GC2300 Issues

[Xillim]

I am looking for a little help regarding some issues I am having with my 2004 MF 2300.

First, the muffler has snapped a few times, twice at the flange where it meets the motor, twice where the pipe comes out of the muffler, and my latest break..is the black bracket at the top of the motor where the muffler has 4 bolts attached to it. I have had these all rewelded...but I am sure it is going to happen again. Any thoughts? My dealer says they have never heard of it! I am using the tracto around the yard..nothing real heavy and not beating on it.

The rubber grommets that stabilize the steering wheel have basically disentagrated and have to be replaced the wheel is real sloppy.

Anyone have the same issues?? Oh yeah..while I am at it...the seat is a POS too...falling apart. Other than what I mentioned..this is a great tractor!! I look forward to any intel thats out there.

 

[EMS503]

I also have a GC2300. I am having the same problems in the muffler area. My black bracket and pipe also broke and my steering wheel is starting to get lose. I have no real answer why the muffler and bracket is having problems I just thought I was asking this machine to do to much with the FEL and causing stress on the muffler assembly. I also found it to be a nice machine just to light for work around the chicken farm. I have traded it in on a GL3940 that should be delivered today or tommorow , I know its orange but to many hyd. problems with the 1500s. I still have my MF35 deluxe to keep me in the red family. I dont know if your doing any FEL work but that is what I feel my problem is. NC has some real hard clay.
P.S. watch that tail pipe mine came off any I didnt catch it soon enough and the exhaust melted my headlight assembly.

 

[Xillim]

I never thought about it being the FEL. There are obviously some type of torque issues maybe twisting the muffler and bracket.....but didnt think the FEL would do it..I do use it alot but nothing abusive.

Thanks for the info!!

 

[LBrown59]

First I've heard
of this on a GC 2300 or GC2310

I am looking for a little help regarding some issues I am having with my 2004 MF 2300.

First, the muffler has snapped a few times, twice at the flange where it meets the motor, twice where the pipe comes out of the muffler, and my latest break..is the black bracket at the top of the motor where the muffler has 4 bolts attached to it. I have had these all rewelded...but I am sure it is going to happen again. Any thoughts? My dealer says they have never heard of it! I am using the tracto around the yard..nothing real heavy and not beating on it.

The rubber grommets that stabilize the steering wheel have basically disentagrated and have to be replaced the wheel is real sloppy.

Anyone have the same issues?? Oh yeah..while I am at it...the seat is a POS too...falling apart. Other than what I mentioned..this is a great tractor!! I look forward to any intel thats out there.

 

[Rob2310]

I posted a few years ago about my muffler breaking. I continually had a crack in the outlet side between the muffler and the clamp. Before it went out of warranty, my dealer was nice enough to put a newer style "side exit muffler on mine and it worked great. I had the same problem with the steering wheel and had to change out my bushing. I thought it was because I used it as a handle, but since others are having problems, maybe the bushings are defective.

 

[thing181]

Same issues here with my 2004 gc2310. I called my dealer and regional rep, they gave me some credit towards the new style side exit muffler because my warranty expired. They wouldn't do anything for the steering wheel slop.
So I removed the rubber grommets/bushings from my steering wheel and hard mounted it. I may have a little more vibration, but I would rather have that than the sloppy wheel I had before.
No other troubles as of late....

 

[ray66v]

Are you guys pulling on the steering wheel when you mount the tractor? I have seen customers who do this to get in their trucks; they all but break the wheel off.

Mine is a 2004, and I have not had any of the muffler, or steering wheel issues......yet.

 

[1972SprintConvertible]

Oh yeah..while I am at it...the seat is a POS too...falling apart. Other than what I mentioned..this is a great tractor!! I look forward to any intel thats out there.

I had my seat replaced on my 2005 because the seat was coming apart at the seams by the seat belts. My dealer replaced it free of charge. My exhaust goes out the side and no problems yet. I do grab the steering wheel to get on but no problems there yet but I only have 100 hours on mine, I guess I should quit that.

 

[ray66v]

I do grab the steering wheel to get on but no problems there yet but I only have 100 hours on mine, I guess I should quit that.

That would be a very good idea. You can hold the wheel; just don't pull on it. It does take a lot of effort, at first, to stop pulling.

 

[Ray2310]

I'll admit I'm one of those using the seering wheel as a handle at times. I have also had to do some re-mounting on the steering wheel.

