Banjo fitting leaking in the case.

[davygp38]

I have a Kubota L4400, with 52 hours on it. I am a few days over the one year warranty. There is a banjo fitting that comes out of the auxiliary block for the FEL, and goes right into the transmission case, and it is leaking. There is no visible mechanical connection to the tranny case, unless it is in the case. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar problem, or knows how big a deal this is to fix. I don't have any pics, because this happened in the field, and I had to leave it to get to work. I won't make it back up there till Saturday next. I called the dealer, he was very vague, about the cost. Since I am due for my 50 hour service, I will let him do the service, and fix the leak, but I don't want a "bill of goods." I got to tell you, this guy would not give me a price for the service. I kept asking for a "ball park price," and he kept saying "well its a 2 and a half hour job, and we will flush the system." I asked him to please give me an Idea of the price, and he would not. Am I crazy, or am I getting the world class run around? Any help you fellows give me will come in handy.

 

[Soundguy]

hmm.. I think I would have taken the banjo fitting apart and repalced the sealing washers myself.. then let the service happen ( or.. heck.. service it myself .. )

soundguy

 

[mmurphy]

hmm.. I think I would have taken the banjo fitting apart and repalced the sealing washers myself.. then let the service happen ( or.. heck.. service it myself .. )

soundguy

:thumbsup:

Then tell the service man exactly what it cost, and time so he knows if any one else needs the service!

 

[CurlyDave]

hmm.. I think I would have taken the banjo fitting apart and repalced the sealing washers myself.. then let the service happen ( or.. heck.. service it myself .. )

soundguy

In an emergency, I have been known to anneal the sealing washers with a propane torch and re-use them. Not recommended, but if the fitting is easy to work on and it is late Sunday afternoon, what do you have to lose? It has always worked for me.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Dude, cross the border into Pa, take rte 6 up to Shohola. On the right side about halfway to Wallenpaupack will be Industrial Hose and Supply. Ask for Steve. He forgot more than most people know about this stuff. He has a hose and fitting shop to die for. His # is 570-296-5551. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. Oh, it's probably the bonded seals leaking, the 2 little washers with the rubber rings inside.

Andy

 

[Soundguy]

I have seen those bonded washers sometimes used in places where an orb fitting has been added to a port originally meant for a banjo connection, but where no counter bore for the oring exists.

I actually prefer the crush washers to the washer with oring on the id though.

but heck.. whatever stops the leak right?

I have seen some places that sell assortments of copper washers presumably for oil pans and whatnot.. however.. they seem to work fine in the hyd applications I've used them in. ymmv

soundguy

 

[davygp38]

Dude, cross the border into Pa, take rte 6 up to Shohola. On the right side about halfway to Wallenpaupack will be Industrial Hose and Supply. Ask for Steve. He forgot more than most people know about this stuff. He has a hose and fitting shop to die for. His # is 570-296-5551. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. Oh, it's probably the bonded seals leaking, the 2 little washers with the rubber rings inside.

Andy

You know, thats really close to where the dealer is, I'm sure you can guess who it is. My problem, is that I cannot tell how the other end of the fitting (the part that leaks) is attached to the transmission case. It just looks like it pokes through the case, and is attached from the inside, or is just pushed in with an o ring. If I knew how it was attached to the case, I would take it off, and do like you say.

 

[mmurphy]

In an emergency, I have been known to anneal the sealing washers with a propane torch and re-use them. Not recommended, but if the fitting is easy to work on and it is late Sunday afternoon, what do you have to lose? It has always worked for me.


I like your way of thinking, curlydave.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

You know, thats really close to where the dealer is, I'm sure you can guess who it is. My problem, is that I cannot tell how the other end of the fitting (the part that leaks) is attached to the transmission case. It just looks like it pokes through the case, and is attached from the inside, or is just pushed in with an o ring. If I knew how it was attached to the case, I would take it off, and do like you say.

Case has to be threaded. Just unscrew it. I am in that area frequently. I'll pm you with my # if you have a problem. I can stop by and take a look for you. I live in a development on Lake Wallenpaupack and fly down 84 every morning.

Andy

 

[davygp38]

Case has to be threaded. Just unscrew it. I am in that area frequently. I'll pm you with my # if you have a problem. I can stop by and take a look for you. I live in a development on Lake Wallenpaupack and fly down 84 every morning.

