Here are some URLs you can "copy & paste" to your web browser. All the threads are in regard to JD 445 EFI problems. Good luck. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tractor/msg0520311630705.html http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tractor/msg0406392719523.html http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tractor/msg051743299550.html http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tractor/msg0914302721045.html

They may have mentioned the oil leak due to a safety inspection, most oversees bases require such things but maybe your area does not. Of course like many shops they may just be upselling the repair service to make money, that what shops do for a living but actually you need to do something with that leak, it could get bad enough without you knowing it until you run out of oil and kill your engine. You say the car is Euro spec so I am thinking that it was not shipped to Germany by another GI in its recent past which would make it a Japanese Domestic model. The valve cover gasket probably can just be tightened down a little, see if the nuts or bolts holding it are semi loose, do not over tighten them as a 10 mm or 12 mm nut stud or bolt will shear off easily. Buy some GUNK brand engine degreaser and clean it up afterwards but watch out for getting water into the spark plug area and in the distributor. Your AC has a leak but how fast it will leak is debatable, its too expensive to fix here in Japan so we just reservice a couple of times a season unless the leak is visible in the engine compartment, most leaks are under the dash at the evaperator and not worth fixing here but I do not know how much the work costs there, you may be ahead by at least getting it sniffed for leaks by a shop to ID the leaking area. If you need more help on a visual inspection let me or someone on this thread assist you. With your experience that the system worked last season the leak may not be too large but it wouldnt be right for me to tell you to just top it off, that is your call depending on where the leak is once again. The law here is very lacks on freon issues, you cannot get real R12 any more, we use a substitute that is designed for use in the R12 system, to do a real retrofit is very costly as R134a will leak right through your R12 rubber AC hoses. Based on my local prices for the valve cover gasket, possible half moon looking or round seal on the end and some rubber seal washers under the hold down bolts plus labor it would be about 75 clams to get it done here. You may not need all of these little rubber pieces which dont increase the cost much anyways. There really arent any more of these old versions left on the road in my area but parts are still available. You didnt mention which engine by engine type that you have. I suggest you do what you can to make the car last at least as long as you are going to be stationed there then you can throw it away if you like, my theory on repairing a trusted old car is better than buying a completely unknown nice car that could turn into a lemon. Duane in Japan

Yup - it was the tail light fuse that was blown. Dash lights were also on that fuse. Neither the fuse panel nor the manual said anything about dash lights, but I searched the web for my problem and saw several other posts for different cars that described both being on the same fuse, so I checked my tail lights and low and behold, they were out as well! I wouldn't have even known if I didn't look. Guess I should check all my lights more often. Thanks for the help.

I have exactly the same situation. My house was built in 1987. I have Lightolier fixtures. The thermal sensor is a black cylinder stuck in a half inch conduit punch hole. It has three wires: one for neutral, one for hot, and one for load, meaning the light. Why three wires? Because it has a little heater inside that's supposed to start turning the fixture off if it overheats in the presence of insulation. In my case the fixture has no insulation near it, and the switch simply failed and blinks now, regardless of the type of light that's plugged in. Cleaning the sockets is a good idea, but in terms of this problem it's not relevant because the sensor is in a completely different housing from the lamp itself. The blinking is independent because of that heater. Well, I removed the thermal switch, and took a look at the part number and I'm happy to say you can buy them. I see them on various electrical supply store sites and there's also people selling them through Amazon. The unit in my fixtures is model RP1B. Several companies make this, so you can search for it online. I've seen prices ranging from $40 each down to $13. I plan to ask an electrician friend about the code. Since the fixture has no insulation within I'd say 10 ft of it, I don't think the sensor is necessary at all. However it might be required by model certification. So eventually I'm going to replace it. For now it's disconnected. By the way, I checked the internal resistance of the sensor... It's supposed to be about 7,000 ohms, and instead it's down around 3,000. I can't understand why it would change resistance, but that's going to draw twice as much power as the sensor was intended to receive.