In John Deere’s communication, they directed me to take the tractor to an authorized dealer/service center. The nearest one is about an hour away. I went to the mechanic’s shop where the tractor has been sitting, paid him $500 for the inspection work and the pickup, and trailered the tractor over to Pape Machinery in Woodland. Aashiyana helped me out and has been my main point of contact – super friendly. They’ll be doing the diagnostic work and will be sending their findings to JD.
The very next day, Aashiyana called me to let me know that JD directed them to do a compression check. I made sure to let them know that there is still material in the combustion chamber. Hopefully the compression test doesn’t do more damage. Nothing I can do at this point but wait to hear back.
Here’s an image of what’s still in the combustion chambers:
I’ll give another update once I have one!