Deere site reviews indicate the X754 has overheating issues. Why not X750 or X758?

[AuCivil]

The X754 gets bad reviews on the Deere site due to the placement of the air intake being too close to the deck discharge ( 4-Wheel Steer Lawn Tractor | Riding Mower | X754 | John Deere US ). Reviews say the screen gets clogged and causes the motor to overheat. The X750 and X758 both appear to have the same motor. Can't imagine the layout being different. Why are they not having the same issue?

 

[jenkinsph]

Don't have a clue but will say my x749 4x4ws with the diesel does not overheat.

 

[daugen]

It is a bit of an odd design, with the intake at the bottom of the steering column, but gosh that's easy to see and easy to wipe free...
More important is cleaning the radiators and screens inside. I use a small hand leaf blower often on my X750 and I've never seen the temp gauge
move a bit, not even a tiny bit, under heavy mowing load in hot summer conditions.

If the mowing public treats their mowers like their cars, often with complete neglect, mowing in heavy dry grass in windy conditions and standard right discharge for sure
could clog things up. Have to wonder how much operator error/lack of understanding comes into play here. Do folks know you need to blow out those radiators at least every day, and sometimes more often if mowing for hours on end? Seems like common sense to me but I've been around machinery all my life. Maybe the machine needs a restriction indicator like rear baggers have...

Normally the radiator would be in the front of the engine. Here it's in the rear.
And yes, stuff does get stuck on the outside screens. Just like lint in the dryer. But turn the motor off and it all falls off, held there by suction.

I once literally caught my Gravely garden tractor on fire, smoldering nicely, by mowing a church friend's six foot tall patch of milkweed which just exploded into white.
Never thought of thinking to look in the rear, where the Gravely engine is, just maneuvering through clouds of white floating stuff. Soon I smelled something burning.
I stopped, and smoke went over my shoulder. Oh boy. Something was cooking in there for sure, I had plugged the intakes on the Kohler KT19 and that wilkweed had just packed itself in there, starting to ignite when I stopped. Actually it did ignite and melted part of the oem coil, which I had to replace. But then started and ran fine.
I could not believe that an engine I had cleaned and checked out thoroughly before using would fail/get terminally clogged by bad conditions. But it sure can happen and I never did that again. Once burned, twice learned.

Not sure if there is statistical truth in these model number comparisons; would think all X700's with similar intake would be affected. I mean what would 4wd or 4WS have to do with it?

 

[OregonCraig]

The X754 gets bad reviews on the Deere site due to the placement of the air intake being too close to the deck discharge ( 4-Wheel Steer Lawn Tractor | Riding Mower | X754 | John Deere US ). Reviews say the screen gets clogged and causes the motor to overheat. The X750 and X758 both appear to have the same motor. Can't imagine the layout being different. Why are they not having the same issue?

The layout appears identical to my X758, which has the same "issue." I just have to keep an eye on the four sections of air intake screens and wipe them off by hand when the screens get covered with debris. I don't even slow down to do it; they are all within reach.

I also use a shop vac and blow out the radiator (and everywhere else) when done mowing. I don't really consider it a design flaw, as debris will collect on an intake screen regardless of placement. This design actually allows the operator to monitor the screens easily.

 

[Gittyup]

The x700's have the same basic cooling design as their predecessor, the 400 series. The 400's are great tractors. Rock solid reliability. Many 25+ years old and going strong still. They too would get hot if the screens/radiator were not kept clean. If you are too sorry to take a minute to clean the screens, then you deserve to have problems. My X739 so far hasn't shown any signs of getting hot. But, then I'm not that sorry either. The X700's are the best GTs, bar-none. They have no competitors. Sometimes you just have to ignore dumbarse reviews.

 

[Mach One]

The X754 gets bad reviews on the Deere site due to the placement of the air intake being too close to the deck discharge ( 4-Wheel Steer Lawn Tractor | Riding Mower | X754 | John Deere US ). Reviews say the screen gets clogged and causes the motor to overheat. The X750 and X758 both appear to have the same motor. Can't imagine the layout being different. Why are they not having the same issue?

The cooling design of the X7 has been with us for a long time. I would not get concerned about a couple of reviews. You have to totally clog the screens to cause an overheat condition. Just blow off the screens once in awile with a leaf blower and you will have no problems. I've had an X7 for years and never had it overheat.

