[cableguy65]

I am currently having my mahindra 1526 shuttle shift dry clutch tractor inspected by a warrantee service center and they are telling me that the clutch is not covered under the 7 year warranty. I have 102.7 hours on it and the clutch is slipping so bad that i had to drive it back home 1/4 mile in 1st gear low range gust to get it to move. I grew up driving tractors with a dry clutch so i am used to the way you treat them by not riding the clutch pedal and taking care when engaging it. The manager asked me if the clutch ever stuck and yes it did on several occasions and i had to get it rolling, throw it into 2nd or 3rd gear and drive it is a circle gunning the engine to load the clutch disc while pressing the pedal down for about 5 minutes to break it loose. I tried the lock bail on the pedal but it did not disengage the clutch enough to keep it from sticking and after a couple times of doing this, the pedal felt soft like there wasn't as much push back from the springs on the pressure plate. That being said, the service center is saying that i am to blame for the clutch wear and to repair it is totally my expense, parts and labor. My tractor is a 2018 model and has been great up to this point but now is useless. I see many posts on this issue and i am seeing and also told by the service manager that water gets into the housings and starts this issue. The gear and clutch levers come into the side of the transmission housing so i don't see how water could get into the clutch housing. Factory defect? I don't feel that this is my fault and wonder what recourse i have going forward to get it fixed other than doing it myself and eating the cost and down time. Anyone else having this issue dealing with Mahindra on a failed dry clutch so early and not warranteed? What have you found out? Lemon laws? I am currently waiting to pick up my tractor from the service center, unrepaired and researching clutch replacement parts. Not sure if factory parts will last so looking at aftermarket reliability also before beginning this process. Any input would be appreciated, Thanks.

 

[pogobill]

Welcome to the forum. There may be some sort of liability that Mahindra has for faulty parts, but it seems that wear items such as brakes, clutches, etc. are not covered. LS, for instance, only covers the transmission housing, the clutch housing and the like.
Other than that, I'm afraid I can't help you. Hopefully others will chime in and offer some advise or assistance.

 

[cableguy65]

Thank you for the reply. I am already looking at having to replace the clutch myself, not looking forward to it and it will probably void any further warranty I may have left but I'm sure I can do it faster and cheaper than the service center that gave me 6 week estimate on replacement time. Just tired of warrantees that really are useless these days, just basically empty words to get your business.

 

[Fedup]

It's not just Mahindra. Dry brakes and a dry clutch have always been considered a fair wear item, and most tractor manufacturers have never warrantied worn linings/facings on such. It's true that sales personnel will often omit that fact at the "negotiating table", but it's standard practice and has been for years. Warranty on dry clutches will only cover defective or physically broken parts or components. Worn linings (if that is/was indeed the problem in your case) are considered "your fault".

As for a sticking clutch plate, that's not likely to be much of a factor in the case of a worn lining. The spongy feel of the clutch pedal during operation, that's another matter. Weak pressure plate spring tension/compression might be something worth fighting over. You may get lucky there. Once it's apart you should inspect the pressure plate assembly carefully for any possible reasons for a failure of this type. If you can pinpoint something there you may have a chance. It's often a matter of how much the service department is willing to fight for you.

 

[cableguy65]

It's not just Mahindra. Dry brakes and a dry clutch have always been considered a fair wear item, and most tractor manufacturers have never warrantied worn linings/facings on such. It's true that sales personnel will often omit that fact at the "negotiating table", but it's standard practice and has been for years. Warranty on dry clutches will only cover defective or physically broken parts or components. Worn linings (if that is/was indeed the problem in your case) are considered "your fault".

As for a sticking clutch plate, that's not likely to be much of a factor in the case of a worn lining. The spongy feel of the clutch pedal during operation, that's another matter. Weak pressure plate spring tension/compression might be something worth fighting over. You may get lucky there. Once it's apart you should inspect the pressure plate assembly carefully for any possible reasons for a failure of this type. If you can pinpoint something there you may have a chance. It's often a matter of how much the service department is willing to fight for you.