Andy

According to the mechanic at Marshalls this is a press in fitting. The end that goes into the trans case is just pressed into the case, it has a rubber o ring. the end that goes to the accessory block, has the standard bandjo fitting, with a crush washer

 

[Diamondpilot]

Run from that dealer. Sounds like a A-Hole to me. He should give you a written estimate for the repairs.

I watch the Peoples Court so I will probably see you on there.

Chris

 

[Wayne County Hose]

According to the mechanic at Marshalls this is a press in fitting. The end that goes into the trans case is just pressed into the case, it has a rubber o ring. the end that goes to the accessory block, has the standard bandjo fitting, with a crush washer

Can you post a pic? Can you get a parts breakdown? I used to deal with a guy there named Dave. He was in parts then went into service, real good guy. Maybe he can help. Something doesn't sound right.

 

[Leejohn]

I just looked on the L4300, L4610 and the L5450 parts and could not find one hyd hose that was pressed into the case. Could be on yours, but I would say no. Did you buy this used? Just wondering with only one year warranty.

 

[davygp38]

I just got my tractor back from the dealer, and I could not be happier. The service Manager at Marshals (Bill,) Showed me the damaged part. The very end of this metal tube,with the o ring was egg shaped. Bill agreed that there was no visible damage to the tube from the outside, and wrote it up as a warranty repair, he figured it was Friday at the factory, in Japan, and they bent it putting it in. The punch line is that the tractor was technically out of warranty, but they fixed it anyway. Since I had to bring it in for this repair, I had them do the first service. I already had the transmission filter, and the oil filter, they replaced the fuel filter, inner, and outer air filters, engine oil, and transmission oil. they checked the front axel oil, and said it was good, greased it, and washed it, for $440.00 including tax. I also admit that I gave this man a very hard time, because of the way things went in the beginning, I still can't understand why he would not give me an estimate (give or take a hundred dollars.) However the price I got for the service, beat the other dealer by $200. I will post a picture of this tube later today, I could not get the old tube, because it is being sent to Kubota, But I think you guys should see this, because I still cant believe that this tube is just pressed in by hand.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Awesome! I have dealt with Bill before. I believe he is retired military. I know him to be stern but fair. Gotta respect that.

Living in the area, I hear good and bad about all the dealers in the area. It's difficult to know what to believe and what not to. Well, honestly, I've never heard anything negative about Rick Wallace. I'm glad you had a good experience.

 

[davygp38]

Here are the pictures of the pipe that was leaking. this is the new one. it is the one in the foreground, that has a dab of grease on it. You can see in the next pic where it enters into the case through a cast hole. There is no mechanical connector in that hole. there is only a flange, with an O ring pressed in hand tight. As far as I can tell the only thing keeping it in place, is the force of the auxiliary block it is connected to with the banjo fitting end.

 

[irwin]

I'm in auto service and get several calls a day from people that want a price .. just a rough guess... to fix something that they described to me as "shouldn't be hard" or "I'd fix it myself but don't have the time" I also get " how much for a tune up?"

I''ll spend time over the phone trying to get as much information about the problem, or tune up... but you won't get a price for something I haven't seen... I'll tell you what it might take to give you that answer.. I might tell you what it cost someone else to replace the spark plugs (or whatever) on a similar vehicle.. but no estimates for you over the phone.

A lot of the time.. "how much for a tune up.. it runs okay" will really be "I've already replaced everything I can think of.. but it still skips".

I've worked with advisors that would answer that question with $149.95 regardless of the vehicle or any other issue... Once you're in the shop, and the car is apart, the real price is revealed. It's called lowballing.. I don't do it.

I get a lot of work from people that tell me they found out about me from a co-worker/etc, the co-worker/etc, told them that I'm the most honest auto repair person they've ever met. I try to treat customers like I want to be treated.

Years ago I worked for a dealer.. they had a service menu for just about everything... easy to charge off the menu even if someones car isn't eqiupped with all the components covered in the menu list.

To the OP.. you said the place you brought it to charged $200.00 less than the quote you got from another service dept... but you didn't bring it to the place you got a phone quote from.. maybe that place would'a charged you the same.. you'll never know, and they gave a price over the phone.. just a rough estimate.

 

[davygp38]

I'm in auto service and get several calls a day from people that want a price .. just a rough guess... to fix something that they described to me as "shouldn't be hard" or "I'd fix it myself but don't have the time" I also get " how much for a tune up?"

I''ll spend time over the phone trying to get as much information about the problem, or tune up... but you won't get a price for something I haven't seen... I'll tell you what it might take to give you that answer.. I might tell you what it cost someone else to replace the spark plugs (or whatever) on a similar vehicle.. but no estimates for you over the phone.