 

[Scooterpie]

I just discovered that I'm having the same problem with my 2300 exhaust. May have already damaged the headlights too. Very disappointing; mine is a 2006 model, I think, with about 400hrs-first real problem so far but major in my book given the collateral damage. I'm going to call my dealer tomorrow and see if anyone else has had issues and see if they are willing to repair since this appears to be a design flaw.

 

[ray66v]

You have reopened a 3 year old thread.

I don't recall any recent posts concerning this problem.

There were some people who had problems with welds on the muffler. However, most have not. This would seem to suggest a manufacturing defect, not a design flaw.

 

[DougM]

Well he is not the only one I have had same problem but found it in time to
have the weld redone.

 

[ray66v]

Well he is not the only one I have had same problem but found it in time to
have the weld redone.

Who said he is the only one?

 

[vicos]

While on one hand my GC2300 has been a real work horse (moving tons and tons of wood, dirt, stones, snow, and brush), there has been one nuisance problem after another.

-- The power steering failed. Turned out to be some defective part that Massey replaced on their dime.
-- The joystick rod snapped off. $26 for basically a threaded steel rod.
-- The FEL joystick control box is leaking fluid
-- The pipe on the muffler snapped off.
-- The bushings on the steering column are shot resulting in sloppy steering.
-- The plastic edging on the seat is coming off
-- The seat safety interlock is problematic
-- The one front tire is forever leaking (tire and valve stem replaced--must be the rim)
-- and just today, there is a 6" or so piece of rubber hose that must be part of the hydraulic return line that split. I lost all power and fluid is all over the ground.

Some of these problems are just bad engineering or faulty parts.

My understanding is that this is basically an Iseki tractor and MF and Kubota put their own body and FEL on it to make it their own.

 

[WilliamBos]

My understanding is that this is basically an Iseki tractor and MF and Kubota put their own body and FEL on it to make it their own.

Kubota builds their own. How old and how many hours??

 

[vicos]

How old and how many hours??

Purchased Nov 2005. Coming up on 400 hours...

 

[pl1338]

I got my 2300 from a friend with about 730 hours on it. It's an 04 and it's had the steering bushing problem which I took out and hard bolted, the seat welds rusted away, I had that fixed, the muffler exhaust side is cracked and the radiator hose has a near hole in it from the hood. I just replaced the ignition switch today, and I think I replaced the wrong thing. My heater plug is bad I think. 65 bucks wasted on the ignition, plus a 46 mile drive, one way to get it. I usually check things out several different ways before I go and pick up a part, unless I'm certain what it is. I just wasn't thinking on this one...

Anyone got any ideas for this problem? The glow plugs aren't heating up, the switch is definitely NOT the problem, and it's got a good battery and starter. How do I test the heater plug for voltage? Is there only one heater plug or three? IS the heater plug the same as glow plug? The instrument panel has a light for the glow plug heating, but it doesn't light when I turn the switch to heat, but the light does light up when I switch it to the start side and the fuel pump activates. I'm gonna try to figure out the heater plug and possibly replace it/them. any help would be greatly appreciated.

PJ

 

[irvingj]

pl1338- I don't know how familiar you are with engines, so if I sound a little pedantic, my apologies!

Yes, there are three, and "glow plug" and "heater plug" mean the same thing. If you look in the photo, you can clearly see the glow plug closest to the front of the tractor, along with the flat metal bus bar connecting all three and the 12V feed wire (black with a yellow tracer on mine) connected to the center plug. These are all connected with the small nuts & lockwashers.

Standard test procedure would be to first check for 12V on the power lead when the glow plugs are (supposed to be) activated. Disconnect the center power lead, and hook that up to one lead of a voltmeter; the other voltmeter lead is connected to a ground somewhere. When the switch is turned to the glow position, you should read full battery voltage on the meter. (Be careful not to short the power lead to ground when the switch is on glow!)

Next step would be to check each plug: remove the metal bus bar, and check each plug with an ohmeter --resistance-- from the top of the plug, where the bus bar connects, to ground. The meter should read a very low resistance (almost a short). If the needle doesn't move at all, chances are the plug is burned out.

My 2310 is an '07 model so it might be different than yours, but according to my wiring diagram, there aren't any fuses or relays in the glow circuit, only the ignition switch. The plugs are activated both during "glow" position as well as "start" position on my ignition switch, but I do not have an indicator light-- wish I did!

Hope this helps. WBB in NH

 

[ray66v]

I do not have an indicator light-- wish I did!

You should add one, it was the first thing I did.