Not the way to change your oil.

   / Not the way to change your oil. #1  
J

Jerome

Silver Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2005
Messages
115
Location
Elmvale Ontario Canada
Tractor
Kubota L245dt
I was blowing snow yesterday with my rear blower when I looked back after a bit to see how the driveway was looking when I noticed a trail of oil leading to my Kubota L245DT. I turned the tractor off right away and went to look to see what was leaking. I found that there was a hole in the side of the block with oil coming out of it. I followed the trail back to where it started and found a small plug about the size of an pink pencil eraser lying on the snow. After calling my neighbor over to pull my tractor back to the house I called the dealer who thought they knew what I was talking about but asked if I could take some pictures to show them. I raced over and showed the plug the the mechanic that was there and he suggested just to put the plug back in with some lock tight retaining compound on it. Picked up some new oil and a filter and headed back.
I cleaned the hole and plug with brake cleaner put on the retaining compound and put it back in, gave it a tap with a hammer and filled it with oil. it seems to be holding after about a hour of use.
My questions are what are these plugs for? and what would cause them to come out? When I was putting in the original one that came out I found another beside it that was loose and taped it back in also.
 

Attachments

  • DSC04069.jpg
    DSC04069.jpg
    117.8 KB · Views: 1,098
  • DSC04068.JPG
    DSC04068.JPG
    142.6 KB · Views: 903
   / Not the way to change your oil. #2  
No idea. It looks like the one that was loose, is part of the pressurized oil loop from the pump. Possibly they used a hose to loop over to the "one that fell out" and provide more oil to the front bearings>?? Maybe they use that loop to add an external oil cooler?? Maybe just to fall out 25 years after being sold so the engine will loose oil and throw a rod requiring a purchase of a new tractor (active planned obsolescence)?

Then again, it could just be that they need access to drill oil passages at time of manufacture?

You should feel pretty good catching it quick and having no damage as a result. Good job.
jb
 
   / Not the way to change your oil. #3  
I believe it that happened to me I'd thread the holes and use a threaded plug with sealer, something Kubota should have done in the first place!
 
   / Not the way to change your oil. #4  
If you were right there with the mechanic why didn`t you ask him what it was for, I think that I would have.
 
   / Not the way to change your oil. #5  
Jerome said:
I was blowing snow yesterday with my rear blower when I looked back after a bit to see how the driveway was looking when I noticed a trail of oil leading to my Kubota L245DT. I turned the tractor off right away and went to look to see what was leaking. I found that there was a hole in the side of the block with oil coming out of it. I followed the trail back to where it started and found a small plug about the size of an pink pencil eraser lying on the snow. After calling my neighbor over to pull my tractor back to the house I called the dealer who thought they knew what I was talking about but asked if I could take some pictures to show them. I raced over and showed the plug the the mechanic that was there and he suggested just to put the plug back in with some lock tight retaining compound on it. Picked up some new oil and a filter and headed back.
I cleaned the hole and plug with brake cleaner put on the retaining compound and put it back in, gave it a tap with a hammer and filled it with oil. it seems to be holding after about a hour of use.
My questions are what are these plugs for? and what would cause them to come out? When I was putting in the original one that came out I found another beside it that was loose and taped it back in also.
Click to expand...

I have a similar vintage tractor, a '78 Kubota L295DT and exact casting, it shows this plug area as a solid casting; with no indent/intent for drilling. Your hole(if it was drilled), it looks like it was drilled off-center slightly, which means some prior drilled that hole? I would not thread it for metal contamination reasons. Maybe a bare metal plug with JB-WELD? Was it a pressure or gravity leak?
 
   / Not the way to change your oil.
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I did ask what it was for the mechanic did not know.
I did not see the leak as I was looking back but the trail did not seam to indicate much pressure.
 
   / Not the way to change your oil. #7  
Skyco said:
I believe it that happened to me I'd thread the holes and use a threaded plug with sealer, something Kubota should have done in the first place!
Click to expand...

Take a punch and ping it at the joint between casting and plug. That'll fix it for good.
 
   / Not the way to change your oil. #8  
After the block is cast, they drill oil galleys or passages to connect other parts of the casting with the oil supply. Plugs are then driven in to keep the oil inside. You will see this in most all casting that have fluid or gas moving from on area to another inside. It is very expensive to cast stuff like this with these galleys or passages in place. I believe they use the lost wax molding process when the passageways are cast in place.
 
   / Not the way to change your oil. #9  
If you plan to drill and tap a threaded hole, coat the drill and tap liberally with a sticky grease, the shavings will stick to it and you won't get any into the galley.

We used to use this trick on aluminum heads when we heilicoiled them.
 
   / Not the way to change your oil. #10  
sence when is a kubota tractor blue?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
 

Footer Links 1

Top