Finally Need My Warranty and LS Is Not There! BEWARE!

[5030]

All it is, is a simple lip seal and a 5 minute job to replace. Bite the bullet, replace it and move on. Not a big deal. Probably cost you 50 bucks max.

 

[mslisaj]

LS should mail the op a check to pay for the work that needs done. But they’re probably not going to and most other manufacturers probably wouldn’t either. When the op bought this tractor he new the risk of what could happen at least regarding the only dealer for 300 miles. He probably saved more than $250 to make it worth it.

Well that's not exactly true. The dealer was an established place right here in town less then 3 miles from me. And yes indeed I'm pulling it apart today and fix it myself. I'll make the gasket and my local auto parts store had the seal.
Still a great tractor for it's size and has a higher lift capacity then the Kabota or JD. Lots of reasons I chose this tractor over the other and it wasn't a $2K price difference either.

 

[K5lwq]

I would think LS would provide the part and not void the warranty for having work done in a qualified shop. That part is strange to me.

I will say your New Holland dealer sounds top notch. Too many dealers would refuse to work on a tractor that was not bought from them. Especially a different brand.

 

[coldsteelva]

I'm not sure why you would buy a brand new, warranted tractor of any make at all if it only has 135 hours in 5 years. I do 100+ each year on my Massey GC1720. You could have saved thousands more with a comparable, but used tractor.

When all is said and done, you could send a respectfully worded request to LS corporate and request reimbursement. Worst they can say is NO. As for the warranty down the road if you did need to actually use it for something major, the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act would prohibit them from voiding the entire warranty for using a single non-LS part. The only thing they no longer have to warranty is THAT specific 'unauthorized' part. You change a wheel seal and the engine blows...that wasn't caused by a wheel seal, so the warranty must be honored.

Magnuson Moss Warranty

 

[mslisaj]

I'm not sure why you would buy a brand new, warranted tractor of any make at all if it only has 135 hours in 5 years. I do 100+ each year on my Massey GC1720. You could have saved thousands more with a comparable, but used tractor.

When all is said and done, you could send a respectfully worded request to LS corporate and request reimbursement. Worst they can say is NO. As for the warranty down the road if you did need to actually use it for something major, the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act would prohibit them from voiding the entire warranty for using a single non-LS part. The only thing they no longer have to warranty is THAT specific 'unauthorized' part. You change a wheel seal and the engine blows...that wasn't caused by a wheel seal, so the warranty must be honored.

Magnuson Moss Warranty

Here's the deal on the tractor, where I live and my half acre, do I need a tractor the answer is absolutely not. But I've always wanted one and I've always wanted a backhoe. So I could easily afford this toy and I bought it. Around my place I use it to lift things, push snow and help my neighbors as I'm retired. So you make a good point on cost benefit. I was a mechanic all my life anyway and it's fun to help friends and play in the dirt with it. It's a very capable machine and will last forever the way I maintain it.

Great idea on sending LS the bill. I'm not expecting anything from them. But I'll let them know I'm "disappointed". My original point of this thread was to point out the dealer service for LS. I also got to vent too. So it's a win win at this point. I do appreciate the feedback and the opinions!

 

[ljjhouser]

It is unfortunate that your dealer is no longer there. That makes everything difficult. What you are experiencing is not solely with LS. For example, Here we have TYM (red)Tractors. But TYM makes other brands. Such as Rural King. But if you own a Rural King here, TYM will immediately tell you that they cannot warrantee a Rural King tractor.

Also, I might mention ---I don't think I have heard of a tractor repair that was under $1000. While I know that is not the issue, $250 sounds like a bargain.

But think of this -----You love your tractor. It just doesn't get better than that. This is just a small bump in the road. If it was a motor repair, injector issue, then it would be worth the trip. Still a warranted product. Best wishes.

