John Deere 2940 Problems (6 Reasons Explained)

While driving a John Dree 2940, you should be familiar with the engine issues, hydraulic system issues, 3-point hitch problems, electrical problems, steering and transmission issues. 

Now go through this content to learn something more in detail about your John Deere 2940 aka JD 2940. Know the simple DIY methods to get rid of hypertension over a silly issue.

Quick Overview of John Deere 2940 Issues and Troubleshooting

Issues	Solutions
Engine doesn’t start	Fixing fuel filter, bleeding air out of fuel system, repairing or replacing injection nozzles or fuel injection pump
Engine stalls	Warm up the engine and adjust the pump timing
Engine overheating	Change the radiator cap, and fan belt or clean the core and refill the cooling system
Engine being noisy	Sufficient engine oil, replace broken pistons
Engine stops while idling	Adjust the idle speed, check and adjust valve clearance
Overheated hydraulic system	Proper hydraulic oil type, clean and fix the filter and leaks
Low hydraulic fluid pressure	Refill hydraulic oil, fix the leaks, and adjust the spool valve
3-point hitch issues	Check hydraulic system and let the fluid warm up, fix the hitch rock shaft
Noisy transmission	Fix backlash, gears, clutch, shaft splines, bearings, and shift forks
Difficulty in gear shifting	Change gear shift linkage, repair or replace gear shift mechanism
Transmission oil leaks	Replace broken gaskets or seals
Battery not charging	Fix wiring, change the battery if needed
Steering turns hard	Do maintenance of steering hydraulic system

6 Usual Issues with John Deere 2940 and Solutions

Tractors tend to show a gesture of displaying issues or something going wrong at a very inconvenient moment.

JD 2940 is no exception to that. Therefore, you need to learn some of the DIY methods to avoid any costly breakdowns or to prevent stuff from getting too serious. 

1. Hydraulic System-Related Problems

The very common issues with your John Deere 2940’s hydraulic system are them gets overheated or the fluid pressure is too low.

Either of them will make you suffer from getting the expected service that’s guaranteed by your hydraulic system. 

The system might start making strange noises. Or the outcome may appear like giving you a static feeling. 

The reasons are mostly with the system itself. Either it has been defective from the beginning, or it hasn’t been taken care of properly.

And by taking care, I mean oiling it properly and obviously with the proper type of oil or ignoring the hydraulic oil filter, checking the main valve, looking for any stuck air in the system, etc. 

At finding the fluid pressure low, you need to be careful about your hydraulic oil level.

Apart from that, examine the hydraulic oil filter if it’s dirty, check for leaks in the hydraulic lines, spool valve block is misadjusted, and the hydraulic cylinder. Check for any hydraulic oil pump failure as well. 

Troubleshooting

To avoid overheating of your tractor’s hydraulic system, you must ensure that you are using the right type of hydraulic oil.

Sometimes, it might appear that the hydraulic fluid is dirty. Drain out your system and refill with fresh fluid. 

Check for any air in the hydraulic system. If so, bleed the system. And if you find your main valve is malfunctioning, check for any probable recoveries or replace them duly.

Ensure sufficient hydraulic oil by refilling it from time to time on a regular basis. Clean your dirty oil filters or change it as per the scenario. Fix any leaks in your hydraulic system. 

Besides, to maintain your hydraulic fluid pressure, keep the spool valve adjusted properly, and repair or change broken hydraulic cylinders or pumps.

2. Engine Issues

Since your JD 2940 has a diesel engine, you cannot help but encounter some engine problems. And the problems are various in types according to their reasons. 

You might find it difficult to start the engine at the very first point, and following that you have already started your engine in a smooth way.

There might be issues like the engine stalling afterward, engine getting overheated, low engine power, etc.

Apart from these, you might need to deal with stuff like unusual engine noises, engine stops while idling, or the oil pressure is insufficient. 

