CK35 HST shattered piston at 400 hours

[Mysfyt]

Oversizing one cylinder was common on the old Jeep 4 cylinder engines. Eric is correct about the vibration issue at those rpm's, but at 2500 I'm guessing it wouldn't be a factor. Monday morning quarterbacking here, but that cylinder looks rebuildable.

One thing I noticed from the pictures is it looked like the crank journals got hot. Looking at the discoloration next to the rod caps. Or could this be from a heat treat process?

You seem like a very decent guy, Chris! I hope this story has a happy ending for you!

 

[jimmyj]

I just saw this thread. Very interesting, of course in a bad sort of way. I have the exact same tractor with 700+ hours and like many of you it's been great. That picture with the part that has different levels of carbon really tells a story I think. I'll be watching this thread closely. Good luck Chris!! Don't throw in the towel just yet. I think this is just a case of really bad luck.

 

[Patches]

While I've admittedly scanned this post rather quickly, I wonder, if upon inspection, the rest of the engine is in good order why could you not bore, sleeve and hone to original specs and use a standard piston. We did this recently on a 50's era Cockshutt with the number one hole severely damaged after the tractor was partially submerged then froze. This would eliminate any balance issue

 

[dfkrug]

I amend my earlier post. Kioti does not provide oversize pistons. They DO sell new
liners, however, according to my parts book. So you would not have to do anything
about the other 2 holes.

 

[Mysfyt]

I amend my earlier post. Kioti does not provide oversize pistons. They DO sell new
liners, however, according to my parts book. So you would not have to do anything
about the other 2 holes.

If this is the case, your future is looking brighter Chris!

 

[paulfun9]

I amend my earlier post. Kioti does not provide oversize pistons. They DO sell new
liners, however, according to my parts book. So you would not have to do anything
about the other 2 holes.

This is why I have been wondering how he got the 8000.00 repair number early in the thread. I doubt I would get even half that into this repair even being picky with everything. Around here this would have been fixed and running by now probably without pulling the block out of the tractor and be out working the fields. On the old machines when we would resort to installing an oversize piston in one bore we would shave some weight off that piston and balance it to lower the risk of vibration. It worked well but with the High RPM of the motorcycle engines mentioned it would be next to impossible to get the balance close enough and you would be building a Grenade!

 

[CenTex Chris]

This is why I have been wondering how he got the 8000.00 repair number early in the thread.

I was given that figure by the Kioti mechanic who discovered the problem. He described it as $5 to $6 thousand for a replacement engine and $2 to $3 thousand for labor. And that a direct rebuild including the cylinder head would cost about the same. I'm just saying that's what he told me.

 

[Fawken]

I haven't seen the cylinder, but it is very possible that there is no appreciable damage to the cylinder that a crosshatch honing would not clean up. This is because of the unusual manner in which the defective piston fell apart. It stayed relatively intact as evidenced by the lack of scarring on the cylinder side of the visible fragments right up to the moment of shattering. Most of the oil ring which would have done the most damage appears to have popped out at the same time. I think you have a really good case here that the piston had hairline fracture/s well within the warranty time frame. Texas consumer protection laws have overwhelmingly favored the consumer in cases of failures caused by hidden defects. I've been reading the case studies most of the afternoon.

 

[Coyote machine]

Indeed, the exact words I received from Kioti customer service via email on Friday: "There are many variables to consider."

The selling dealer just wants to replace the broken #2 piston. They don't want to touch the other two. Not sure how comfortable I am with that.

I'm not expecting Kioti to replace the short block. I'm not expecting anything from them, actually. We'll just have to see what happens.

I have another lengthy reply or two in work that answers some other questions that were brought up a page or two ago. I'll have that posted tomorrow.

Meanwhile, thanks all very much for your continued interest and suggestions.

Consider this: Your tractor engine failed, off warranty, with fairly low hours. With our help you've managed to turn around a bad situation into a potential fix at minimal, (hopefully), expense overall to you in the end.
If one looks at it from Kioti's perspective, (one possible perspective might be), your luck ran out, since the warranty had expired, and legally they're off the hook. BUT, since you have their attention, they seem to want to make the situation better for you, because they can. So, if all they end up doing is a single piston replacement, with hopefully new rod bearings, and whatever it needs otherwise, then you can consider yourself lucky.
The details may be more complicated or not, but if you get your engine back in one piece, that gives you more options, like selling it or trading up, etc.
So, when the deal sounds best, seal it, and see what if any guarantee you can get on the rebuild, since it's only partial, and could fail again. If you can't get some assurance for hours or time after the repair, then consider the sell or trade options; either way you win this round.

 

[dusty3030]

A sleeved 400 hour Diesel engine with a good top end that hasn't had the typical rebuild scenario like an overheat, run out of oil or some such ain't so bad. The real expensive parts should be good to go, new liner and piston, gaskets and even if you need some attention on the bottom end I don't see how the repair could run up as high as was initially posted. Good luck.