he said he couldn't do it. He was too small an outfit and was going to have to back out of any more warranty stuff. I could have sued and some lawyers would have made money and I might have got my parts eventually, but I chose not to. If anybody is interested in the identity of this outfit, I will PM them.

Meantime, I love the tractor and hope to get a lot of use out of it. Some of the best tools I have ever had took a lot of work up front but then were gold for years.
Jim
PS: Come to find out after the fact that Dealers don't order tranny parts. Too much work involved in replacing them. They order the whole assembly. Smart.

 

[Affordable]

We keep hundreds of the Jinma parts in stock,including the gears, bearings ect.We also bring in the assemblies for several of the main drives because it's cheaper than buying the parts seperatly and easier for the consumer to put on.Most of the smaller dealers just stock the most common parts,we are in the parts business, and sell to alot of the Jinma dealers as well as the end user.So don't worry about parts avaliability for the Jinmas several good sources for parts in the USA.

Tommy
Affordable Tractor Sales Co.