Just bought 445. I have a few questions
Hi folks.
I just picked up a John Deere 445 yesterday. The serial number tag fell off but most of the components with dates show it to be from late 1996. It has the 54" deck and 370 hours on the clock.
My valve/rocker covers are definitely leaking oil. They are still the plastic covers. Should I just assume that the covers are no longer good and replace them with aluminum or is there a reasonable likelihood that the plastic covers are OK and the gasket just failed?
After cut some grass with it today and found that it has a decent coolant leak when it warms up. The leak is rip near the thermostat. I believe it is coming from the seal highlighted in the photo below which is between the front cover plate and the engine block. I know that these engines came with a plastic cam gear and I can't imagine that this one has been fixed. The general consensus is that they fail at around 1000hrs. Should I replace it while I have it apart? I believe it's pretty much right there but it may be years away from failure.
Since it looks like I'm going to opening up this engine a bit, is there anything else I should do while I'm in there? Would you recommend replacing the water pump?
Thanks, all.
