Kubota B26 blowing oil from vent

[sixdogs]

at this point I just don't know, hoping to hear something soon.

I ask because if they did something wrong the first time they will likely do it again.

 

[woody]

have not updated this thread in awhile but I really don't have much to add. still do not have my tractor back, talked to the mechanic and he said the Kubota rep has been there 5 or 6 times trying to figure it out. they have replaced the pump, steering controller, the hoses to the steering cylinder. Replacing the pump fixed the fluid blowing out the vent but the steering is still hard. He is going to pull the tank to see if there is something blocking the outlet. After thinking about it that makes since if something is restricting the flow of fluid, the pump would get hot and damage the seal and with the restricted flow there would not be enough flow for the hydraulics to function correctly, maybe the steering was the first system to be effected.

 

[AlaskaJohn]

So Woody, have you any finality in this? My B26 just started sending out foamy oil out of the vent tube today...so I found your thread and was amazed! I'm just taking mine into the dealer tomorrow! I'm not 1/10th of the mechanic you are!

 

[woody]

John the oil coming from the vent was from the pump sucking air. mine was a bad seal in the suction of the pump. a lot of the time the elbow on the suction side of the pump is the cause it will have a hole in it.

 

[rScotty]

John the oil coming from the vent was from the pump sucking air. mine was a bad seal in the suction of the pump. a lot of the time the elbow on the suction side of the pump is the cause it will have a hole in it.

Did they ever get the power steering problem fixed? When last you posted, you said that the Kubota tech had been out 5 or 6 times and that replacing the pump fixed the foaming but not the hard steering.

What bothers me when I hear about things like this is that it shouldn't really be so difficult. I can't help wondering if sloppy diagnostic work like this is evidence of the new wave of technical ignorance - or just lack of caring.

This should be a one day job for the factory tech...a couple at most. It's been what? maybe 4 months??
When something this simple takes so long, I lose my patience. I just hate it when the conclusion has to be between ignorance or deliberate inaction.

If they haven't provided you with some sort of loaner or compensation, I'd be renting a tractor and billing them for it.

If you still want to get involved in the repair - something I encourage you to do - ask the Kubota tech to go through the results of the readouts on his hydraulic flowmeter next time he comes out. That is the basic diagnostic tool for hydraulic work. Sort of like a VOM is to electrical system. His will be the kind of flowmeter with adapters for all the places it can be inserted inline, set to a proper flow rate range for system being measured, and with pressure and temperature readouts as well.

Any tech guy that shows up the 2nd time to look at a hydraulic problem without his flowmeter either doesn't know his trade or is deliberately making the diagnosis a guessing game rather than a job to be done. Either way, he is avoiding diagnosing the problem.

I'll admit that The foaming is a different problem - although a flowmeter can help there too. In fact, Nothing else is as good as a diagnostic aid as a flowmeter.. Foaming usually means air is usually being sucked into the suction side somewhere and is often fluid temperature related. I've heard it is theoretically possible to suck air into a localized low pressure area in a high flow rate pressurized line - but I've never seen it.
Good Luck
rScotty
BTW, I apologise if I came on a bit strong, but I've done some fluidic engineering consulting and don't understand why this should be so hard. It frustrates me and I'm not even there....I can't imagine how the poor owners must feel.

 

[woody]

rScotty, thanks for the reply and you summed up the way I feel. the mechanic has done real good in the past and admits this one has him stumped. the dealer has given me compensation and tried to make me feel better about it but the fact remains my tractor is still not right I used it some today and as the day went on I noticed a slight improvement but that may have just been the oil getting hot. the thoughts I am having now are at one point he said there was a piece missing from the cup in the steering cylinder but no one has found that piece I believe it is somewhere in the system and is restricting flow, but it is like an easter egg hunt looking for it. I would like to bypass the oil cooler that sits in front of the radiator just long enough to see if that could be where it is. I took it apart today and blew compressed air through it but I am not satisfied it is as clear as it should be.

 

[woody]

update #?? I don't know :laughing: after studying on this for a while I was going to pull the cooler off and turn it around to see if the high pressure of the hydraulic oil would push the piece out of the cooler if in fact it was in there. but one mourning last month it was really cold about 28 degrees and an idea came to me if the oil is cold then until it has time to warm up there may be more pressure than normal so I went out and cranked the B26 and while backing it out of the shed the steering got a little easier and after running it for about 30 minutes I was to cold to care, so I parked it. since then I have ran the tractor several times and the steering is fine with no foaming and no loss of oil so I am thinking problem solved. Just thought someone would like to know what the final outcome was.

 

[moship]

Woody,

So you really never did anything to solve the steering issue but run it with very cold fluid hoping there was some type of pressure increase to push the restriction out?

Sounds crazy, but I hope your PS is continuing to run as it should.

 

[sixdogs]

I think it was overfilled and just blew out the excess. These are hard to get a reading on and if you check them cold they show down and but if you warm them up are ok.

 

[woody]

Woody,

So you really never did anything to solve the steering issue but run it with very cold fluid hoping there was some type of pressure increase to push the restriction out?

Sounds crazy, but I hope your PS is continuing to run as it should.

yes sir it sounds crazy and the Kubota dealer and myself have tried to figure it out and all I can do is report the facts.