John Deere 1600 wide area mower help!

[Jim Blackwood]

Thank you Hankster. Very helpful.

Turns out the cam has a worn spot in it where the bearings sit and that means when you push the pedal it is very stiff and then it jumps past the worn spot and jerks the tractor. I used a mini belt sander to smooth out the divots but it only helped a little. Apparently there is still a hump. How hard is it to remove the cam? I haven't been able to find it in any manual or parts diagram so far, so no part number either. If I can't smooth out the hump I may have to weld it back up and grind it down again.

Jim

 

[Jim Blackwood]

No help there I guess, well maybe on this:
The machine came with bad solenoid valves for the wing mowers... they would not turn off when they were raised. I was lucky enough to find one NOS spool for the solenoids on ebay and bought one coil from the local John Deere dealer so for a couple hundred bucks I had one wing working. I took that spool and threw it in the ultrasonic cleaner with some Simple Green and it's been sitting there ever since. The other coil shows continuity and is magnetic with 12v put across it (but wouldn't work the new spool).

So I mowed with one wing that would raise and turn off and one that if raised kept running. Until yesterday when the bad wing decided to turn off and not come back on.

Can anybody tell me what the failure is with these solenoids? I mean, I would have figured if it failed the blades just wouldn't come on. How does it fail and then they won't turn off?

Also if anybody has a line on another spool for reasonable money I'd appreciate it. $270 plus another $84 for the coil seems like an awful lot.

Jim

 

[drlazor]

[we are having the same issue with the decks not engaging, we replaced the solenoids and it worked wonderful for a few days and now its doing the same thing again. It seems to act up after it has been running for a while. Could it be the hydraulic oil that is the cause? Is there a temp gauge for the hydraulic fluid? any help appreciated!!

I have a Wam 1600 with the same issue you describe above. I can cut for an hour or 2 but when I hit a bump and the decks stop cutting I have to wait until the machine cools down, before the blades will turn back on. Did you find a solution this your problem? What part and where was replaced? Any help is appreciated.

 

[Jim Blackwood]

I replaced the solenoid coils for the wing lift and then replaced the spools as well. I was fortunate to find the spools for about $100 each, just lucked into that really. Once I did that it began working as it should.

Jim

 

[Jim Blackwood]

I've had another issue come up, apparently I broke a tooth in the steering axle and it chucked it out the side of the steering knuckle, making an opening to do so. Guess I'm in the market for another axle. Anyone know a likely source?

Jim

 

[Jim Blackwood]

OK, got that fixed. New lower knuckle from JD was about $350, assorted small parts and back in business for under $500. Good enough.

While it was down I put new tires on it and I really like them a lot better. Went as big as I could. Also decided to go ahead with doing something about the operator heat problem. Anyone with a 1600T knows exactly what I'm talking about, the radiator fan blows all the hot air up under the operators platform where it proceeds to convection bake you while you mow. Enough is enough. Why JD didn't see that coming I'll never know. Why they haven't fixed it is even stranger. So, first photo is just the mower front view. Nothing much to see here. New tires, guarded toggle switch in the aux light switch hole for the fan.



Here's the magic. Old fan removed and blocked off, new opening to the inlet screen.



And last, the new electric fan This one is out of a Lincoln Town car, is 17-1/2" diameter at the tips of the blades and has a 2 speed motor which I run on high.



I've run it a couple times now and the motor runs a bit warmer but I was a LOT cooler. Practically like having A/C by comparison. The fan could be a little larger. The first one I tried was an 18-1/2" fan out of a Volvo SC90 but it has a very fancy motor that has to have some sort of PWM signal before it will run. Big heavy cables too so that most likely means an alternator upgrade is required. Easy enough, I have one or two new reman spares (GM) that should work fine.

Anyway, I think up to a 21" fan might fit so if anyone has information about a good candidate, like maybe something salvaged off a piece of industrial equipment I'd sure like to try it. Before the conversion temps ran 160 steady. Now it continues to creep up and looks like it is stabilizing right at about 210-215 but it isn't hot weather yet. Cools right down if I cut to idle and switch off the decks, so just a little more airflow should do it.

Next will be replacing the bushings in the wing deck arms but I may wait for the off season to do it. After that, I have a heel-and-toe pedal (modified with a bigger heel plate) off one of the old TORO 3000Ds that I plan to use to replace the dual pedal and swash plate arrangement that is on there now. Should make it easier to drive, the toro setup is simpler and more positive so even if getting the neutral position just right isn't easy (currently impossible) the pedal pressure should be lighter and a lot less dancing around on the pedals.

Jim

 

[Acresofgrass]

I have a JD 1600 wam and left mower deck will not engage. Like many on this site I have had issues with the heim joint in the past, but I don’t believe that that is the problem this time. The last time I used the mower it worked great, when I went to use it this time, mower deck engaged Momentarily and shut off “ deck ran for about a second” I could totally shut down machine and restart, and it would do same thing. Both right and center decks are performing well but absolutely nothing on left now. Checked control module heartbeat and it flashes correctly until decks are engaged, and then it flashes a 4-8 or 8-4 code, (hard to tell which code is first) I have a service manual for machine but cannot find anything about this code.

 

[Jim Blackwood]

First thing to check is the prox sensor to be sure it is switching states, and that the signal is getting back to the controller.

I think the controller may have LED lamps for the three proxes, so check that first. If it does you're halfway home. Simply compare the left and right. If they don't do the same thing, look at the flag that switches the prox. If they do, look for a LED on the output or measure the voltage at the solenoid. If the solenoid is switching consistent with what the deck is doing the problem is upstream, if it isn't, look at the spool and coil.

Jim

 

[Deereequipment]

Hi all.
Does someone have access to a manual?
My series two PTO stopped, and is flashing 4-3 code. I am trying
To figure the puzzle out.
Thanks

 

[Donald NZ]

Hey there having a similar problem with decks. Pressure tested pump turns out deck motor is turning slow. The dealer couldn't figure out what is wrong. Rebuilt motor and still the same problem. Tested spindle speed it was low with 3 decks running but right with 2 running. Adjusted spindle speed decks running better, but not as well as our newer unit. If have any other ideas looking to try something. Wish the dealer had somthing to offer

I had this too, I've owned the machine 2 weeks.
I noticed deck lift a bit slow and all needed a few more revs than I felt it should, the mow swash plate ram behind left seat needed the revs too. It would oscillate in and out of mow engage a few times. I could mow ok with one deck up,

with 3 decks mowing it would often slow up the mow speed 10 seconds into that beat. If I slowed down the travel speed to near a crawl the mow speed would often restore and I could carry on after lifting one deck so two still mowing..

I changed the hydraulic oil filter on the right hand side of the engine and all was mostly well again. All three decks crank up at idle and are hussing at moderate revs. Much better cut.