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Gator 620i gas in engine oil
AllisMan;
I haven't noticed a problem yet with out XUV 620i. It varys from a hard couple hours to a five minute run to the mailbox. I'm kind of a wacko when it comes to oil and filter changes on small equipment like mowers, Gators and the like. Probably none of them run more than 25-30 hours between changes, so if I do have a gas in the oil problenm I just never knew it. My reasoning is that with Gators and mowers easily topping ten grand I don't mind a ten dollar oil and filter change that might add up to 40 or 50 bucks a year. I know they have good air filter systems but most of those little engines sit right down where all the dirt gets to them.
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Gator 620i gas in engine oil
As I said in a prior post I likely change oil too often to catch the problem if I do have it.
I've been greener than a tree hugger for the past 20-25 yrs. more because of the dealership than to make the Deere quarterly report look good. But as has been said this isn't a cheap Chineese POS knock off, Deere is supposed to be somewhat of a standard of quality, which they have been in most but not all things they have built.
From as many reports as I have seen and heard about with this problem Deere does need to approach this as something of a their fault issue rather than always a customer fault issue. I don't feel real happy with a 12 grand supposed to be a standard of the industry machine in my shed that may need an engine at 300 hours.
You guys with the known problem I urge to put the squirm on Deere and keep us up to speed.
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Gator 620i gas in engine oil
So far mine hasn't been a problem, but as I said before I'm kind of a wacko on frequent oil changes on small engines. All our small equipment is water cooled. As an exapmle our 345 riders that get "rode hard and put away wet" so to speak get an oil and filter change at 50 hrs. instead of the OM recommendation of 100 hrs. 4310 tractor 50 hrs. instead of 100, the 620I 25 hrs. It does get used hard enough to have the fan kick on, but also maybe 50% of the hrs. are mailbox time. so far I haven't noticed a fuel smell from the drain oil.
I'm not totally up on the workings of the 620I cooling system but my assumptions are that coolant flow from the engine is controlled by a thermostat at the engine coolant outlet. Ok now another assumption. The 620I has a pretty small coolant capacity in the engine block and heads, the long hoses to the front of the Gator plus the capacity of the radiator probasbly hold 75-80% of all the coolant involved. I don't know what the temperature of the coolant should be when it re enters the engine from the radiator and hoses. My guess is that by the time the coolant gets back to the engine it is too cold to keep the block warm enough to have a proper operating temperature.
When we farmed we had a lot of late model high hp. Deere equipment, when you have a lot of equipment there will be problems regardless of the color. I can think of a couple times when a problem came up that wasn't casused by improper use, I pled my case to the dealer and big daddy Deere in rational terms. Once Deere did fix it and extended the warranty to five years, the problem didn't reoccur. Another time Deere as it appears they're doing with the Gators kinda gave me the brush off so the dealer kicked in and took care of it at his, (not small) expense, that's why to this day thye're the only dealership I do business with. There are lots of other good dealerships around regardless of color who likely would have did the same, but that builds customer loyalty.
Frank.
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Gator 620i gas in engine oil
Ejack;
I'm by no means defending Deere, I own no stock etc. and knowing that others have had the Gator oil issue that the have more or less said too bad buy a new engine doesn't build my loyalty with me to to Deere only to the dealer I work with. Unless they do make good to the owners of the bad 620I's I'll have a hard time recommending one to anybody who asks.
This dealership does have one of the largest small equipment sales in the aeria and has sold lots of Gators, the service manager tells me they had only one so far with the oil problem.
Sometimes I think a lazy dealeship who don't want to make waves, or doesn't have the guts to buck the manufacturer will just pass a customer off with lame excuses rather than ruffle any feathers that may infuence their "Dealer Of the Year" award. I've always felt my dealer did what he could for me but I've also have never been afraid to find the custopmer relations phone and sorta go direct to the ones who can if they choose correct your problem, so even tho you have found a more helpfull dealer don't hesitate to go direct to the ones who may have the ultimate power to help you.
Just as an unrelated example the picture windows in our house are Andersen brand. Roughly about 7-8 years after the house was built the seal between the inner and outer glass failed letting moisture between. I contactd the lumber yard where we got all the materials for the house. The manager whom I've known and did 98% of all my lumber business with for the past 30 years. His response was that if he or anyone from the yard calls Andersen they just more or less say too bad sell em some new ones. His experience had been that if the cunsumer, (me) called Andersen direct that they usually come across with some help. It took only one phone call describing our problem, the age of the windows, etc., no hjassle whatever. The person whom I spoke with said if you will pay the instalation costs, about 150.00 I think the new windows will cost you nothing. Done deal.
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Gator 620i gas in engine oil
We had an HPX till the XUV came out with fuel injection. It seems that every company that's been around a while has built a model of this or that which wasn't a demonstration of their best engeneering. Ours was always a pain to get started when cold and there didn't seem to be any fix for the problem.
I was ready to trade the HPX for any color other than green but the dealer asked me to try the fuel injected XUV. I did demo it, liked it and traded. I'm not sure what year that was but the XUV's were new, I think I bought the first one from the dealership. So far it has never failed to start and keep running cold or hot.
The gas in the oil thing, I'd never heard of the problem till after the XUV's had been around a while. So far we haven't had the problem with any Gator, but perhaps I change the engine oil too often to have any gas buildup. Whatever the oil change interval is shown in an owners manual for any small engine I cut it in half for example a 100 hour interval in the book I change at 50 hrs.
Frank.
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Gator 620i gas in engine oil
I'm not doubting anyone who tells of the gas in the oil situation. We still have the same 620i that we bought when they first came with fuel injection I don't remember the hours, I'd have to look but I'm guessing 500+.
Maybe a few habits we have that others don't that may effect the oil problem.
1 - We seldom use it in the winter.
2 - Use only the recommended grade of Deere branded engine oil.
3 - It gets used for longer periods of time, sometimes a couple hours without shutting the engine off.
4 - I tend to change the engine oil much more often in the Gator, or any small engine that holds a quart or so of oil than the owners manual recommends.
I really don't know if any or all of my habits contribute to not having the problem, but so far we haven't. I smell the oil every time I drain it.
Frank.
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