 

[Haasman]

Re-opening this thread.

We've got a 2013 John Deere X754 diesel 4WS.

Like it very much but it continues to overheat while mowing. And yes, I continuously wipe/clear the 4 air intake screens. The thermal protection disengages the mower deck PTO.

I stop the mower, open engine cover and pull out the removal screen from between the radiator and the oil cooler. Depending on the material I am mowing, I can go a whole day and have no thermal shut downs, or such as today mowing dry light grasses, I have to do the just described every 5 minutes or so.

This is not new. right after purchase John Deere sent multiple service field mangers out to collect debris samples and write up reports. (The X754 model was pretty new). They replaced the fan and ultimate cut out the removal screen's mesh. Still thermal shut downs.

If anyone knows of or has heard of a solution, please pass along. Would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Kish318420]

Temp sensor that is out of calibration? Thermostat not opening properly do to manufacturing defect? Coolant pump issue due to manufacturing defect? Radiator issue due to manufacturing defect?
Bad wiring/connection/ground issue? Have any of these items been gone over by the JD service department. Did they hook up computer to the dash/console port and run diagnostics as they were checking for screen issues?

 

[daugen]

I bought a new Kubota F mower last year to replace my JD X750 to pick up another foot of deck, get done an hour earlier.
Mower was rear discharge and it threw so much material back into engine compartment I could not believe. Front mounted mower with rear discharge
has some inherent design challenges, and I don't think Kubota got it right with the RD deck.
Took forever to clean all that grass and dirt out of hidden corners, needed better protection
shrouding. Disliked the mower and sold it this Spring, went back to JD to do my mowing, about 650 hours on JD now.
So just know airflow issues are not uncommon...and it all depends upon what you are mowing. My mowing lawn does zero almost to clog filters.
Your mowing a field of tall weeds is the polar opposite.

I asked the dealer about the mower deck spindles, how long should they last. Figured about 1000 hours. He said they have units coming back with 3500 hours
on those spindles, just keep them greased. And I surely do, love my Dewalt grease gun. So this unit is very, very durable, bit of a dinosaur compared to full suspension
ZTR's now, but for guys like me to have to drive with mostly one hand/arm, it's a perfect solution. But overheat this unit? Yes, those front screens down by your feet do clog pretty easy. Either brush them off, where half gets sucked right back by intake suction, or just turn the engine off for a second and it all drops down.

Only problem I've had is getting chased in by rain and not having ability to clean tractor after use.
Particularly with wet grass, it can start to clog the mesh in those screens. I just use a lot of air and infrequently a gentle wash and air.
My next door neighbor has a 3032E and I've just got the baby brother engine, Yanmars have similar sound.

Now I did wear out the cheap Chinese made Carlisles on the front in 600 hours, well at least half down and that tractor has enough torque to just
push the front end around, lot more grip in back than front on 2wd. Love the rears, great turf tires. Put Kendas on front, back to great grip. Important doing sides
of ditches to have all the grip I can get. If I had to do it all over again I would have gotten 4wd for those ditches. Had to pull this mower out several times, and we have deep road ditches. Even backing up with diff lock on wouldn't do it. But most of the time land here is a pool table so 2wd and basic super reliability was the goal.

You won't find many of these diesel tractors used. My JD just fits in my trailer and easy to take to local dealer.
I think they are as close to the unbreakable early Maytags as you can get.

Haasman, I'm guessing bad sensor, thermostat, but that should have been caught already. All I can say is I don't think the design is a lemon, you have something
electrical or mechanical that needs help. Does this engine smell hot, backfire, show any indication of distress? (it may be just fine...)
Keep the faith, I'd dump it on the dealer, ask for a loaner, and tell them to bring it back when it doesn't overheat. On a new mower, you bet.

 

[daugen]

I reread Kish's very good list. Coolant pump. If inadequate water flow, temps would rise quickly under load and high outside heat, and have nothing
to do with screen clogging whatsoever, or not core problem.

Gosh I'd go buy an inexpensive IR temp gun and start gunning this engine and log some numbers.
Find out if you really are getting hot at all.
If you are getting hot and your intakes are relatively clean, start looking elsewhere like pumps and bad grounds, etc.
I didn't know we had an OBD type plug in there but always first place to look.
Wonder what a reader costs for that? Proprietary JD?
JD loves proprietary...