The gauge is powered by a CR2032 lithium coin cell battery, a common battery typically used to power TV remote controls. Unfortunately, Deere chose to seal it inside a closed unit and manufacture it in a way that makes it impossible to replace, forcing you to replace the whole unit. It’s hard to believe this isn’t just a money grab on Deere’s part.

The AUC15402 sells for around $60, but I suspect it costs less than $5 to manufacture. So if you do it yourself, you’re out sixty bucks, and Deere is $55 richer. If you pay to have it installed, I’m guessing it costs significantly more. So, if you own a John Deere lawn tractor, expect to be on the hook for at least $60 every 2 to 3 years.

Since I just replaced the unit in my tractor, I thought I would describe the process here in case someone else wants to give it a try. It’s a pretty simple process, and the only hard part is removing the old gauge.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Disconnect the negative battery connection. To do this, use a 10mm wrench or socket wrench. You can place the disconnected cable next to the tractor’s plastic shroud to keep it out of the way. Everyone always tells you to disconnect the negative battery cable first, but they never tell you why. You do this because the negative cable is connected to the tractor or car’s frame. If you were to disconnect the positive cable first and accidentally touch it to the frame, it would short out the battery. Disconnecting the negative cable prevents this from happening.

• Reach up behind the fuel gauge and disconnect the signal cable by pressing on the connector on the top and pulling back on it.

• Now comes the hard part: removing the old fuel gauge. There are four plastic retaining clips holding the fuel gauge in place on the dashboard. Ideally, you could just reach up, press the clips simultaneously, and push up to remove the fuel gauge. Unfortunately, being a mere mortal, I don’t have the finger strength to do that, but maybe you do. If so, go for it. What I ended up doing was pressing in the bottom two clips simultaneously and forcing the bottom of the fuel gauge out. Once I did that, I put a screwdriver on the bottom of the gauge to keep it from slipping back in, and then pressed the top clips and pushed up to force the fuel gauge out.

• Insert the new fuel gauge into the dashboard, making sure that you have the top of the fuel gauge facing upward, or you’ll have to go through the whole removal process again.

• Attach the signal cable, followed by the battery cable, reversing the steps you used when you disconnected them.

• Put the key in the ignition and turn it one stop to the right to the ‘headlight’ position. If all goes well, the fuel level and number of hours should be displayed. Sadly, the hours reset to 0 and can’t be changed,, so the number of hours reflects how many hours have passed since you last changed the fuel gauge, not how many hours you’ve operated the tractor. This isn’t really a problem for me since I keep track of each time I’ve mowed and what maintenance I’ve done in a spreadsheet, but it’s just another indication of Deere’s disregard for its customers.