Need 4505DI Advice

michellesc7 · Aug 18, 2011

MY farm helper overheated my 4505DI twice. Blown water hose and blown out radiator stop cock. Second time did it in. Water in the oil, milky oil. My mechanic says heads are okay and there is a hole in a piston sleeve but he cannot tell me which sleeve. I asked him to fix the problem. He does not want to do a patch job. He wantrs to put new sleeves, pistons rings bearings. Don't knbow status on crank yet.

Engine has 500 hrs on it. What should I do??? - piston rings sleeves and bearings are about 2100 dollars with about 1500 for labor. Tractor has loader. I asked him again about the heads and the crank he will let me know. I know I can get a comparable 25 series for in the teens with a loader. I payed 7700 on ebay 4 years ago. The tractor is also just working in the high range of gears.

Anyone want to buy for parts? How much should it bring? My worry is that the transmission etc may need additional work. Cut my losses and stop now? He would put it back together for about 600 labor. Although he does not want to do that.

Please advise.
Thanks, Michelle

MrWinkey · Aug 19, 2011

I would have him only replace the damaged piston/liner and call it good if that's not much more than the 600 bucks.

Run it till she blows and call it good.

bindian · Aug 20, 2011

michellesc7 said:
MY farm helper overheated my 4505DI twice. Blown water hose and blown out radiator stop cock. Second time did it in. Water in the oil, milky oil. My mechanic says heads are okay and there is a hole in a piston sleeve but he cannot tell me which sleeve. I asked him to fix the problem. He does not want to do a patch job. He wantrs to put new sleeves, pistons rings bearings. Don't knbow status on crank yet.

Engine has 500 hrs on it. What should I do??? - piston rings sleeves and bearings are about 2100 dollars with about 1500 for labor. Tractor has loader. I asked him again about the heads and the crank he will let me know. I know I can get a comparable 25 series for in the teens with a loader. I payed 7700 on ebay 4 years ago. The tractor is also just working in the high range of gears.

Anyone want to buy for parts? How much should it bring? My worry is that the transmission etc may need additional work. Cut my losses and stop now? He would put it back together for about 600 labor. Although he does not want to do that.

Please advise.
Thanks, Michelle

Michelle,
Any mechanic worth his salt should work within the customers budget and needs. However, the high range of gear problem means you may be throwing good money on bad equipment. This mechanic thinks he has it over on you and is greedy. If you can live with the transmission problem, I would tell that mechanic either fix it or you will take it to someone that can. Find another mechanic and see if he will fix it and put it back together before talking with the mechanic that has your tractor apart again.
hugs, Brandi

JerryK · Aug 21, 2011

bindian said:
Michelle,
Any mechanic worth his salt should work within the customers budget and needs. However, the high range of gear problem means you may be throwing good money on bad equipment. This mechanic thinks he has it over on you and is greedy. If you can live with the transmission problem, I would tell that mechanic either fix it or you will take it to someone that can. Find another mechanic and see if he will fix it and put it back together before talking with the mechanic that has your tractor apart again.
hugs, Brandi

Au contrair.... [spelling optional ] When I fix things, I was brought up and also trained to fix things right. Maybe the mechanic did not want to do just enough to get it back on the road, knowing that there was still problems and the owner would start blaming him for his tractor troubles.... You have to ask....." What would a green eyed blond ex-airplane mechanic [ with a poor watch dog ] do....... "

bindian · Aug 21, 2011

JerryK said:
Au contrair.... [spelling optional ] When I fix things, I was brought up and also trained to fix things right. Maybe the mechanic did not want to do just enough to get it back on the road, knowing that there was still problems and the owner would start blaming him for his tractor troubles.... You have to ask....." What would a green eyed blond ex-airplane mechanic [ with a poor watch dog ] do....... "

Jerry,
It all depends on the circumstances of the owner. I go overboard on tooling and supplies. When I have the time AND the right equipment, I do it myself. Now take my son's car. It needs to last to the end of the year. I changed his water pump. Our local garage, who I use in a pinch, wanted around $800. It is in a 1996 Mercury Mysticke (sp). To change the water pump, the fan belt, alternator, timing belt cover, valve cover had to come off, along with the timing belt. I made a homemade custom fixture to hold the dual cams from turning. I can guarantee no problems.

Now it needs inspected. My son takes it in and there is a check engine lite on also. The garage I like has to do some wiring repairs and splices and inspects it. Upon us picking it up, they tell us no charge for the repairs with no garantees and to get rid of the car as soon as possible, as the wiring harness can fail at any time.

They fixed only what it took to get my son back on the road....and to have us as repeat customers.

When I did sheetmetal on helicopters for Heliflight Systems, we had two customers fly up from Mexico. Pemex, the state owned helicopter company and Helieoservicio, a private company in Mexico. Pemex always had us go in and fix everything needed to as good as new. Helieoservicio had to approve everything to fix or not to fix. Pemex always got a strip and paint job. Helieoservicio only got paint touchup. Pemex stayed a month. Helieoservicio was gone in two weeks.

It is all about time and money.
Also, I caught the poor watch dog joke. Very funny.

hugs, Brandi

JerryK · Aug 21, 2011

bindian said:
Jerry,
It is all about time and money.
Also, I caught the poor watch door joke. Very funny.
hugs, Brandi

I have a little sister I have been bugg'n for most of my life.... I'm in GOOD practice..

[ she is my plug puller and I want her to yank away when the time has come.. ]

bindian · Aug 22, 2011

JerryK said:
I have a little sister I have been bugg'n for most of my life.... I'm in GOOD practice.. [ she is my plug puller and I want her to yank away when the time has come.. ]

I never had an online brother.

Guess there is a first for everything.:laughing:
hugs, Brandi

michellesc7 · Aug 22, 2011

Hi Brandi and folks
Looks like I missed some fun -been gone a few days.

I was supposed to get another call from the mechanic. He is 40ish and his dad is his partner. Both mechanics come highly recommended.

The young mechanic additionally told me the heads needed to be reworked. So I asked him if he talked to his partner (Dad). His Dad told me - face to face that the heads and the head gasket were still good, okay and not a problem. Interesting. Asked the younger mechanic to go back to talk with his partner Dad and get back with me. Almost 6 days now. No call yet.

I am going to talk to another mechanic (good idea). The tractor has a loader and I at least want my tractor in one piece when I get it out of this shop. My instincts were not good from the start. Again highly recommended. But way too negative.

I feel I need to fix the problem(s) and not do a complete rebuild with 500 hrs on the tractor. The son mechanic could not tell me which cylinder had the hole in it when we spoke last. And then there is well we need to check the crank.

I think the tranny problem is with the lever that just needs to be lubed and worked to get the gear shift into low. The gears all work individually.

So what is next? I talked to MY Dad this evening and he thinks I need to get it away from this shop. I guess I figured milky oil was heads and or a head gasket. Things got alittle hot without the lubrication so everything does need to be checked but not totally replaced.

Yeah the guys are worried about their shop reputation with a patch job.

So I will let you know what I will do and what ends up being wrong with the tractor. I am making a surprise visit by the shop tomorrow afternoon to get the verdict on what they propose to do and how much. I am at 3500 for an engine rebuild, no reworked heads or crank.

Thanks
Michelle