 

[crashz]

OP - while it sucks to repair a relatively new, in warranty, machine the repair itself is not all that bad. And you are learning a few things:
- How to tackle the front axle seals
- The condition of the bearings in the front axle
- Your local NH dealer seams pretty good
- And that NH cannot do LS warranty work

While it makes sense that it couldn't be done, I do feel like it was worthy of asking. I just can't believe that LS customer support was so unhelpful. They should have suggested sending the seals to you, and they shouldn't have threatened to void the warranty if another shop touches the tractor. That's the worst part of that story.

 

[Racenut]

I have a car with a Scion/Toyota badge on it. Subaru has the same car with their badge on it. For warranty work, the respective dealers can only work on the ones with the right logo on the hood. It's not something unique to LS. But yeah, it seems the biggest weakness for LS is their dealer network, I have heard they are working on that, but I know that doesn't happen overnight and meanwhile there are problems with too many dealers who can't handle the after sale support.

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

Remember. Warranties sell equipment. Not fix them

Playing the warranty game is like playing the lottery

 

[scootr]

Here's the deal on the tractor, where I live and my half acre, do I need a tractor the answer is absolutely not. But I've always wanted one and I've always wanted a backhoe. So I could easily afford this toy and I bought it. Around my place I use it to lift things, push snow and help my neighbors as I'm retired. So you make a good point on cost benefit. I was a mechanic all my life anyway and it's fun to help friends and play in the dirt with it. It's a very capable machine and will last forever the way I maintain it.

Great idea on sending LS the bill. I'm not expecting anything from them. But I'll let them know I'm "disappointed". My original point of this thread was to point out the dealer service for LS. I also got to vent too. So it's a win win at this point. I do appreciate the feedback and the opinions!

Okay thats not how I read the initial post. But if you are happy we're happy for you. Personally I've bought new cars and started wrenching on them

 

[mslisaj]

Remember. Warranties sell equipment. Not fix them

Playing the warranty game is like playing the lottery

I didn't buy the machine for the warranty anyway.
It all works out in the end and I still love my LS tractor.

 

[rgr33]

I think what I would do in that situation, is call the next closest LS dealer, and see if he would ship you the warranteed parts, and just fix it yourself.

Barring that, take it into an independent repair shop, and pay them to fix it.

Technically, it sounds like LS would do the warranty repair, if you chose to bring the tractor to them. Unfortunately, that is not the best way for you to get the job done.
Not trying to be harsh here, but that is not LS’s problem. Hopefully that is the worst repair you ever have to make on your tractor.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Unfortunately, you are NOT covered under warranty! Read your warranty!

The loader and BH are covered for 1 year.

The tractor warranty is for 2 YEARS -- bumper to bumper .... that's where your part would fall under, so no longer covered.

The remaining 4 years covers the engine and transmission ONLY! (this is where you are at under warranty)

Fluids, hoses, tires, belts, and filters are not covered at all by LS.(some dealers will cover these depending on what was wrong). Seals are only covered under the first 2 years

To bad mouth LS is out of line since the parts aren't covered under the warranty at this time!
I have had LS cover stuff under warranty without even taking it to the dealer. They have shipped parts to me directly...under warranty. I have nothing but praise for LS customer service!

Get the part from LS or NH and fix it yourself.... a simple, but somewhat time consuming job.
Or --- just have the NH dealer fix it.

 

[mslisaj]

I think what I would do in that situation, is call the next closest LS dealer, and see if he would ship you the warranteed parts, and just fix it yourself.

Barring that, take it into an independent repair shop, and pay them to fix it.

Technically, it sounds like LS would do the warranty repair, if you chose to bring the tractor to them. Unfortunately, that is not the best way for you to get the job done.
Not trying to be harsh here, but that is not LS’s problem. Hopefully that is the worst repair you ever have to make on your tractor.

