DR. EVIL JD 1010/2010 diesel?

You have peeked my interest, on the IH forum in a reply you seemed to suggest that a JD 1010/2010 diesel is prone to failure of the deck surface(cylinder block/head mating surface) can you explain more?

Somebody told me years ago that in part it was the machining plus the design leaving very little room for error. You might want to wait for JDEM to come along as he has had experience doing work on such engines. Are you looking to buy such a tractor or do you already have one? The 1010 and 2010 got short changed as the lion's share of the development budget went to the big brothers namely the 3010 and 4010. I wish that some engineer had the guts to tell the bosses not to waste any time developing a V configuration engine for a farm tractor and put the money just about any place else. That and maybe had somebody pay attention over in Europe and making the New Gen's centerline MFWD compatible based on European designs. Oh well, in the end it all worked out for Deere.

To try and explain further given my limited knowledge on building engines is that a conventional sleeve type engine allows for more remedies when certain clearances and tolerances are not met as though inaccuracies can be measured through estimating sleeve protrusion from the engine block for example and remedy through shimming or welding and boring or reaming. Much harder to do for a sleeve and deck design. Also, the sleeve and deck has to be watched for cooling after being cast looking for warpage which will extend to the "sleeve" meeting the block which has a finite clearance.

JD 101 and 2010 bot h gas and diesels had problems and the cost to repair them if you can even find the parts is high. They use a sleeve pack where all 4 sleeves where hook together in such a way you had to had a sleeve pack gasket and a head gasket and the problem with the sleeve pack set up where many. Back 15 or so years ago just to buy the sleeve pack was over $500 and that was no pistons rings or other things that would be needed to rebuild the engine

I never came across anything on a 1010 or 2010, gas or diesel engine, that I would call "bad engineering" for the time. All the problems I saw with them were from owner abuse, ignorance, and not-so-great parts support. Re: the one-piece sleeve deck? So what? It means you had to buy all four cylinders new during a rebuild. I do the same if an engine has four separate sleeves. Again - a parts support issue. To my knowledge, nobody ever made an aftermarket sleeve-deck. So it had to come from Deere. There are three different decks. 1010 gas is one. 1010 diesel/2010 gas is another (they interchange). Or the 2010 diesel i).s the third.

1010/2010 were the first Deere full-size engines to have wet sleeves (I think). I am NOT counting pony-starter motors. 1010/2010 engines were the first Deere engines to use positive valve-stem seals. 1010/2010 diesels were the first Deere engines to use Stanadyne rotary-distributor injection pumps and almost the first in the world (Hercules beat them). They also might be the only IDI diesels ever made by Deere (not sure).

We had a lot of loggers trash 2010 diesel engines in crawlers from not using the primers or glow-plugs and using ether instead. That is abuse and not an engineering issue. 1010/2010 really needs the primer-pump working for cold starting.

The diesels also used an odd series-parallel 12-volt/24-volt system that worked better then the awful chassis-groundless Delco 12-12-24 used in 3020s and 4020s.

I'm just passing along what I was told when there was a tractor safety course taught at the regional vocational training school (BOCES) and a 2010 was there waiting to get worked on. Maybe not so much "bad engineering" but as stated engineering that leaves a much smaller degree for error versus conventional designs. Factory quality control probably looms larger in those situations.

Seems to me there is more room for error in a block with separate sleeves. Sleeve standout above deck-height is a non-issue with a 1010 or 2010 since the sleeve-assembly IS the deck. Also, since IDI instead of DI, valve-head depth in the head is also not a critical issue. I have lots of complaints about 1010 and 2010 wheel tractors but not about the engines. 1010 crawlers, in some ways, were better then the 350s that took their place.

I will also note that a 1010/2010 diesel will outstart near any other Deere diesel in cold weather, when not using a block heater or ether. That because of the fuel-primer and glow-plugs.

Well, yes, I get that. What I was going for and did not describe well enough was the interface between the sleeve/deck and the "block" being a potential problem. Based on what you are saying that does not seem to be a problem to any degree and most likely the guy I heard talk about it did not have the shop experience that you have with them.

When we bought our 45 combine that uses that same gas engine it was supposed to have been overhauled. It was leaking oil between the block and the deck. Talked to Deere dealer about it and he said things were not torqued down corectly and gave us the tourq settings and that was when I first bought a tourk wrench and the bolts were only about 3/4 as tight as supposeed to be. Finnished tightening and no more oil ;eaks for next 20 years.

Being a 1010 owner, I'm of the opinion that about 80% of the bad mouthing of the 1010/2010 engines is done by people "hearing" about how bad they were from their barbers, brothers, cousins, mailmans, neighbors wife. No, they aren't "the normal" layout, but other than that they were no more problematic than anything else. Run them hot and pour cold water in the rad and bad things happen. Give it half a can of either every time you go to start it and bad things happen. Same thing happens with any engine.

As with Caseomatic and MF multipower trannies, a lot of bad press gets tossed about without a lot of actual experience to back it up.

No doubt that the "bad" qualities have been greatly over stated.

It seems that a lot of times a failure on a tractor will be due to failure to read or fully familiarize the owner or operator with the operator's manual.

Brett I have owned several JD 1010 gas tractors. They where not too bad. The motors really did not cause much trouble on the gas versions. They where not a long life motor thought. 3000 hours and your looking at needing at least rings but most of the gas motors of that time frame where not long life either. The hydraulics and transmission shafts is where I had the most trouble with them. The splined shaft coming back off the clutch that ran in straight roller bearings is a common failure in them.

