Oil & Fuel Black sludge or burnt?

[Alan L.]

Changed the fluids and filters on my 1999 B2710 today, the tractor has 913 hours. When I removed the right side suction filter this is what I saw. The black stuff won't come off - it appears to be stuck. No issues with the operation, but I wonder if somehow it got overheated at some point? I don't recall it being overheated, but the power steering did some binding brush hogging in the heat last week. Had not done that since the tractor was new and Kubota rerouted a hydraulic line and put this filter in place of the transmission screen.

 

[JRobyn]

Don't know what it would be doing there or why, but it looks to me like gray JBWeld epoxy!

- Jay

 

[Alan L.]

Don't know what it would be doing there or why, but it looks to me like gray JBWeld epoxy!

- Jay

If it got in there the dealer and Kubota did it 15 years ago! The tractor has never been in the shop since then.

 

[KennyV]

It's been there for 15 years and is still solid, I would just leave it be... it looks like the port on that side was deliberately covered for some reason.... Has Not caused you any problems so far, why look for future problems from something that has been working?

 

[rScotty]

It's been there for 15 years and is still solid, I would just leave it be... it looks like the port on that side was deliberately covered for some reason.... Has Not caused you any problems so far, why look for future problems from something that has been working?

I agree. From the picture it doesn't look like burnt oil, rubber, or plastic. Jay hit it on the head when he said it looks a lot like some of the two-part metal filled epoxies like "JB Weld". Athough it's hard for me to imagine that JB Weld - or anything like it - would stand up to hot & pressurized hydrualic oil for 900 hours.

Going back to your first post, you wrote: "... kubota rerouted a hydraulic line and put this filter in place of the transmission screen."
So why did they do that to a new tractor? What kind of filter did they put in?

Like Kenny says, In the short term I'd be inclined to leave it as is and just use it. 913 hours is one heck of a reliability test. But I'd sure want to know exactly why the tractor shop did that in the first place.
Would you let us know what happens?
luck,
rScotty