Nightmare senario...lost my oil plug and oil

[Gale Hawkins]

Wow, I'm glad I have provided so much entertainment on the forum and I appreciate each and every one of your replys. I pulled the FEL off and I am having it taken to the shop and re threaded for a larger bolt. I have ran rotella T 6 in it since I got the tractor 12 years ago and have treated it like a baby. I'm going to keep it running as long as I can and not worry about it...just my way. Why worry about what might happen. The tractor sounds like the day I brought it home and I will not burden anyone else with my mistake. Think good thoughts and thanks again....Brad

maddog69 if it was a $3000 tractor I might do the same but with your set up showing at $10K at tractor house and other places I would spend the $120 parts cost to put in new rod and main bearings while at the shop and have them fit a new plug while the oil plan was off. The time to replace these six set of bearings will not be many hours of labor I expect. I am assuming they can be replaced with just the plan removal.

New Std Main Bearing Set for Kubota D905 3 Pair | eBay

Actually with the pan off I would just pull the rod caps and look at the insert in the cap and view/feel the crank and most likely replace the bearings if there was any heat/wear damage. I would do the same with the mains but I would not expect them to be bad. It is the whamming of the piston firing with no oil film that causes the first level of damage. The main bearings do not deal with the same level of direct impact.

I would add the Archoil AR9300 or the Ceratec for sure if it was me but that might just be due to my tool and die experience many years ago.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

So you are telling me you would happily buy a machine and pay current market price for knowing this? I am betting the answer is no.....and if you say you would.....well lets just say I am doubtful you really would.

Cherokee140 Cat_Driver never even implied that in my mind but he was just stating his experiences in life. When I was a kid there was a service station up the road that changed the oil in an old man's car and he got a ways down the road and it started knocking so he turned around and drove it back. The station had not refilled it with oil and the station owner said he was insured and they would make it right. The old man said just put in the oil and maybe it would be OK. It was and the guy drove the car for years after that.

On that nice of a tractor I would really consider replacing the six bear sets as I posted but it might be just fine as is. The oil film does last for a bit after the oil pressure drops because there is oil draining down for a while just like it does when you drain it out of a hot engine.

 

[mccash40]

You could take it out to the nearest woods and cut down a big tree. Like in the State Farm ad you're only human. The tree just happened to fall on your BX. Wasn't there a post on here not too long ago about a tree falling on a tractor? It's not impossible. That way an innocent buyer won't get burned.

 

[jaotguy]

my 2 Cents ....

at least drop the pan and inspect the upper rod bearings and journals ....

if not even doing that , fill with a good synth oil and keep an ear out for any future knocking sounds ... if nothing within a few weeks , ignore it ....

as long as you catch it as it starts to knock , you can usually just do the rods and mains and be back in business ....


I too have seen the "run dry , fill up and drive away " lucky ones

and the "run dry and throw a rod out the side "

and the "run dry , refill and it still knocks"

ya rolls the dice and takes your chances ......

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I still agree. That small of a tractor with a FEL would be nice to have for managing horse manure at our place.

 

[Coyote machine]

You could take it out to the nearest woods and cut down a big tree. Like in the State Farm ad you're only human. The tree just happened to fall on your BX. Wasn't there a post on here not too long ago about a tree falling on a tractor? It's not impossible. That way an innocent buyer won't get burned.

No insurance company is going to rebuild/replace an engine just because someone dropped a tree on it purposefully. :confused2:

I'd drive it till it drops, don't look back. This is where synthetic oils shine; empty the crankcase and run one on dino and one on synthetic. I'll place my bet on the one running synthetic oil.

 

[MHarryE]

Google "running without oil" and watch YouTube videos of what it takes to blow up already worn out engines with the oil gone. It's not an oil gone, boom!!! You will also find posts where people ran over rocks, did something like knock off the oil filter and ran until it started knocking. Found the problem, replaced filter, filled with oil, and ran for tens of thousands of miles more with no problem.

 

[maddog69]

Google "running without oil" and watch YouTube videos of what it takes to blow up already worn out engines with the oil gone. It's not an oil gone, boom!!! You will also find posts where people ran over rocks, did something like knock off the oil filter and ran until it started knocking. Found the problem, replaced filter, filled with oil, and ran for tens of thousands of miles more with no problem.

Thanks for that post, my engine is still purring like new and I'm just going to use my tractor. No knocking, pinging, or other vile noises going on.....it's been an interesting thread. If the engine does blow up in the next year, I will be sure and let everyone know! Brad

 

[Coyote machine]

Google "running without oil" and watch YouTube videos of what it takes to blow up already worn out engines with the oil gone. It's not an oil gone, boom!!! You will also find posts where people ran over rocks, did something like knock off the oil filter and ran until it started knocking. Found the problem, replaced filter, filled with oil, and ran for tens of thousands of miles more with no problem.

That's exactly right! You reminded me of the brand new, less than 3,000 miles Subaru Legacy we had that my wife was driving and had to cross over to the other side of our dirt road when she encountered the UPS truck coming up around the bend where the town grader had left a berm from his grading one side into the middle of the road. Where she crossed over she hit a buried bolder and took out the oil pan, some of the exhaust, and a large portion of the rear floor pan. She arrived 1/2 hr. later where I was located 20+ miles from the 'accident' and proceeded to tell me she heard a noise when she crossed over the dirt in the road! The car was smoking and there was NO OIL on the dipstick! $3,500+ later the insurance had repaired the car with a new oil pan and other broken/bent/mangled parts. Nothing wrong with the engine what so ever. We kept driving it for many years.

Synthetic oil was a dream back then, it didn't exist.

 

[Cherokee140]

Guess I read it different, I read stories like that as implied outcome based on his experience. I also worked on cars in my other life, both at dealers and at corporate. I look at cars in general as a bit like a human body. It is amazing at the damage you can do to it and it will keep going....on the other hand the littlest thing can also kill it.

However by all means if you guys think having oil in the engine is just one of those things that really is not needed knock yourself out. From all your stories you guys have shared I wonder why we even need oil in there....heck it will run 20 minutes without a drop of oil in there and be just fine......never mind.

Cherokee140 Cat_Driver never even implied that in my mind but he was just stating his experiences in life. When I was a kid there was a service station up the road that changed the oil in an old man's car and he got a ways down the road and it started knocking so he turned around and drove it back. The station had not refilled it with oil and the station owner said he was insured and they would make it right. The old man said just put in the oil and maybe it would be OK. It was and the guy drove the car for years after that.

On that nice of a tractor I would really consider replacing the six bear sets as I posted but it might be just fine as is. The oil film does last for a bit after the oil pressure drops because there is oil draining down for a while just like it does when you drain it out of a hot engine.