First breakdown with the 757

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 9, 2008
Messages
6,366
Location
Midwest
Yesterday mid-morning I started mowing with my John Deere 757. After about 45 minutes I realized that it sounded strange. I stopped mowing, pulled it into the shop, and sure enough the left head gasket had failed. I put my big fan on it for about 20 minutes to cool it off, and then pulled it apart.

Once it was apart I cleaned up and drove over to the local Deere dealership. They had everything I needed with the exception of a replacement head-the head wasn't perfectly flat so I decided to just replace it. Another Deere dealership about 30 minutes away had one, and they'd have it sent over by the end of the day.

I took everything else I needed home, and about 2 hours later a Deere dealership employee pulled up into the driveway with the new head. After signing for it, I put things back together, fired it up, and finished mowing. All together it took around 2 hours of actual repair work, an hour getting the parts, and a 2 hour wait for the head.

It's rare to have a breakdown, but it's nice knowing that when I do I have nearly every part as close as the local dealership, and the few odd parts that aren't available there can be had in a couple of hours.

Who says quality customer service is dead?
 
Well, the color of that John Deere paint is really close to the color of the green ink that the US Treasury uses for their seal, on 100 dollar bills.

(I'm kidding... I have 2 JD's in the shed myself).

Locally, all of the JD dealerships have been bought out by one mega-dealer (including the dealership that is 3 miles away), and now I have to go about 45 miles (one-way) to get to a good dealer.

The dealer who is 45 miles away realizes that I *want* to give them my business, despite the distance between us, and they've turned up the customer support to an 11.

If I have an issue, I can call them and speak to the L&G mechanic. If the mechanic thinks he needs to work on it, he'll schedule me in as soon as he can.

If he thinks I can fix it myself, he'll tell me what to do, and will ship out the parts that I need via UPS, and I'll get them the next morning.... or he'll have the parts that I need gathered up and sitting in a box on the counter when I get there.
 
Deere service and parts supply is legendary, so all that money does buy more than just a pretty green and yellow paint job. It wasn't that long ago that I could still get parts for my old '66 JD 110 *lawn* tractor. I wish I'd laid in more parts, I'm getting an itch to restore it and its going to have to be a part-hunt project, now.

I can still get new parts for the '96 lawn tractor.
 
JD dealer service is like everything else. It varies by ownership and location. Being in Iowa probably helps the situation in your case.

We, too, have excellent dealers that bend over backward to get the job done. It comes at a price. I diagnosed a bad Omron electric relay in my workplace JD compact tractor. JD wanted $89 for the part. I purchased it at a local Subaru dealer for about $28, and we know car dealer part markup is pretty high to start with.

I see that head is available on line for about $175. But, it is probably good that you paid a bit more through John Deere, as John Deere occasionally has Kawasaki spec. things to proprietary JD standards. I had a 2 cyl. Kawasaki mower engine that JD spec'd plastic camshafts in. When the dealer pulled the engine apart for a defective water pump (warranteed), they recommended I replace the camshaft while apart to "save" some $$(not warranteed, LOL). It is good that you have the skills to do this yourself, as dealer repair would have approached $800 or more.

John Deere issued a service bulletin around 2008 to address this common problem in their 757:

"Solution Summary: 737/757 Engine Overheat kit

Publication Date: Aug 8 2008 ..............

NOTE: Maximum head warp specification is .002”

5. If you have a machine that has a head damage described above, order and install Heavy Duty Overheat Kit....... This repair is not covered under normal warranty.............."
 
Oh! A John Deere!

Here I was thinking about Boeings...because the recent topics doesn't show the forum in which it's posted...just the title...

grin.gif
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately, the service from the closest JD dealer to me (which is a multi-location mega-dealer) is sub-par. My mom and dad found that out first hand this month. I believe they would buy from someone else next time (and it might even be outside the JD brand).
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Oh! A John Deere!

Here I was thinking about Boeings...because the recent topics doesn't show the forum in which it's posted...just the title...

grin.gif



My first thought also. But my mom and grandparents worked for Boeing.

I find it interesting looking at other manufacturers parts diagrams. Some are awesome, some leave a lot to be desired.
 
That is really nice to hear about how that dealer got you that part so fast. Glad to know there are still companies who care about the customer.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top