John Deere, like other engine manufacturers, uses its proprietary terminology and arrangements to mark its products and assign part numbers. Understanding this categorization and marking system is crucial to part number identification, which is then used to select rebuild kits, components, and maintenance parts.
A typical engine serial number looks like TO4045T123456. To better understand this number, it will be divided into several parts. The first segment is the initial two letters “TO”. These two initial letters indicate two things: one, which country it was made in, and second, whether it is Powertech or not Powertech.
All John Deere engines manufactured in Dubuque, Iowa, USA are preceded by the letters “TO”, all engines preceded by “CD” are manufactured in Saran, a factory located in the Loiret area of France, and all engines manufactured in Torreón, Mexico are preceded by the letters “PE”.
The next set of numbers in the John Deere engine serial number are four (4) or (5) numbers and letters. In our example, this refers to “4045T”. This can be subdivided into “4045” and “T”. The 4045 indicated that this is the 4045 model. The leading “4” indicates that it is built with four (4) cylinders. The “T” that comes after the engine model number indicates that the engine has a turbocharger attached to it and is therefore a turbocharged engine. This factor is important as turbocharged engines are designed differently than non-turbocharged engines. they cannot be interchanged between these two types of motors.
The last set of six (6) numbers is the sequential number of the engines as they come off the assembly line. If this number is 123456, then the next serial number for the next engine on the same assembly line will be 123457. This will continue until John Deere decides it is time to upgrade or build another model.
There are many variations of the serial number above. Model 4045T may be marked as 4045D. Here the “D” symbolizes that the engine is a diesel engine (some early John Deere’s were built to run on gas) and that it is naturally aspirated, meaning it does not have a turbocharger. Therefore this serial number could have been TO4045D123456 and this would have been totally different from TO4045T123456.
The 4045 in serial numbers can also be 3152, 3164, 3179, 3029, 4202, 4219, 4239, 4039, 4276, 6303, 6329, 6059, 6414, 6068, 6414, 4270, 6404, 6466, or “D”6076. , a “T” or an “H”.
The problem often arises of how to identify which motors are PowerTech and which are not. This can be resolved by further analyzing the John Deere serial number.
For engines manufactured in Dubuque, Iowa, USA (TO Engines), all engines with a sequence number greater than 700,000 are all Powertech engines.
For motors manufactured in Sarran, France (CD motors), all motors with a serial number of sequence greater than 500,000 are all Powertech motors.
However, by contrast, all John Deere engines manufactured in Torreón, Mexico (PE engines) are PowerTech engines. This sequence serial number began with one thousand (1000). Thus, all PE PowerTech motors will have a sequential serial number from one thousand (1000) upwards.