It's not just Mahindra. Dry brakes and a dry clutch have always been considered a fair wear item, and most tractor manufacturers have never warrantied worn linings/facings on such. It's true that sales personnel will often omit that fact at the "negotiating table", but it's standard practice and has been for years. Warranty on dry clutches will only cover defective or physically broken parts or components. Worn linings (if that is/was indeed the problem in your case) are considered "your fault".

As for a sticking clutch plate, that's not likely to be much of a factor in the case of a worn lining. The spongy feel of the clutch pedal during operation, that's another matter. Weak pressure plate spring tension/compression might be something worth fighting over. You may get lucky there. Once it's apart you should inspect the pressure plate assembly carefully for any possible reasons for a failure of this type. If you can pinpoint something there you may have a chance. It's often a matter of how much the service department is willing to fight for you.

Thanks for the information, I will have to break the tractor in half to find out or pay Mahindra service center #2k to do it just so I'll know. I'll post any findings later as I have them so anyone else may benefit from my experience with this issue. Regards.

 

[cableguy65]

It's not just Mahindra. Dry brakes and a dry clutch have always been considered a fair wear item, and most tractor manufacturers have never warrantied worn linings/facings on such. It's true that sales personnel will often omit that fact at the "negotiating table", but it's standard practice and has been for years. Warranty on dry clutches will only cover defective or physically broken parts or components. Worn linings (if that is/was indeed the problem in your case) are considered "your fault".

As for a sticking clutch plate, that's not likely to be much of a factor in the case of a worn lining. The spongy feel of the clutch pedal during operation, that's another matter. Weak pressure plate spring tension/compression might be something worth fighting over. You may get lucky there. Once it's apart you should inspect the pressure plate assembly carefully for any possible reasons for a failure of this type. If you can pinpoint something there you may have a chance. It's often a matter of how much the service department is willing to fight for you.

Finally, some good news! I picked up my tractor today at the service center but as i loaded it on the trailer, I dumped the clutch in 2nd gear at 1500 rpm and it kept running just like before. The service center said they couldn't recreate the situation even after I told them exactly how. I took the tractor home, thought about the clutch feeling spongy after locking the pedal bail a few times to prevent the clutch disc locking up while sitting a month or so. I thought I would try one last thing before breaking the tractor in half myself because the warrantee and/or the service center wasn't going to cover it. I grabbed a 4 pound shop hammer and depressed the clutch with my hand, hit the clutch lever coming out of the transmission to push it past the travel from the linkage and immediately there was improvement! Having proved my suspicions that some of the pressure plate fingers had frozen in place due to the bail on the pedal holding it disengaged for long periods, I pulled the tractor in my shop, disconnected the linkage and slipped a pipe over the clutch housing lever and worked it back and forth many times to free the pressure plate fingers and springs. After reassembly, the clutch acted normally again! I could put the tractor in any gear, dump the clutch and the engine would stop immediately from 1500 rpm. I pulled the drain plug on the clutch housing section and there was no water but the plug was damp with some clutch plate residue on it which looked normal to me. There was not enough clearance to insert a bore scope camera so i just installed the plug and lubed the clutch lever on the outside with penetrating oil and worked the tractor a while. Anyone else with issues like soft pedal and clutch slippage should at least try this before doing a deep dive into the tractor, I got lucky but if i hadn't tried this first, i would still be taking my tractor apart now just to see what's going on. Thank you to all who replied to my posts and I hope this helps someone else going forward. Regards.

 

[Fedup]

