john deere l118 Fuel Tank replacment

cass hedley

Forum Newbie
Joined
Nov 4, 2017
Threads
3
Messages
3
Looking for an easy way to replace the fuel tank on a john deere L118
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
65
Messages
24,995
Remove the battery carrier then loosen the 4 bolts that hold the operator station / turret / dash whatever you want to call it
Remove the steering wheel or the steering gear underneath the engine so you can raise the afore mentioned turret about 1"
Remove the right rear wheel, the seat the seat springs.
You should now be able to lift the rear guard/ fender/ body pannel, or what ever name floats your boat enough to remove the fuel line & breather line ( where fitted )
Continue to lift the rear thingy and you will have enough space to wiggle the tank out to the right.

The difficult way is to remove the turret all together with all of the wiring & control cables.

The "I am so lazy I don't give a stuff" method is to remove the the seat & seat springs then jack up the guard which will bend & crease the panel where it goes under the turret and make a hump in the floor bards.
 

fiataccompli

Forum Newbie
Joined
Aug 27, 2018
Threads
1
Messages
3
oh, awesome...that relates to a question I just posted. It sounds like it's actually not such a difficult task to fully remove the "body"/"deck" (what is it?) and in my case, I need to look into a hacked steering gear anyway, so.....

There's a youtube video that's far too easy to find showing a guy changing a tank on one of these and doing what would appear to be bending the platform in order to barely wrestle the tank out.

I'm guessing a 115 (which is what I have) is not very different in this respect than the subject 118?
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
65
Messages
24,995
oh, awesome...that relates to a question I just posted. It sounds like it's actually not such a difficult task to fully remove the "body"/"deck" (what is it?) and in my case, I need to look into a hacked steering gear anyway, so.....

There's a youtube video that's far too easy to find showing a guy changing a tank on one of these and doing what would appear to be bending the platform in order to barely wrestle the tank out.

I'm guessing a 115 (which is what I have) is not very different in this respect than the subject 118?

Body work on them is all basically the same.
IF you have a Row In Reverse lock out there is a reverse switch that occasionally needs removal.
Two different steering systems fitted depending upon the model.
One the wheel comes off & the steering shaft drops down & the other a nut comes off the bottom & the shaft complete with wheel pulls up.
In both cases there will be a hole in the fan gear to align the steering when you do it back up.
While the shaft is up /out check the bush at the bottom.
Some are plastic & they wear badly then the teeth don't mesh properly so you end up having to do a lot of replacements.
Metal ones like a shot of oil.
Take a photo of the cruise control & parking brake connections.
Some times you have to unhook them some times you don't and the tiny spring will end up in that parallel universe along with all those missing left socks & car keys.
 

fiataccompli

Forum Newbie
Joined
Aug 27, 2018
Threads
1
Messages
3
many thanks. Yep, I figured on this one I'd do everything as right as I can...which isn't particularly hard other than a couple of the front bolts for the "body" having to have been cut off with a grinder...not sure yet if I'm going to drill these out or make new fittings with threaded inserts. Steering seemed straight-foward, I got a kit (maybe only needed bushings & the new ones are also plastic) and the old one had badly worn bushings & a loose pinion gear...probably could have tightened it down but it was all pretty worn & the new parts weren't expensive. Figured I'd also do the main drive belt while I'm there (hope to not dig into it again, actually) and I've treated both sides of the "body" & repainted most of it...chassis cleaned, detailed, etc. and after all that, I guess I need to make the mowing deck nice, so heck it might get new bearings (or however those are sold) for the blades, along w/ fresh paint for it and welding up a spot that was previously cracked & welded up but with a gap in the deck.
 
Top