September 27 -- “Nothing runs like a Deere,” says John Deere’s slogan. And for years, Consumer Reports’ rigorous tests and brand-repair surveys have consistently borne that out for the company’s lawn tractors, which have been tops in CR’s performance Ratings and reviews and in our annual reliability surveys. That’s why we were especially surprised by three recent recalls of Deere tractors announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in just three days.
The recalls affect seven models of John Deere lawn tractors and more than 55,000 machines overall, and include hardware failures for the tractor brakes and blade-braking system along with an engine fan that breaks, causing the engine to overheat and possibly catch fire. The Deere-related recalls were based on information Deere reported to the CPSC on its own and came only days after the company’s oldest factory celebrated its 100th anniversary.
After we reported on the recalls, Consumer Reports interviewed representatives from John Deere to better understand what went wrong and to ask the questions owners and consumers might ask. We also spoke with Kawasaki, which makes the engine involved in the breaking fans. What we found suggests that Deere is taking some smart steps to address the problems and prevent them from reoccurring. But our research also indicated that the engine-fan problem could affect other equipment from some commercial brands.
Engine-fan failures
“Something in the mix went awry,” is how Greg Weekes, a John Deere group product marketing manager, described what went wrong with the composite cooling fan on the Kawasaki FS541V engines used in Deere’s X300, X300R, and X304 Select Series tractors. Kawasaki had modified its engines to comply with the latest restrictions from the Environmental Protection Agency on engine emissions, said Weekes. He confirmed that the fan design hadn’t been changed, but that the problem lay in a faulty batch of fans from a supplier.
Of about 36,500 lawn tractors sold nationwide at John Deere dealers between September 2010 and July 2011, the recall notice reported 163 failures, including 83 incidents of engines melting or engine fires and one minor burn injury. The repair is free—John Deere said that its dealer technicians can do the repair on the homeowner’s premises or will pay for transporting the tractor to the dealer if necessary.
Kawasaki sells the same engine to other outdoor-equipment manufacturers, including Exmark and Bob-Cat—two commercial brands. While there have been no other recalls related to this engine, Kawasaki has issued a service bulletin to its distributors instructing them to replace the assembly, at company expense, when a unit is taken into the shop for any reason. Our advice to lawn pros: Take Kawasaki up on its free offer.
Brake and blade-brake failures
Two of the John Deere recalls resulted after sharp-eyed staffers spotted fallen bolts in both the assembly area and on a warehouse floor, where the tractors awaited shipment. That, once Deere contacted the CPSC, ultimately resulted in two recalls. One recall was of roughly 15,500 John Deere model D100, D110 (photo), D120, and D130 lawn tractors sold nationwide at Deere dealers, Home Depot, and Lowe’s from December 2010 through September 2011. The hardware used to hold the mower blade-brake assemblies on the mower decks was breaking. A similar recall, in which hardware used to hold the brake assembly to the transmission was breaking, resulted in the recall of 5,200 D100 units sold nationwide—except in California—at John Deere dealers, Home Depot, and Lowe’s from October 2010 through September 2011. About 1,920 D100 models fall under both recalls.
According to John Deere, the stray bolts had broken loose because of hydrogen embrittlement—a manufacturing defect that can occur during the baking process when bolts and other fasteners are electroplated for corrosion resistance. After the process, the metal fasteners became brittle and snapped when tightened. The problem is especially hard to spot, says Deere, since breakages can occur as long as 48 hours after assembly. The company told us it is moving to a pricier manufacturing process for its fasteners to preclude further hydrogen embrittlement.
What to do
Consumer Reports has tested and recommended three of the recalled John Deere models: the X300, X304, and D110 (a CR Best Buy). We bought our test models before the problems first arose and found no such issues during our tests. The three recall notices list serial numbers for the models included. John Deere is sending letters to all registered owners. You can also call the company at 800-537-8233 or visit www.johndeere.com for more information. The free repair applies no matter where you purchased your tractor, including Home Depot or Lowe’s, where Deere has posted recall notices.
