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I have a John Deere GT 235 in the shop and the customer is stating the brakes will not hold. The local dealer is uncooperative when I called requesting to purchase a service manual for this particular machine (customer frequently brings machines in for service.) Can anyone help? I would greatly appreciate it.

christophert said:

I have a John Deere GT 235 in the shop and the customer is stating the brakes will not hold. The local dealer is uncooperative when I called requesting to purchase a service manual for this particular machine (customer frequently brings machines in for service.) Can anyone help? I would greatly appreciate it.

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The reason I need the manual is I need the directions to adjust the brakes. Does anyone know that procedure?

mechanic mark said:

https://www.google.com/search?q=tec.....69i57j33.25049j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

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Attaching snips from the official Deere tech manual. If those steps don't fix the problem, you will have to go inside the transmission. (I work at a dealership) Good luck!

mechanic mark said:

https://www.google.com/search?q=tec.....69i57j33.25049j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

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Thanks for the help!

Will1988 said:

Attaching snips from the official Deere tech manual. If those steps don't fix the problem, you will have to go inside the transmission. (I work at a dealership) Good luck!

View attachment 45087View attachment 45088

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The Technical Manual are available here

And John Deer will also sell direct to the public. https://techpubs.deere.com/
I made the mistake of buying one from a manual vendor and it was trash.'
Only worked in a specific Windows version of acrobat and even then some of the illustrations will not open.
The wiring diagrams are almost impossible to read.
Won't ever do that again.

Will1988 said:

(I work at a dealership) Good luck!

View attachment 45087View attachment 45088

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Got a question for you will1988. Had a customer bring me a GT225 with a Kohler CV15 on it with lots of hours. Smoking and low on compression. He asked 2 different Deere dealers if they would look at it. Both told him they didn't do engine work on mowers. They both said that they would replace the motor for around 2k. I did a full rebuild on it, piston and rings, valves, hone cylinder, rebuild carb. Runs like new. I know both dealerships charge $98/hr labor rate and swapping engines would probably be a wash dollar wise. Funny thing is both dealerships told him they would not warranty the engine work even if they did it. Is this standard procedure for Deere dealerships? Another non Deere dealer told him they would only put a new engine on because they didn't have anybody who could rebuild an engine. Just curious
Thanks

Hammer, I suspect the main issue is the cost to rebuild an engine properly can quickly approach the cost of a replacement engine. Also engine manufacturers would warranty the parts for 90 days only, and that would relate directly to if the repairing dealer did everything right, so there is a high risk of the manufacturer claiming that the person that did the rebuild didn't do something right leading to the failure. I myself normally don't do rebuilds -on engines that can be replaced for under $2k since a proper rebuild can sometimes run in the $700-1200 range.

I kinda figured that cost wise for a dealer to rebuild vs. replace would be similar. I did it along with some deck work for right at $1k. He was happy, the mower was worth it. One dealer around here won't even fix a blown head gasket unless under warranty. A lot of my business is from people with older equipment dealers just don't want to work on. At $98/hr taking that 20 yr old Craftsman AYP mower in is just not worth it. Dealers around here want $300 to do annual service on a rider. Not an unfair price but i am half that. I am not taking any work from dealers as they backup 4 to 5 weeks by June. In fact, the JD dealer i get my parts from likes i work on old stuff they don't want to. There are lots of 20 year old green mowers around me. I was a field service rep for a company for 40 years. If a customer didn't have a sercice contract we charged $360 to walk in the door. That covered the first 15 mins. Some of the service contracts were $1000/day. After 40 years just got tired of the 50-60 hour weeks and the 2:00AM callouts. Lawn mowers are a lot more fun and much less stressful.

I am somewhat the same as Illengine.
I get really good prices on Kawasaki engines & push the customer towards the replacement particularly as Kawasaki is giving 3 year waranties.
I offer a "trade in" on their old engine which is about 1/2 the difference between the RRP & the actual price of the engine and that pushes most into the new motor deal.
the old engines are either rebuilt when there is nothing happening so my labour is effectivly $ 0 or stripped for parts & scrap

Hammermechanicman said:

Got a question for you will1988. Had a customer bring me a GT225 with a Kohler CV15 on it with lots of hours. Smoking and low on compression. He asked 2 different Deere dealers if they would look at it. Both told him they didn't do engine work on mowers. They both said that they would replace the motor for around 2k. I did a full rebuild on it, piston and rings, valves, hone cylinder, rebuild carb. Runs like new. I know both dealerships charge $98/hr labor rate and swapping engines would probably be a wash dollar wise. Funny thing is both dealerships told him they would not warranty the engine work even if they did it. Is this standard procedure for Deere dealerships? Another non Deere dealer told him they would only put a new engine on because they didn't have anybody who could rebuild an engine. Just curious
Thanks

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Sorry for my slow response. I haven't been on in a few weeks. Usually dealerships will stand behind their work (i.e. if a failure occurs due to something not put together right), but parts are usually only a 90 day warranty. And having someone who can reliably rebuild engines is getting more rare everyday, especially with small engines. That is simply because the cost to replace the engine versus rebuilding it is usually a wash. In the 22 years I have been in the dealership, I have only rebuilt 1 engine. That was on an old 110 that someone was restoring.