john deere 265

[HM12460]

took my jd 265 up to the local small engine repair guy to have it serviced and a few minor repairs made. he called me and said the engine had a bad rod knock in it! funny thing, i never heard it. has the 17 hp kawasaki fc540v engine in it. has 912 hours on the hour meter. he also told me the hydrostatic transaxle was going out, bad bearing. i thought that was odd too, i never heard that either and it operates fine. i'm under the impression this machine should be good for 2000+ hours with proper maintenance. anyone have any knowledge or experience with this model number? i'm using amsoil 10w30/30 amsoil engine oil in it. i picked it up and took it to the local john deere dealer and asked them to evaluate it. i strongly suspect i'm being flim-flammed.

 

[dwendt44]

For sure.
A local auto repair shop is starting to do that; find all kinds of things wrong that naive customers know nothing about.
Keeps the mechanics busy.
They do, at least so far, fix what they say. It just that there's often nothing wrong in the first place.

 

[firemachine69]

Local shop (Kahl Tire) told my mom both balljoints on the front of her Civic were worn out by "this much" (she showed me roughly three-quarters to an inch with her fingers). Funny thing about that is, the joints would have long fallen out... And just by coincidence, going there on my own time they could not locate these "dangerously worn-out" joints (after she had them replaced without consulting me). Imagine that...

 

[JTK]

My family owned a JD GT262 for a number of years. It's the same exact tractor, but with a 5spd gear drive as opposed to hydrostatic. Ours was a 1992 model year. It should say the year under the tractor's seat IIRC. The GT262/265 was made for quite a few years (5yrs maybe?). The transaxles are TuffTorqs and fairly heavy-duty ones. You'd know if you've got undue noises going on. I'd do a dump/fill on your trans if you've never done it. It may have an external filter as well. Use a synthetic 30wt in your trans. That 17hp Kawi one-lung is a great engine. No issues I've heard of. I'd think you'd be burning oil long before a rod-knock, but if it did have a knock. I'd probably run it to failure and replace the engine. Paying to pull, rebuild and replace the engine would be costly.

Joel

 

[HM12460]

thanks for your comments jtk. i change the hydro oil and filter every spring with a john deere filter and the low viscosity hy-gard oil as per john deere himself. i use it all year round. it is a very nice machine.

 

[Bill Kapaun]

Kawasaki discontinued that engine, so baby it! Repowering can be done, but is a PITA.

 

[HM12460]

bought a 1650 cub cadet today for a very good price. has hydrostatic drive and hydraulic lift. it's an older machine but has only 275 hours on it. looks like it's almost new. long live the single cylinder cast iron kohler!

 

[JTK]

Nice! The 1650 is an ancient iron beast. An International Harvester Cub as opposed to the MTD Cub. Parts will be scarce and super expensive for that 1650 though. Steering gear parts are very $ for them, so keep everything clean and lubed.

Joel