The responsible factors for the mentioned issues are respectively dirty fuel filter, stuck air in the fuel system, faulty/dirty fuel injector nozzle, faulty fuel injector pump, misadjusted fuel injection pump timing, and cold engine.

For overheating, you need to look for, whether the radiator core is dirty or the cap is damaged.

Besides, there might be an issue in cooling system, including the fan belt and lack of engine oil. 

Dirty or damaged injection nozzle, dirts in fuel lines/hoses, clogged air filter element, or damaged cylinder head gasket are le responsible for low engine power. 

Lack of engine oil, cold engine, and misadjustment of fuel injection timing basically makes your engine noise. There might be also broken pistons and misalignments of connecting rod.

Misadjusted low idle speed will make your engine stop while idling. Rare cases might be incorrect valve clearance and failure of fuel injection pump.

Low oil level, defective oil pump, or dirty oil filter is responsible for insufficient oil pressure. 

Troubleshooting

To have a smooth engine start or get rid of stalling engine after starting, you need to repair or change your fuel filter, bleed air from fuel system, examine and change fuel injection nozzles or pump, adjust the fuel injection timing, clean the fuel filter element, and warm up the engine according to the very reason.

Troubleshoot overheating engine by changing radiator cap or cleaning radiator, repair any damages in the cooling system and fill in it as well, replace the fan belt if necessary or fill up the engine oil up to necessity. 

Service and clean the injection nozzles and the fuel lines, check your air filter element for ensuring enough power for your engine. Change your damaged cylinder head gasket.

Replace broken pistons, warm up your engine, add engine oil enough to get rid of any itchy engine noises. Adjust or change your connecting rod if necessary.

Adjust the low idle speed, valve clearance, and repair or bring in a new fuel injection pump. 

Service the defective oil pump or change it, have sufficient oil, clean the dirty filter to ensure sufficient oil pressure. 

3. Problems with the 3-Point Hitch

3-point hitch works with hydraulic lift to move your brush hog. You need the hitch either to pull your brush hog or to lower it. 

But if there are any issues with the 3-point hitch, they won’t allow you to move your brush hog smoothly.

The issues include the 3-point hitch can’t be raised or lowered or functioning too slowly, or the hitch becomes jerky in terms of lifting or dropping.

The reasons for these issues lie behind the reasons to make your hydraulic system fail. Apart from them, the hitch itself might be overloaded, or the hitch rock shaft might be damaged. 

An imperfectly adjusted hitch might also be a reason for the problem. These will get you a bitter experience in using your hitch. Cold fluid may also be a factor.

Troubleshooting

As stated earlier, you need to check your hydraulic system to find out any issues in it to ensure your 3-point hitch working smoothly.

Get ideas from the previously mentioned methods to examine and fix any hydraulic issues. 

Adjust your hitch perfectly. Wait for the cold fluid to warm it up on its own. 

Refrain from overloading the hitch. Look for your hitch rock shaft. If the shaft is damaged, repair it or change it according to necessary. 

Take care of your hydraulic system including the filter system of it and keep the oil level sufficient and other stuff related to the 3-point hitch checked to keep the hitch fit. 

4. Electrical Issues

Being an electrical machine, there are some electrical issues that you need to know about. This mostly includes battery not being charged properly, starter is not cranking or turning slow.

Loose or defective wire connections and belts, poor battery cell,s or defective battery terminal clamps won’t let you charge your battery properly. 

If you have drained battery, disconnected or improperly connected wiring, worn out starter motor, or low battery output, your starter won’t crank eventually. 

In case of your battery runs out quickly, defective battery terminals or low battery power will make your starter slow. 

Troubleshooting

You need to act according to your issue. Tighten or clean the electric connections, replace the battery itself, fix belt tension or get a new one, or replace your terminal clamps for charging your battery properly.

Take care of your battery for effective cranking of your starter while keeping an eye on the wirings, charging the battery properly, and replacing the starter motor if required. 

