[Jay Cadillac]

Anyone have a clue as to what's going on here? According to my Operator's Manual for my 1997 John Deere 855, the oil capacity is 4.1 qts (with filter change). According to the John Deere website, it's 3.8 qts. But according to my experience it's a whole lot less than either of these! Perhaps a full quart less! Several months ago I changed the oil on my recently purchased 855 and put in 4.1 quarts. Much later I decided to check the oil and the dipstick showed it WAY overfilled. (I drained approx a quart out to the proper mark on the dipstick and ran it a few times with no problems.) I decided to change my oil again, figuring maybe I stupidly put in 5 qts of oil, rather than 4. But nope -- after putting in 4 qts, I ran the engine, got everything all mixed together, turned it off and checked the dipstick -- again it showed WAY overfilled.
So, my question: Do I go by my dipstick or do I go by what the specs show ?
Is there any chance that JD put a smaller engine (say, from a 755) in at some point without telling anyone, or a previous owner did, an engine that takes a smaller amount (755 takes 2.9 qts, according to my manual)?
I doubt the dipstick is the wrong one, but I suppose it could be.
And if the crankcase is getting overfilled, could this do serious damage? Maybe this is why the tractor has been a real pain in the ass to start, having too much oil in (cold starts)?
Just curious if anyone else ever heard of this issue?

 

[theduke]

There are 2 very similer but different 855's

If your battery is up front..it would follow 955 specs
If battery is behind Dash it would follow 755 specs

855 is a different animal.
What loader do you have.
70 is early like a 755
70A is later like a 955

The early is a glorified 755
the later is a neutered 955

 

[AJgrn78]

There should be a Yanmar ID tag on the block of the engine identifying the engine model. I'd cross-reference that for an oil capacity.

 

[rydplrs]

My 755 takes nearly all of 4 quarts.