John Deere 2130 Engine Shuts Off When Releasing Clutch

[ALFisher]

Per my previous thread I received a John Deere 2130 from a family member (free). It would not go into gear. We are working on fixing it now. We discovered that all fluid had leaked from the seals at the load control arm. We have not split the tractor yet. We replaced the seals, and refilled with fluid. Holds fluid fine now.

Engine cranks and runs fine in neutral. Gears shift fine with clutch depressed. Power steering is working. However, whenever we put the tractor in gear and release the clutch, the engine shuts off. It feels like something is stuck in the rear end, but the tires do not skid, not that that is definitive. Something could still be locked up in there, or it could be locked up in the transmission itself.

We opened the case where the load control arm goes (sorry, cannot remember name of it) and all parts of the transmission there look fine. Nothing broken, everything turning, etc. Shaft looks fine. Obviously, since we haven't split the tractor, we don't know what the situation is forward.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts. Not sure how far I want to go with this project. Thanks.

 

[Tx Jim]

If tractor will roll then trans/diff shouldn't be stuck or locked in 2 gears. I'm leaning toward a frozen brg(parts key #4) on the trans input shaft. Will tractor roll without clutch pedal being depressed? Does tractor have hyd hi-lo?.

 

[ALFisher]

Will check today and let you know. Almost as soon as I posted, I realized I should have checked to see if it would roll. Stay tuned.

 

[Zebrafive]

Does the range lever shift into each range OK? Sometimes my 2030 has it lock up.

I am thinking it might be the rear brakes are stuck due to it being run out of fluid.

What trans? HI-LO, Reverser, or 8spd?

 

[ALFisher]

It rolls ok. It does not have hi lo and no power rvrsr. Range lever seems ok

 

[ALFisher]

Here is an update for anyone who can and is willing to help. Before we cracked everything open again, we decided to check its mobility again. Hooked it up to the back of my truck and pulled it with both the range lever and the gear in neutral. Again, it rolled, but it made a good bit of racket on the right hand rear in the brake area. If I stopped pulling, it would almost immediately stop, very little, if any, continued rolling. Thought about rolling it down a hill, but got concerned we might not be able to get it back up. No other strange sounds were heard except for the right rear.

I think that we will start with the brakes, rather than splitting the tractor. The brakes aren't totally frozen, but might be clamped down enough to cause the engine to shut off when releasing the clutch.

One thing that is for sure, if you do put it in gear, it locks up and will not roll, even with the tractor off.

If that gives anyone any more hints, please let me know. Thanks so much.

 

[Tx Jim]

Try loosening the RH brake bleed screw if you haven't already done that. Also possible bad axle brg.

 

[Zebrafive]

Try loosening the RH brake bleed screw if you haven't already done that. Also possible bad axle brg.

Good idea! Also you might crack a fitting on the steel line to the right brake.

 

[ALFisher]

We dismantled the rear end. It turns out that the right rear brake piston was completely shot. Looks like it had been quite a while with no/low oil. It was so bad that it had developed holes in it, and it had ruined the right brake pad. Didn't know that that was enough by itself to shut the motor down, but I am hoping that that's the culprit. The inline shaft turns all the transmission fine with the wheels and brakes off with no odd noises, so I am betting that it is. I am going to order the parts and cross my fingers.