I purchased a used '04 544J (only had about 1,100 hours) almost 2 years ago. I would consider myself a Cat guy but this fell in my lap at a price that was irresistable. This loader was, and still is, like new. Anyway I was talking to a fellow excavation contractor, who has bought primarily Deere until recently, and he said that I should get rid of my 544 before it reaches 5,000 hours. I was hoping it would last me about 15,000 hours. He said that he has had both 544 & 644 Js and that they begin to have computer problems at about 4-5K hours. He went on to offer that it would cost about $15K to fix it. The reason I posted is becuase I am wondering if there is any truth to such a broad suggestion. I would much prefer to go on thinking I got a great deal on a machine that will last me a long, long time. If I remember correctly the '04 was the first year of the J model so it would stand to reason that it may have the highest probability of issues with subsequent years getting upgrades to remedy problems. Please post your experience with J model loaders. How many hours are on your machine. How many have been put on since you've owned/operated it. What problems, if any, have you experienced.
I have gone to possibly hundreds of service calls on J series loaders (oil changes included). I can confidently say your buddy is full of it and likely caused his own problems. I can think of ONE flc Ihave changed on these loaders......ONE, and it was a low hour warranty repair. You'll be fine......
FLC = flex load controller? Isn't that the panel of bottons by the loader control lever? Is there not an ECM also? Would either of these cost what he suggested? Thanks for your reply. Are there others who can contribute to this thread? Please do.
we run a 824j and a 844j both with near 10k on the meter and have had no computer trouble with these two loaders
We rent out a 444J w/ 11K hours for snow plowing each winter and there are still no problems on the ECU.
The pad of buttons is refered to as the SSM(sealed switch module) and it's fairly trouble free as well. Your machine will have an ECU and TCU mounted underneath the fuse panel along with the FLC. If you were to burn up all three of these controllers,along with the wiring harnesses to and from, you may possibly approach the $15 k mark for a repair,but you should likely call your insurance company at that point because its likely the rest of the machine is burnt up as well. The ECU alone goes for less than 2k up here....
Thanks all for helping to keep my doubt in check. I was worried that my request for comments might only bring the negative experiences to light (you know how most forums are). I'm actually suprised that a single negative comment has not been posted. Based on the comments I've seen thus far, and my own experience, I feel as though my original expectations are still realistic.