Avenger
Veteran Member
For the last several weeks, my beloved tractor was at the dealership for a minor warranty repair. I noticed a small leak, very small, as in weeping oil and attracting dirt, around the seal for the front drive shaft at the trans-axle. Noticed it when I installed the subframe mount for my backhoe, this was back in June 2019! Casually talking with my local dealer, he said it would be covered under warranty and would let me know when the best time would be for me to drop it off... again, that was back in 2019, and it was definitely NOT an issue. But its still warranty. True to his word, he called me about 8 weeks ago, said he was ready for my tractor, that he had just finished a big project and could squeeze me in.
After he and his mechanics looked at it (I had to show them where it was if thats an indication of how small of an issue this was), he informed me it will only be down for a week or so, depending on parts... parts from North Carolina took several weeks to get delivered! But, the work was done.
While the we were waiting, I asked about an ECU update... He called me a few days later. Said my version was "2 and I now have version 6" (having worked in IT, I know this is incorrect. But I got the point. My ECU had a very old version, and now it has the latest and greatest.) I picked up the tractor about 2 weeks ago.
When I got it home, everything seemed fine. No issues whatsoever. No leaks, nothing weird. I graded my driveway, and did some general small projects around the house. Over the weekend, I put the trailer hitch on the FEL and went out to the lot to grab my utility trailer. Going to hook up to the trailer, the engine kept wanting to die! It seemed random, no warnings on the dash, plenty of fuel, level ground... Whats going on?!
I tore out of there, if this thing is going to break down, Its going to do so where I can work on it! Got it up to the house and started testing things... I couldn't replicate the issue. So back down the hill I go and thats when I noticed the issue. My hitch ball, on the end of the FEL attachment, even with an extension, is hard to see. I was lifting my butt up off the seat to see better, and the seat switch was disengaging killing the tractor! This is weird to me.
History: When I first got this tractor, the beeper would beep, a very loud beep, whenever the seat would rise up. My wife, especially, hated this as she was never heavy enough to sit in the seat without it constantly beeping. So, problem solved by unhooking the stupid beeper under the dash! Everything was fine. I could take all the pressure off the seat while the tractor was in gear going down the road. No issues... until I got that ECU update, that apparently enabled the seat switch!
I cannot have this. I take pressures off my butt all the time, especially to see in front of the tractor. I am not a large person, and I need to be able to see down low, in front of the tractor from time to time. Not to mention going over bumps, or adjusting my position in the seat while in the field. I can only imagine the tractor dying ever time I move my butt while brush hogging. Taking a look at the seat, from the back window, I saw the wires going to the seat switch. A simple two wire circuit, and there is a plug. I dont have a wire small enough to make a good jumper, but I do have a total crap ton of H11 plugs I bought by mistake, (I thought I ordered a pack of 4, turns out it was a pack of 40!). So I cut the factory quick connect, made my own H11 plugs and a special looped plug. Now, if for some reason, I ever need to send this back for warranty, or sell the tractor, whatever, I can simply remove my loop plug, plug the seat back in, and it looks factory.
Problem solved.
Well, not really a problem. Just an annoyance that came with an updated ECU. But its not an annoyance anymore.
(If anyone is wondering what happened to my YT videos, I will be back soon. The tractor being gone for a while kinda put a damper on my videos. But it's back, and so am I.)
After he and his mechanics looked at it (I had to show them where it was if thats an indication of how small of an issue this was), he informed me it will only be down for a week or so, depending on parts... parts from North Carolina took several weeks to get delivered! But, the work was done.
While the we were waiting, I asked about an ECU update... He called me a few days later. Said my version was "2 and I now have version 6" (having worked in IT, I know this is incorrect. But I got the point. My ECU had a very old version, and now it has the latest and greatest.) I picked up the tractor about 2 weeks ago.
When I got it home, everything seemed fine. No issues whatsoever. No leaks, nothing weird. I graded my driveway, and did some general small projects around the house. Over the weekend, I put the trailer hitch on the FEL and went out to the lot to grab my utility trailer. Going to hook up to the trailer, the engine kept wanting to die! It seemed random, no warnings on the dash, plenty of fuel, level ground... Whats going on?!
I tore out of there, if this thing is going to break down, Its going to do so where I can work on it! Got it up to the house and started testing things... I couldn't replicate the issue. So back down the hill I go and thats when I noticed the issue. My hitch ball, on the end of the FEL attachment, even with an extension, is hard to see. I was lifting my butt up off the seat to see better, and the seat switch was disengaging killing the tractor! This is weird to me.
History: When I first got this tractor, the beeper would beep, a very loud beep, whenever the seat would rise up. My wife, especially, hated this as she was never heavy enough to sit in the seat without it constantly beeping. So, problem solved by unhooking the stupid beeper under the dash! Everything was fine. I could take all the pressure off the seat while the tractor was in gear going down the road. No issues... until I got that ECU update, that apparently enabled the seat switch!
I cannot have this. I take pressures off my butt all the time, especially to see in front of the tractor. I am not a large person, and I need to be able to see down low, in front of the tractor from time to time. Not to mention going over bumps, or adjusting my position in the seat while in the field. I can only imagine the tractor dying ever time I move my butt while brush hogging. Taking a look at the seat, from the back window, I saw the wires going to the seat switch. A simple two wire circuit, and there is a plug. I dont have a wire small enough to make a good jumper, but I do have a total crap ton of H11 plugs I bought by mistake, (I thought I ordered a pack of 4, turns out it was a pack of 40!). So I cut the factory quick connect, made my own H11 plugs and a special looped plug. Now, if for some reason, I ever need to send this back for warranty, or sell the tractor, whatever, I can simply remove my loop plug, plug the seat back in, and it looks factory.
Problem solved.
Well, not really a problem. Just an annoyance that came with an updated ECU. But its not an annoyance anymore.
(If anyone is wondering what happened to my YT videos, I will be back soon. The tractor being gone for a while kinda put a damper on my videos. But it's back, and so am I.)