Finally, some good news! I picked up my tractor today at the service center but as i loaded it on the trailer, I dumped the clutch in 2nd gear at 1500 rpm and it kept running just like before. The service center said they couldn't recreate the situation even after I told them exactly how. I took the tractor home, thought about the clutch feeling spongy after locking the pedal bail a few times to prevent the clutch disc locking up while sitting a month or so. I thought I would try one last thing before breaking the tractor in half myself because the warrantee and/or the service center wasn't going to cover it. I grabbed a 4 pound shop hammer and depressed the clutch with my hand, hit the clutch lever coming out of the transmission to push it past the travel from the linkage and immediately there was improvement! Having proved my suspicions that some of the pressure plate fingers had frozen in place due to the bail on the pedal holding it disengaged for long periods, I pulled the tractor in my shop, disconnected the linkage and slipped a pipe over the clutch housing lever and worked it back and forth many times to free the pressure plate fingers and springs. After reassembly, the clutch acted normally again! I could put the tractor in any gear, dump the clutch and the engine would stop immediately from 1500 rpm. I pulled the drain plug on the clutch housing section and there was no water but the plug was damp with some clutch plate residue on it which looked normal to me. There was not enough clearance to insert a bore scope camera so i just installed the plug and lubed the clutch lever on the outside with penetrating oil and worked the tractor a while. Anyone else with issues like soft pedal and clutch slippage should at least try this before doing a deep dive into the tractor, I got lucky but if i hadn't tried this first, i would still be taking my tractor apart now just to see what's going on. Thank you to all who replied to my posts and I hope this helps someone else going forward. Regards.

Sounds good. If it were my choice I would remove the plug and put it on a shelf somewhere. Leave the hole open.

 

[cableguy65]

Sounds good. If it were my choice I would remove the plug and put it on a shelf somewhere. Leave the hole open.

I thought about installing a breather plug in it's place. It's located directly on the bottom of the housing and somewhat protected by the subframe of the loader attachment frame that goes all the way from front grill to the rear axles with a 2" wide x 1/4" thick cross member plate just about 2" below the plug so no chance that brush or obstacles will hit it. Probably have to use a 3/8" pipe thread differential breather with crimped cap, a cintered brass breather plug would probably get stopped up with dust and debris too quickly. I'm just still amazed that I was able to get the tractor back to normal so easily and quickly, just wish I had thought of doing that sooner. I just worked the tractor again for about an hour and no issues at all. I called the service manager at the dealer and offered the tip to him for his toolbox of tricks but also kind of took a little pleasure in showing him up about this issue.
I will discuss any other issues and remedies I find in the future for my John deere 555C dozer, Deutz 30, 40 and 45 hp tractors, 1526 Mahindra front loader/backhoe and TYM 105 hp cab front end loader models I have. Thanks to all that replied and good luck on you're endeavors. Regards.

 

[Busted Tractor]

Having been on both sides of the counter, I have been "educated" on warranties. Most folks never read the warranty statement and just assume it covers anything that ca or could go wrong no matter the cause of failure.

Most warranty statement spell out exactly what is covered and what is not. Covered= Defect in material and workmanship Not usually covered = wear items, clutches brakes, tires, belts, filters, oil, etc
That said sometimes dealers will take care of so small items that come up without submitting a warranty request. Even at that most dealers will try their best to honor warranties, because it is good for business

A few years ago a fellow brought a nearly new engine and plopped it on the counter. "It won't turn over, It's warranty" sure enough pull the rope and the engine followed the rope. I explained that the engine would have to be torn down and pictures sent to Briggs, toc see they considered it warranty. First words out of his mouth "It better be warranty, I just got it". So I explained to him that Briggs has the final say and we could not make the final decision. I also explained that once the engine was torn down it would be evident what caused the failure. At that his tone changed slightly and he said "OK I'll check in about a week. Found the engine full of new oil, and when torn down revealed it had been started initially with no oil, the rod was welded to the crank. That engine sat in the shop for many months, he never came back for it.

Another time a fellow came in and threw a fan belt on the counter "It's warranty" he stated. The boss overheard that and knew the customer and tractor. He inquired "how old is the tractor?'" The customer grouchily answered "I guess about twelve years old". The boss a kind of witty soul looked at him and said "Don't you ever own that tractor?" Yep no warranty for him.

There were also some good out comes. An MF combine threw a rod and it went thru the oil pan. The service rep was eager to decline it because it was one day out of warranty. The failure was caused by the factory leaving a rod bolt loose. So I requested he demonstrate proper predelivery, as we had just sold another combine. I told him I hoped he was ready to spend a week there as we were going to have to tear the combine completely apart and reassemble it. Warranty honored!
I have more but that is enough mayhem for now.