dodge man
Super Star Member
I'm not a big fan of trying to flush out an engine. The only way I'd do that if it was so bad you were looking at having to pull the engine and rebuild it becasue it was so gunked up.
With unknown previous maintenance, if this was my tractor, I'd change at least the oil filter at 50 hours. Who am I kidding, I'd change the oil too, or I wouldn't sleep properly (just my OCD , and :2cents.
Rgds, D.
I intend to change the hydraulic oil filter but reuse the oil. Unfortunately it appears that in order to change the filter (original one) I have to drain the fluid, all 11 gallons of it or so. Rats.
Thanx again for all the comments.
Kubota engines have been some of the cleanest we have worked with and normally they go twenty to thirty without turning with normal maint. and good oils. Most tractor companies of that vintage if you were to be using after-market oil should be the equivelent to Shell's Rimula oil. Rotella is a lower spec oil that was not designed for ag or tractor use but trucks and cars.
I started this thread several weeks ago. A couple weeks ago I contacted our local Cat Dealer as I had heard that they did oil sampling, and for a little over $30 was given two sample bottles and some clear tubing to fil them with. It turns out that using the tubing to extract a sample is not easy. I tried sticking the tubing into the crankcase, closing off the top with a finger and pulling the tubing with oil back out, then blowing the oil into a cup. Very slow. Tried sucking it out, also slow. I could not get a sample from the hydraulic oil at all, so I pulled the drain plug and gathered a sample into a container (very clean can). That was quicker.
The results came back in 24 hours. Amazing. Very cheap and detailed and fast. The lab measured various metals in the oil, such as copper, chromium, nickel, tin, etc. that are apparently indicative of engine wear such as piston rings , bearings, etc. Other items measured were fuel content, antifreeze content, nitration, oxidation, soot, acidity, viscosity, more. One of the few values that were 0 was soot. I was told that both engine and hyd fluid were normal and that continued sampling and testing would be helpful in monitoring wear as I now have a baseline.
I intend to change the hydraulic oil filter but reuse the oil. Unfortunately it appears that in order to change the filter (original one) I have to drain the fluid, all 11 gallons of it or so. Rats.
Thanx again for all the comments.