When a product review or replacement comes to our attention, we like to pass it along to the consumer. Many of you (and I mean MANY of you) have a John Deere lawn tractor that has or had a fuel tank that leaks at the seam. This tank was really lackluster design from the beginning and John Deere listened to what you had to say about it - kind of.
This fuel tank failure affected thousands of entry level John Deere lawn tractors and left a bad taste in the mouths of many home owners, especially first time JD buyers. Most people anticipate having to replace a battery, a tire, some mower blades - but a fuel tank?? That's not the skill set that most Mr. John Q. Homeowners have nor do they want to deal with the headache and mess this creates.
Fast forward a bit. John Deere engineers came up with a new style of fuel tank for the machines that are or were affected. This included a BIG list of popular lawn tractors include the John Deere 102, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145, 155C, 190C, D100, D105, D110, L100, L107, L108, L110, L111, L120, L130, LA100, LA105, LA110, LA115, LA120, LA130, LA140, LA150, X110, X120 and X140. As you can see - that is a lot of leaking fuel! The picture above shows the newer designed fuel tank for these machines (except those with a 54" deck) and as you can see, this is a seamless style of tank (where the problem originally was). BUT..............wait for it..............the tank is also much smaller than what was originally in the machines from the factory. Much. Smaller. While we applaud John Deere for coming up with a fast solution to this potentially dangerous problem, we question whether or not a product improvement program or recall might have been the more appropriate road here.
If you have mechanical experience you should be able to remove and replace your tank with the new John Deere Fuel Tank relatively easily. If not, contact your local John Deere dealer for repairs. Below is a video posted online on how to change out this fuel tank. Good luck and happy mowing!
Two weeks ago the fuel tank on my JD 102 started leaking fuel. On further checking my local mechanic discovered the tank was leaking due seam separation on the tank. The replacement tank and parts cost was $139.21 and labor $60.00. How do I go about getting reimbursement from John Deere? marvanddiana@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteGood luck with that. I contacted John Deere & asked why they didn't announce a recall on this obviously defective fuel tank. Let's see -if there's thousands of failures of the same part, due to the same defect...what does it take to conclude there's a part that's worthy of a recall. JD said they dont have enough complaints to justify a recall - yet they certainly deleted that part & replaced it with another! They sent me a 30% off coupon - on the part, not labor. I'll be doing my own repair. I guess someone needs to contact some consumer watchdog agency. I normally do not believe that anyone owes anyone anything. This however is very different. It is a DEFECTIVE PART!!!
DeleteDoes anyone know why it wont work for the 54" deck? The replacement part for the 54" deck I'm steered to is almost $400 AND STILL HAS A SEAM in it. Seems like a lot of money to pay for a design flaw.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone tried to repair their tank? Like maybe JB weld the seams?
ReplyDeleteYes I've tried to repair the tank. Even asked at auto parts & was told there's really not any effective sealant - gas leak will dissolve anything you try to seal it with.
ReplyDeleteHere's EXACTLY what needs to be done - I've already filed a complaint with the Consumer Product Safety Commission under: "John Deere leaking gas tank". We need more customers to just take the time to DO THE SAME THING. John Deere has & will continue to ignore this BLATANT "defective part". They obviously know this part is defective since the part that they've replaced it with, the part they expect you to order & pay to have installed, is no longer a 2-piece glued together tank but rather a 1-piece molded tank. If enough people, of the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of customers that have been effected by this defective part will contact the CPSC.gov & file a complaint, John Deere will issue a recall & properly take care of this responsibility.
Forgot to mention this - my mower is stored in a detached shed. If your mower is stored in an attached garage, BE SURE TO MENTION THAT!! That leaking gas tank could lead to a fire - IN YOUR HOME!! I have a permanent stain on flooring in my shed from leaking gas - until I figured out to not add gas above split in tank. So yes, this leaking gas tank is a dangerous hazard.
ReplyDeleteI farmed for many years with the dependable JD line of equipment. Now I discover their lawn mower LA130 gas tank has a leak. Dealer says there is NO replacement and NO fix. Mower works very well. Can't
ReplyDeleteI have also filed a complain with the Consumer Product Safety Commission
ReplyDeleteno recalls on the 102 and my tank is split $447 aud later ,i will be lodging a complaint very dangerous fault
ReplyDelete