Anybody have any experience replacing these? Seems fairly straight forward; the bearing bracket is bolted to the front of the block. It looks like i can remove the 4 bolts holding the bracket to the front of the block and hopefully have enough room to slide the fan, shaft and bearing bracket out the side of the machine. Once i get the entire assembly removed from the machine I can go about getting the bearing replaced. I'm a little concerned about the bolts being seized up; should I heat the block up with a rosebud prior to breaking the bolts loose? Sorry, i don't have any pics, my blasted iphone never want's to take a pic when i need it to. Thank you for any guidance, it is much appreciated. Jesse R
Bearing #3 shown in screenshot ,isn’t available from Deere, may be able to source aftermarket. Deere only offers complete assembly #14 , part # RE503732 .
Thank you, that's about what I expected from mother Deere. Thankfully the bracket and shaft appear to be fine, just movement in the bearing. I've got several good local bearing shops so I should be able to find a suitable aftermarket replacement. Idler assembly is probably going to be in the way of accessing the lower left bolt but it's easy enough to remove. Thank you for replying.
While you are working on this also check the water pump and the other idler bearings, they all seam to fail at or near the same time. Getting the bearings is easy but retaining them is difficult, that's why Deere sells the complete unit. I've looked into all of this including making the assembly grease able but to no avail.
Good point, will do. I did replace the idler when I replaced the alternator about 2 years ago but I need to give the water pump and other accessories a good one over.
Thanks all for the feedback. Got to my farm today and had the bracket off the machine in about 20 minutes. We did have to remove the fan blade from the pully but we were able to pivot the entire assembly side aways enough to remove the fan blade bolts. We were then able to slide the pulley, shaft and bracket assembly out the side of the machine. Wasn't bad at all. Going to a friends this weekend to press the hub off the shaft and hopefully get to the bearing.
I finally got the fan bracket replaced and everything reinstalled. I do have a question on the fan blade. Internet is telling me the cups of the fan should face the engine in order to pull air through the radiator toward the engine. I installed the fan this way. However, when i stand behind the machine I can feel air being pushed through radiator and pulling air away from the engine. If I hold a loose tissue in my hand on top of the engine it's being pulled towards the fan/radiator? Did i install it correctly or should i swap it?
The original fan is a blower fan so the cup (dish) should be facing the radiator.
ok, then i need to flip it. thank you for the clarification. interestingly that pic in the parts schematic you reference above appears to show the cup of the blade facing the spacer which is mounted on the flywheel; hence the cup in that pic is facing the engine. I realize it's just a parts pic though.