The diesel had so many ways to fail you could not name them all. One of the most common complaints was leaking between the deck plates and cylinder head. You would see them either oily or with anti-freeze running down the blocks. Cracks in the top of the deck plate that would dump water into the crankcase was not uncommon either. That usually got the rod/main bearings and the crankshaft.

Would you guys who are telling us the 2010 diesel is a great tractor engine please explain to me why one of the larger JD dealers in central Iowa told me "Never buy a 2010 diesel, JD never made a good 1". That Came straight from the horses mouth.

My boss had a second owner 2010 gas utility he bought from the retired farmer across the road. Early 80's, so the tractor had some age,but not a lot of hours, and had never been used hard.I ran it every day for four years. The tractor started overheating when I was heading out to spread manure one morning,there was lots of steam and the engine began to lug down. I shut 'er right down, it all happened in less than a minute.

My diagnosis was "head gasket", the oil pan was full of antifreeze, could have been head bolt torque, I suppose. I replaced the rod and main inserts (journals were fine) and the head gasket, the tractor was still running when I left a couple years later.

Other than that I liked the tractor, lots of power for its size, nice power steering. There was an issue involving a roll pin failing and disabling the pto, but that was before I worked there.

Zeke B.

(quoted from post at 00:04:3, 7 07/09/17) Would you guys who are telling us the 2010 diesel is a great tractor engine please explain to me why one of the larger JD dealers in central Iowa told me "Never buy a 2010 diesel, JD never made a good 1". That Came straight from the horses mouth.

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Never said it was a "great tractor engine". I said their failings are way over blown. Why would the dealer say that? Likely because he knew everyone "knew" the 1010/2010 had issues and lost money on a couple. Dealers aren't necessarily people who actually used a particular tractor, they just see $$$ in sales and warranty work.

I maintain they weren't Deeres greatest achievement, but they aren't the worst tractor even made either.

Mr. hd6gtom, you have me a little confused with your commentary . . ."Would you guys who are telling us the 2010 diesel is a great tractor engine please explain to me why one of the larger JD dealers in central Iowa told me "Never buy a 2010 diesel, JD never made a good 1". That Came straight from the horses mouth. "


First of all, the original post was about the engine series; not the tractors in whole.

Second: Who claimed 1010s and 2010s are "great tractors?" I missed those posts.

Third: What your one person said at one Deere dealership out of thousands does not amount to the "horses mouth." One horse in the herd, yeah.

I have a first-year 1960 1010 crawler-loader and use near every day. Very useful and well designed crawler, even by modern standards. Even still has the original steering clutches. I know because I got it from the orinal owner who got it new.
It was in a fire once. As a result, I tore the engine apart and did a "cheap" rebuild on it. New gaskets and seals. Regrooved the old pistons and shimmed them with new rings. Valve-job (just grind and reseat), etc. I put 4000 hours on it since. Runs great and uses no oil. Ignition was always finicky but adding a Pertronix breakeress kit fixed that. Even still has the original Webster-Electric hydraulic pump.
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Thanks for all the info guys. I don't have one of those models or intend to buy one. My experience with Deere tractors is in the 3010-4960 models.

JDEM
I was also employed at a JD dealer when 1010/2010s were new. I think these engine designs were not one of JD engineers shining moments. If the design wasn't bad why weren't more diesel engines built with a deck plate with liners &amp; those prone to leak pre-combustion chambers in the cyl head?

IMHO 2010 got know as JD's sorriest tractor for some very good reasons.

I have a gas 2010, from 1961. Mind you, I'm not a farmer, and my unit gets only modest use but it's been going fine every time I want to use it to grade, or pull stumps, or bush hog. Again, I'm not farming with it, but I like it.

Right now, my main issue is that I have a propane unit, and the exhaust mani is going out. So, I"m switching over to gasoline, because the mani for the propane was a custom made unit and is NLA. Once I get it switched over to gas, I'll keep using it.

This tractor did suffer the roll pin failure in the PTO drive. I looked at the design, and how it's supposed to be used and I can see where the engineering of that specific drive component was not a good idea. So, here's some advice for any 2010 PTO user:

There is a long lever on the left side that is supposed to disengage the PTO by separating a pair of clutch plates and metal plates from the tractor shaft drive to the PTO. If the PTO is disengaged by locking that lever out(rearward), the tractor will run, with the PTO stopped. Once you connect your PTO driven device, it is NOT correct to just snap that lever again so it connects with the drive shaft in the trans! This is what breaks the sacrificial rollpin in the PTO drive.

The correct way to do it is to put the PTO in neutral(engine running if you like). Test there is no bind in the driven device that will strain the PTO when engaged. Then, run the engine to about 1200RPM, and slowly release the PTO lever forward to engage. Since the lever has a spring loaded detent in both forward and backward setting, it's common to just 'bump' the PTO forward, thus defeating the purpose of the clutches. Not an ideal design, and it does lead to damage of the roll pin.

Just as you would not pop or sidestep the motion clutch, also do not just pull the handle forward instantly. There are clutches in there. What I like to do is to move the handle forward while standing on the left footrest and watching the driven device to insure it's not binding before I sit down. So far, so good.

I'm going to try once more- No one is saying the 1010/2010 were the best of the best of the best Deere ever made. We're saying they weren't total disasters and that a lot of the bad press they get is over blown by people who've never seen one much less used one. You get the same thing with other models in other brands, or even whole lines of some brands, like Belarus. They simply aren't all junk is what's being said. No one is claiming they were perfect in every way.