Oil & Fuel DK35 with low engine oil pressure

[tedder]

I have a 2000 DK35 with 540 hours that the oil pressure light comes on after vigorous use ie. brush hogging. i have replaced the oil pressure sender and checked the oil pressure with a guage. The guage pressure indicated 5 PSIG when the oil light came on. I took it to the dealer that i bougth it from he kept it for 2 weeks actually worked on it for 2 days letting it run at various RPM's and checked the oil pressure and no problem found. I brought it home and started brush hogging and returned to an idle form 2500 and the oil pressure light came on. I guess the dealer didn't get the right combination? Does anyone have any info on this?

 

[bearhawk]

What oil are you using. Maybe the viscosity is dropping when it gets really hot after a good workout.

I would add a gauge to watch the actual oil pressure.

 

[tedder]

I use 15-40 Rotila i could go to 50wt on the top but i don't think that's the problem since i've be using the same oil since i bought the tractor. i have a guage and the top oil pressure is 30 psig when cold and about 25 when hot at 2500 rpm and drops to 5-7 at an idle. tedder

 

[bearhawk]

I do remember a Kioti legend KioiJohn would say that you shouldn't let these diesels idle at low rpm's. I don't recall all the details, but I only idle mine around 1000 - 1100.

Of course I do not have an actual gauge so I'm not sure of the psi.

But I think 5-7 is too low.

What pressure would you get @ 1100?

Cheers

 

[gravel13]

I had a car that had low oil pressure on a gauge. It wound up being a pressure relief valve that was stuck open. I'm just reaching here, maybe your DK has a pressure relief valve and could be getting stuck open after it builds up pressure. Just my 0.02. Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[tedder]

I got in touch with my dealer and he faxed me some parts diagrams of the front of the engine showing the oil filter and oil pressure regulator. my latest thought is that the oil pressure regulator is not regulating ie. bypassing. so i went out to see what i could and bad news the oil pressure regulator is below and to the left of the oil filter which is right behind the frame and can't be removed unless the engine or frame is moved.

 

[L42K51]

I found this website by trying to find out what was causing the oil pressure light on my 2003 LK3054 to come on. I saw that you were having similar problems. I am not a mechanic but I do like to get to the root cause of the problem.
The first thing I did was to find out what the normal operating oil pressure is. In my case it is between 35-60psi.
Next I replaced the oil sending unit. It didn't help.
Then I ordered a $9 oil pressure gauge from Harborfreight and hooked it and the light up. The gauge confirmed that the light was working properly. The light is supposed to go off at 7psi. It did!
When I first start the tractor I had about 30psi and within 5min. I was down to 10psi. When the tractor was completely warmed up and working the light would come on and the gauge would read 5-7psi.
I was told to check the oil pressure relief valve to make sure that the spring was not broken or weak. I did that. It appears to be OK.
By the way, on my tractor it is located behind the oil filter so you have to take the filter off and undo the nut that holds the filter in place to get to it.
The thing I didn't know was that diesel engines use different oil formulation then gas engines. The oil for deisel engines has an API desination that starts with a C. The latest API designation is CI-4 to the best of my knowldege. The last time I changed oil I put in oil designed for gas engines. This has an API designation that starts with an S.
I am changing oil in the morning to see if that solves the problem. If not, It is most likely a bad oil pump.

Hope this helps.

 

[TractorLegend]

If not, It is most likely a bad oil pump.

It appears you verified your pressure is low...the whys will take disassembly.
Worn engine internals cause bad pressure too. The (proper) clearances in the main, rod and cam bearings are essential to give the pump something to pump against and not have the oil just fall back into the pan.
A cracked oil pump pickup tube could cause low pressure too.

 

[tedder]

The symptoms you describe are very similar to mine and I hope you don't find the same cause as I have. I found metal in my oil pan The metal is none magnetic silver and very flat. A couple pieces are long .5-.75" L shaped rectangle. One piece looks like it got wadded up. At first they looked like peeled off crome like old bycycle handle bars that got rusted.

 

[tedder]

I have torn down the engine and found that the front and rear mains are bad. the crank measures alright. i ordered new mains last week so will see how well Kioti does on getting parts that are not stocked by the dealer. my take on this is this should have never happened to a low hour tractor that wasn't abused.