A lot of the time.. "how much for a tune up.. it runs OK" will really be "I've already replaced everything I can think of.. but it still skips".

I've worked with advisor's that would answer that question with $149.95 regardless of the vehicle or any other issue... Once you're in the shop, and the car is apart, the real price is revealed. It's called low-balling.. I don't do it.

I get a lot of work from people that tell me they found out about me from a co-worker/etc, the co-worker/etc, told them that I'm the most honest auto repair person they've ever met. I try to treat customers like I want to be treated.

Years ago I worked for a dealer.. they had a service menu for just about everything... easy to charge off the menu even if someones car isn't equipped with all the components covered in the menu list.

To the OP.. you said the place you brought it to charged $200.00 less than the quote you got from another service dept... but you didn't bring it to the place you got a phone quote from.. maybe that place would've charged you the same.. you'll never know, and they gave a price over the phone.. just a rough estimate.

Thanks for the feed back.. To begin with, I did not ask for an estimate for how much the leaking pipe was going to cost. I have been around long enough to know that until the mechanic looks at it, he won't know. What I did ask the dealer was.....How much was it going to cost for a scheduled first service on a Kubota L4400 DT? The first service for a L4400DT, is spelled out for him in the maintenance schedule. The dealer I called, is probably the largest Kubota dealer in the North East. He does these services at least 3-4 times a week. To use a comparison, that would be like me asking you how much a grease, and oil change would cost, on my ford pick up. I would be astounded, if you could not give me a price for that within $20.
The reason I wanted a price for a first service, is because the tractor had just reached 52 hours, and I knew that the dealer was going to have to drain all the hydraulic fluid in the case to fix it. That being said It made no sense for me to do it before, or after the pipe was fixed. Your question about going to this dealer for the fix/service is simple. I have purchased three machines off him in the past ten years, and I know they do good work. The Dealer who gave me the price of $600 is located in NY,(42 miles away.) The dealer I brought the tractor to for the fix is in PA(38 miles away.) The Sales tax in PA, is 2.8% cheaper, so I knew that even if the price was the same, I was going to be 2.8% ahead. Also Have you ever heard the expression" Better the devil you know, then the devil you don't." Your comparison of getting a quote from different dealers, like you would from an auto mechanic, is totally off base in this situation. There are far fewer tractor/machinery shops around than car mechanics. For me to cart my tractor around to every dealer to get an estimate would cost me a fortune, not to mention the work I would lose. In closing, It is my opinion, that if any dealership for any motorized machinery, can not give you an estimate for scheduled maintenance, within 20%, there is a problem. it is also important to understand, that the costs involved for repairs, on heavy machinery, is greater by an order of magnitude tp those for a car. In my case I rolled the dice, and it worked out. the bottom line is, I had to have the work done, and now I know that I can trust the dealer who did the work to give me afair price. It would have been nice to have gotten an estimate, up front, than to have to take a chance like that.

 

[Soundguy]

um.. so you paid 440$ for an oil change and provided some of your filters, plus a wash and grease job ????? how much gold and platinum is in their oil they sold you?

soundguy

I just got my tractor back from the dealer, and I could not be happier. The service Manager at Marshals (Bill,) Showed me the damaged part. The very end of this metal tube,with the o ring was egg shaped. Bill agreed that there was no visible damage to the tube from the outside, and wrote it up as a warranty repair, he figured it was Friday at the factory, in Japan, and they bent it putting it in. The punch line is that the tractor was technically out of warranty, but they fixed it anyway. Since I had to bring it in for this repair, I had them do the first service. I already had the transmission filter, and the oil filter, they replaced the fuel filter, inner, and outer air filters, engine oil, and transmission oil. they checked the front axel oil, and said it was good, greased it, and washed it, for $440.00 including tax. I also admit that I gave this man a very hard time, because of the way things went in the beginning, I still can't understand why he would not give me an estimate (give or take a hundred dollars.) However the price I got for the service, beat the other dealer by $200. I will post a picture of this tube later today, I could not get the old tube, because it is being sent to Kubota, But I think you guys should see this, because I still cant believe that this tube is just pressed in by hand.

 

[rjkobbeman]

um.. so you paid 440$ for an oil change and provided some of your filters, plus a wash and grease job ????? how much gold and platinum is in their oil they sold you?

soundguy

I would imagine there is over $200 in UDT and engine oil. Probably over $300 if SUDT was used.