To fix starter turning slow, keep in mind the earlier battery stuff along with checking the terminals.

5. Steering Issues

Though none of the issues can be left alone without any check on them, steering issues require your immediate attention. 

The usual issues with your JD 2940 steering are somthing like excessive play in the steering, pulling the tractor to right or left, or steering wheels becoming hard.

Excessive play in the steering occurs due to worn out shaft, defective steering pump, issues in the steering linkage, damaged hydrostatic steering valve, etc. 

If you feel a pull to right or left in your steering, there are damages in either your hydrostatic steering valve, or in your steering cylinder.

There also might be improper toe-in, loose or worn steering linkage components, improper adjustment of front wheel bearings, or even uneven tire pressure. 

Steering wheel becomes hard to turn if there is air in the steering hydraulic system, dirty or damaged steering filter, insufficient steering fluid level, defeects in the hydrostatic steering valve or steering pump, etc.

Some other reasons might be damaged steering column, worn out pump flow control valve, misadjusted toe-in, or damaged piston rod, etc. 

Troubleshooting

To take care of excessive play in the steering, you need to replace the faulty part of your worn-out shaft, examine your steering pump and change it if required, fix or replace your steering linkage, or change your steering valve according to your examination. 

Fix or change your hydrostatic steering valve or your steering cylinder to fix a pull to right or left in your steering.

For other cases, fix your toe-in, tighten or change your steering linkage components, adjust your front wheel bearing perfectly or make your tire pressure even to get rid of the issue. 

Bleed the air out of your steering hydraulic system, do maintenance of your steering filter, and maintain sufficient steering fluid to have smooth steering.

If all these remain checked, repair or replace your steering valve or pump, do a servicing to your amaged steering column, adjust your toe-in, get rid of damaged piston rod as required. 

6. Transmission Issues

In terms of using a JD 2940, you might also face some gear or clutch-related issues aka transmission issues. 

The basic ones are as follows: Transmission appears noisy, gears are difficult to shift, transmission oil leaks, or low transmission pressure.

Your transmission will be comparatively noisy in case the gears are old and damaged, incorrect backlash, worn-out shift forks, the shaft splines are damaged, or lack of transmission oil.

In other cases, you might have defective bearings or the transmission oil quality is not upto the mark or dirty. 

The reasons for difficulties in shifting gears are faulty gear shift linkage, misadjusted or damaged clutch, any defect in any part of the gear shift mechanism, or worn shift forks. 

Insufficient transmission fluid, failure of relief valve are mostly responsible for low transmission pressure.

On the other hand, if you have broken seals or gaskets, excess of transmission fluid level, you will encounter transmission oil leaks. 

Troubleshooting

Fix the above-mentioned issues according to your discovery. Take steps like repairing or replacing as per to requirement for a smooth transmission. 

Maintain the transmission fluid level, change it if required. 

Adjust your clutch, repair or replace any part of the gear shift mechanism, take care of your bearings, fix the issues with relief valve, and change your broken gasket to fix your transmission issues. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How to test alternator on John Deere tractor?

You need a multimeter to test your alternator on a JD tractor. Set its DCV above 15. Clean your alternator’s positive and negative terminals. Add multimeter’s black and red cable to the negative and positive terminal respectively. Look for the reading. 

Does a john deere gator have an alternator?

The answer is yes, it does.

Can you jump-start a john deere gator?

The answer is simply yes, you can. All you need to know is the exact way and then apply that on your own.

What is the John Deere 2940 hydraulic oil capacity?

The hydraulic oil capacity of John Dree is roughly 9 qts. 

Final Words

With the information given above, you must feel confident about dealing with your JD 2940. Whenever you feel that your tractor isn’t responding duly, try to discover the issue yourself.

After that, simply follow the provided simple DIY methods to fix your issues. If you don’t take care of any issue at its early stage, it might cost you a huge deal afterward.