John Deere 3020 wants to go in reverse only - as soon as you start it!

toweraviat · Jul 14, 2016

Hello! I have JD3020 with approximately 650 hours. Bought it in 2007 (new). I have to confess that I made one of the most stupid mistakes and connected the battery terminals wrong (negative to positive). As soon as I connected the battery terminals the wire from the alternator to the starter burned. I replaced the wire and checked to make sure that other wires in the harness were not damaged. Now, when I start the tractor it starts going in reverse even when in neutral. The front/rear pedals seems to do nothing. Disconnected the forward/reverse connectors at the bottom but it still goes in reverse! Technically, it should not move with the wires disconnected at the pedals. A friend told me that the onboard logic computer is shot. Can anyone help? Thanks.

beenthere · Jul 14, 2016

I'd say, if it were me, get it to your Deere dealer.. they can put the computer on it to check out what has failed, or is still mixed up.

toweraviat · Jul 14, 2016

Hi! Beenthere. Thank you for the response. That will be my last choice because JD dealership (only 3 miles from house )are saying it will be 6-8 weeks before they can troubleshoot!

beenthere · Jul 14, 2016

Sorry to hear that, but it is harvest time.
Try for a copy of the service tech manual then. It should help you ferret out the problem.

Soundguy · Jul 14, 2016

Silicon cooks fast on reverse polarity. If its fly by wire, I'd be grabbing my wallet!

toweraviat · Jul 15, 2016

I do have the service manual. It says to readjust/recalibrate the pedals. It does not talk about the computer recalibration. I was not able to find any reference in the book regarding the computer.