You are absolutely 100% correct and you're not harsh at all!! The tractor has 11 months left of warranty and I'm not swetting it at all. The axle area was actually pretty dirty which leads me to believe it's been leaking a long time. The reason for a "warranty" in the first place is to stand against a defective part that happens all the time. One out of four seals is no issue to me. What I thought was reasonable to ask LS to pay NH for the warranty I have learned here was out of the question. If 95% of you guys came back and said I was right and should go after LS well maybe I would have pursued it harder. But the reason we enjoy these forums is because it's a give and take. All you guys are far more professional tractor owners then me for sure and I get and appreciate your opinions. But this is no big deal to me in reality. LS brags about the six year warranty and I totally believe they would have honored it if I took it to LS. It's too bad my real local dealer went out of business with a lot of other business here in Oregon with the covid. I truly love my LS tractor and I did a lot of research into sub compact tractors before I bought it. I looked and priced them all. Spec wise on paper it's truly hard to beat my MT125. As I said I have 11 months left of the warranty and I would write the check for a new engine or rear axle/pump/and lord only knows what else goes on in that back unit. But I'm confident this is going to be the biggest thing that will ever happen to this tractor as long as I'm alive. My service schedule is engine oil and filter every 50 hours, hydraulic oil every 100. Coolant every two years. I grease it after every day of use. I'm not stingy with fuel, oil or air filters, after all it's a little subcompact. So again thank you for taking your tiime to weigh in on this and thanks to everyone else that took the time to give me their opinions.

 

[murphy1244]

I think you had no need of the BEWARE statement in your post as your problem is moot and NOT covered at all

 

[DK35vince]

BEWARE because New Holland will not warranty an LS tractor with an expired warranty

 

[rScotty]

All it is, is a simple lip seal and a 5 minute job to replace. Bite the bullet, replace it and move on. Not a big deal. Probably cost you 50 bucks max.

Right. It's probably just a front axle seal. You see them all the time. Small outer axle leaks have been common with that axle design ever since it came into general use about 50 years ago. Sometimes that outer lip seal starts leaking just from sitting wrong or getting some dirt under it.

That one doesn't even look to be leaking much. If it were mine I'd wipe the oil off, check that the oil level was close to right, and especially check that the axle vent wasn't plugged with mud - then just see if it stops on its own. A slight leak there is a long way from being a problem - and any mechanic will tell you the same.

If you just want to, then replacing the seal is a very simple job. It it a toss up whether it is less work to replace that seal than the OP has already spent writing about it. But for sure it is a LOT less work than driving 1200 miles.

rScotty

 

[5030]

Just replaced the outboard lip seal on my 2002 M9. Took about 5 minutes and the seal was 20 bucks. I used a rolling pry bar to pop it out. Greased her up, popped it in are bolted the outboard back on.

 

[rScotty]

Just replaced the outboard lip seal on my 2002 M9. Took about 5 minutes and the seal was 20 bucks. I used a rolling pry bar to pop it out. Greased her up, popped it in are bolted the outboard back on.

Not that's fast!! Way faster than me. My hat's off to that.
I can usually string any job out for a half an hour or longer - and often do so just for the enjoyment.

But the point here is that any mechanical case that has oil inside and some sort of rotating shafts sticking out of the case will also have a couple of seals around those shafts. They are always similar seals doing similar jobs, no matter whether it is a water pump, engine, transmission, axle housing, posthoie drill, power steering pump, or a PTO-driven bush hog.
They all got seals and those seals eventually leak.

I'd say that the NH dealer was missing a chance to look good for very little effort. Used to be common to take in simple jobs like that just for the good reputation - and also just for the fun of seeing something different.

 

[sandman2234]

If the part is under warranty, I would consider making an appointment with the dealer 300 miles away, hauling it in and go spend the day doing something interesting while it is repaired. The dealer's cooperation in making the appointment and putting a mechanic on it as soon as it hit the parking lot, as well as having the expected (and unexpected!!) parts in stock so the was a painless repair, would determine my future purchases.
I am a reasonably capable mechanic and have no issues changing a seal. My reasons are what happens if you get it torn down and find an axle that had a casting defect which will just continue to cut the seal lips, or a bad pinion bearing which is allowing the axle to flop around causing the seal issue. My point is, see just how good the dealer is when it comes to working with you, at no risk to you, except for a shopping trip with your bride that might cost you more than $250!
I guess 300 miles isn't a big deal to me, since I routinely do twice that every day as a truck driver.
David from jax