825i Shifting Problem - Thank You Forum!!!

[Aaron G]

I know this problem has been talked about in another page, but my 2011 825 was having this same shifting problem. I bought my machine as a demo model with 8 hrs on it and my dealer is replacing the primary clutch and drive belt under warranty. I guess I wanted to say thank for your guys for pointing me in this direction, as otherwise, I would have probably just accepted that the machien was "hard to shift". So again thank you guys for having this forum and bringing problems to everyone's attention.

Also, I'm glad I purchased John Deere instead of Polaris. My dealer is about 7 miles from home and they come get my machine and drop it back off when I have service work done. If I bought Polaris, I would have to load it up and drive 30 miles each way, as well as, the time it takes. So once again, thank you John Deere and thank you guys for having these forum pages.

[GATORDONE]

All i can say is :Thmup:

[catlarmen]

Hi,
This is the only thread I could find on this problem. We are having the same problem. I sent a msg to 825Joe.
What did you do to fix this?

Thanks, Larry

[Milezone]

I just got my machine back from the dealer and they tell me that the "hard to shift" is normal. Should I be concerned as mine is hard to shift at time, sometimes almost getting stuck in gear. Also it seems to be shifting more down and not in the right shifting location?

Milezone

[DIXIEDOG]

Hard to shift is not normal, they usually shift extremely well. I'm not sure it's an alignment thing or high idle issue but it should not be hard to shift at all. That being said make sure you wait until the engine has warmed up and is off high idle before you shift...under 1000 rpms at least.

[Milezone]

The johndeere dealer aervice told me it was,and yes hard to shift even when warm and idle is at 1000 or slightly less in fact sometimes it is just ry hard and i have to jam it out of gear. Maybe i need to take it somewhere else?

Milezone

[CaptDan]

Mine is not hard to shift and stays in gear ! maybe you need to talk to someone else !

Dan

[DIXIEDOG]

The johndeere dealer aervice told me it was,and yes hard to shift even when warm and idle is at 1000 or slightly less in fact sometimes it is just ry hard and i have to jam it out of gear. Maybe i need to take it somewhere else?

Milezone


The dealer is full of poo.....mine slips in and out of gear with ease and never pops out on it's own......you should not have to jam it in gear at all. I think you are wise to take it elsewhere.:Thmup:

[GATORDONE]

Sounds like your primary clutch is not releasing all the way which will cause this problem. How does it go into gear with the engine shut off?

[Milezone]

Never tried with off, but. Will do that when I ride tomorrow. The dealer is going to pick it up again and look it over. They still say that is normal but I will wait till next week to see what they do

[Milezone]

Actuallly it more gets stuck in drive than anything, going in gear is not bad, getting it out of gear is

[duling]

I may jinx myself but mine shifts very easily. My 4year old has no trouble shifting it

[JL825i]

I have the first year model the 825i were made. The first week I had it. I noticed that their was a rating noise coming from the front and it was hard to shift. I carried it back to the dealership and they looked at it and could not find any problems with it. I join this forum and reviewed post of others having similar problems. Thank you to the one who posted an official letter with problem code and solution code on how to fix it.
I contacted another dealership and they were aware of it and changed out the front drive shaft and replaced the clutch and belt. I have not had any problems with it since until last week. I got the opportunity to drive it up to 33 mph. Before we have never driven it over 24 mph. I carried to the dealership and they said I need to drive at variable speeds. Since I have not for the last two years and did the other day. They said the belt is probably stuck. It was hard to shift and when I cranked it up it acted like it was already in gear. I called them today and they said that they had changed the clutch and belt out again.

I was wondering if others are having the same problems. I don't want to have to drive the gator at various speeds to keep this from happening all the time. I am a big fan of John Deere and waited years for them to make a gator like the one they make today before I bought an utv. Obviously their is a problem. I wished John Deere will step up to the plate an take care of this problem. I asked another dealership about the clutches and they said that all the gators have the same clutch including the new gator and gators with diesel engines. I think they are going to make me pay for all of this because the warranty has ran out.

Is anyone having these problems and what has John Deere done for you to help with this problem.

Thanks to all who make comment back.

[tjudgejr]

I had the same problem and had to pay for a new belt and clutch out of warranty and only 60 hrs on it!

[purplewg]

Mine is in for the 3rd time. They claimed to have changed the clutch before but I suspect not. Fortunately I bought the extended warranty. I will be trading mine on something when it is "fixed" this time.

[jman]

I have a 2013 825i gator with gear shifting issues. It will be ~ stuck quickly and will not shift again after starting it up and driving Unless I turn it off first. Once off for about 3 seconds I can easily shift back to neutral, restart and go in either forward or reverse easily. However within seconds of driving, the gear shift becomes stuck again.. until I repeat the turn off/ on process.

seems like the repaired transmission wasn't installed correctly.. or is it a clutch problem or some sort of vapor or hydraulic locking?

[Bunky]

My clutch behaved somewhat like that. When warm it would refused to shift out of gear unless I turned it off.

[pville]

they are suppose to slip in and out of gear with ease... its probably your primary clutch. Griffin can modify them to never have this problem again. They are also setup to your specs for your specific machine.

[gatorgreen]

Mine had that problem before. Only got worse as time went by. 13 months later, the problem was to the point that i was afraid of damaging the transmission. Called John Deere. They stated it was one month out of warranty. Sorry. So...... removed the belt cover. Started the engine and rev'ed it up then let it idle. The belt never stopped turning. Killed the engine and pulled on the outer side of the clutch and it popped out a quarter of an inch. Removed the belt and cycled this a few more times with the same result. Long story short, with a small block of wood wedged in holding the primary clutch in the "closed" position, (bear with me, i don't know all the names of the items that make up the clutch) I could see where the center sliding part of the clutch was binding on the main clutch housing. With a small piece of medium grit sand paper wrapped around a short wooden paint paddle, i sanded the slider portion of the clutch housing where the center part slides in and out, making the pulley part narrow or wide. i did this two different times after the first time wasn't enough. I cleaned the clutch with carb cleaner, reinstalled the belt, and now when the engine idles down, the belt stops turning. I think some of the clutches are machined a little too tight. When i drive a very long time and the clutch heats up, it still takes a little longer for the belt to stop, but nothing like it was originally. Just what worked for me.

[bradhill]

Gatorgreen... Doesn't JD have a ongoing program to address clutch issues ??


Sent from my iPhone using my index finger

[GATORDONE]

P.I.P. 14mx242 is the program number deere is using to fix clutch problem on 825i, If machine is within 3 years of warranty start date (delivered date) and under 500 hrs it is eligible for the fix as fail program. This is only for machines under ser # 060000,

[gatorgreen]

The store i went to said nothing about it.
​I will check my serial number tomorrow. Thanks.

[Txcoastjason]

I'm on my third clutch fortunately all under warranty on my 2011 825i. The last one has been holding up so far. The symptoms were hard to shift unless turned off. Also popping out of gear. Definitely a clutch issue for those with similar symptoms. If this one fails. I'll have it rebuilt elsewhere.

[bradhill]

Check out the other forum, member "MBDiagMan" has been helping others with their clutch issues. He has a solution for sticky clutches

[rfraser]

Mine going in for dealer clutch fix as well. So hard to shift the gear shift eventually broke off from flexing back and forth. only 50hrs, warranty.

[BillT]

MBDiagMan's post about 825i shifting problems (http://www.gatorforums.net/forum/projects-how/1781-825i-shifter-adjustments.html#post22794) is linked here.

[rfraser]

Complete new clutch and new belt under warranty, seems 100% better so far. It never shifted this well from the day I bought it.