Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

I have a 2011 John Deere Gator for repair that someone drunk rolled and sold to my customer. He wants me to fix it. It has a 3 cylinder Chery 12v twincam engine with Deere tags. Aside from the knocking because it ran upside down for too long, it seems like a quality engine. Cast iron block, aluminum head, fuel injection, heated oxygen sensor, catalytic converter. I'll snap some pics of the guts once I get the engine pulled and disassembled. My next stop on the job is a frame machine. I cannot confirm it's a Chery engine, but that is what a John Deere mechanic told me that I used to work with in the back shop on the small equipment. Chery makes cars in China, for all that are interested...

For now, here is the Gator.

that things fixable??

If a competent guy with a frame machine can do it locally, yes. If not, Deere sells new frames. Either way it's fixable at $18K new and being a 2011 with 30 hours. I doubt it even survived long enough to get its first oil change.

This is the hardest/most compact job I've ever done. Gonna end up and in frame rebuild. Casting logos indicate Chery... Everything I've seen thus far is better than a '93 geo metro/suzuki swift quality. Super wide timing belt, clean castings, nice machine work.. It sucks we can't build stuff like this in America anymore.

I'm about 25 minutes away from pulling the crank. The pan/rear seal plate/oil pump are unbolted. Tomorrow is a new day.

I've been working in China for about 8 years now. Chery makes a decent car, compared to some of the other local car companies (there are MANY). Most of these car companies use basically copied engines (usually licensed to do so, old model engines) with some slight variances - such as a bore or stroke change to suit the power requirements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chery

http://www.cheryacteco.com/en/

I think I need new glasses. The first time I read this post I read Chevy instead of Chery?
man was I confused!

Donny

Shopboss wrote:I think I need new glasses. The first time I read this post I read Chevy instead of Chery?
man was I confused!

Donny

You're not alone.....

Ken

Too funny. Although, it seems Chery is china's Chevy.

or it that just the Chinese pronunciation of Chevy?

crazyman wrote: Either way it's fixable at $18K new and being a 2011 with 30 hours. I doubt it even survived long enough to get its first oil change.

Likely one of Deer's more profitable machines. A primitive gator with a chinese chery engine costs more than a brand new Chevy Sonic....

Hasdfo wrote:Good product launched Chinese chery engines..any body tell me the capacity of this engine??? looking so superb and made i think in a good scale..and which scale is used for the engine making??

In China, they're commonly 1.5L engines. They might also make a 1.3, 1.5, 1.6, and 1.8L for cars in the same design. The QQ got some smaller engines.

The engines are available from CheryActeco, but not with small orders, I presume.

It's funny this thread got revived today. My customer just today delivered it back from the frame shop, straight as an arrow. I'll check and see if it lists a displacement.

Nevermind. Google saved me a trip to the barn.

Type 4-cycle gas, Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) -
Closed Loop System
Cylinders/Valving V-Twin, OHV
Horsepower* 62 (46.2 kw)
Displacement 839 cc
Maximum torque 57.5 (42.4 ft lbs) @ 4000 rpm
Cooling system Liquid
Battery 340 CCA
Alternator 38 amp @ 7250 rpm,13.5V - regulated

Must be the QQ engine!

That's the car that was a near copy of the Chevy Spark, which got Chery sued.

I figured the US would be flooded with cheap (< $9,000) Chinese cars by now. I wonder what's taking them so long?

JoePorting wrote:I figured the US would be flooded with cheap (< $9,000) Chinese cars by now. I wonder what's taking them so long?

crash test ratings??

...... or maybe they realized that they can actually be sued in North America.

Ken