Water in fuel causes $10,000 damage to my Kubota Grand L6060

[Bob Rooks]

$10,000.00 is not a lot. Try $175,000.00 due to a fuel centrifuge carryover failure.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Here is the first page of my invoice. The next pic is of the rail and you can easily see the rust. The last pic is of injector #3.

I have been researching some sort of water sensor that I could install somewhere in the tractor fuel system. It seems that these fancy tractors would have a warning for that already.

 

[Bob Rooks]

For those with a bad neck like me....

 

[Bob Rooks]

That invoice also reveals that you don't perform oil analysis. That much fuel in the engine oil suggests you had early barrel and plunger failures in your injection pump that was likely caused by corrosion from bacteria and fungi, aka "Diesel Bugs". Really surprised the dealer wasn't more specific about the "debris" found in the fuel tank. Could be pure ignorance on their part. I recommend you treat your fuel with a biocide for at least three tankfuls, and treat and monitor your "nurse" tank. I don't think you want to repeat this again.

 

[wolc123]

Sorry to hear about your engine trouble. Reading this reminded me to service the fuel filter on my 17 year old diesel tractor. I bought it new and have only drained the water from the filter one time, maybe (5) years ago. It still has the original fuel filter on it.

The tractor is a John Deere 4120 (43 hp). I looked at a Kubota GL 4330 back then, but they wanted a couple hundred more for it, so I went green. My diesel only has 1200 hours on it now, so my usage is considerably less than yours. I have a few gas tractors, that keep the hours down on that diesel, especially now when gas is a lot cheaper.

I just now drained and bled the filter on the 4120 and very little water came out. I am up north, near the Canadian border and I use this tractor mostly in the summer on a bush hog, but also in the winter, on a snowplow.

I think the main reason I have not had any water issues in the fuel (despite my almost total lack of fuel system maintenance), over (17) years, is because I fuel the tractor mostly with 5 gallon plastic containers, filled at a local, busy automobile/truck service station. I also add a performance additive to the fuel every time in summer, and PS in winter. I think that stuff gets the water out of the fuel by “demulsification”.

The only trouble that tractor has given me was a failure of the oem Bosh starter (just out of warranty). I replaced it with an aftermarket “power-strike” starter that cost me about half of what they wanted for a oem replacement. I think I am on the third battery, and the second set of front R1 tires. Everything else on it is original.

Only other maintenance has been grease, engine oil and filter every 100 hours, and coolant flush and change (2) years ago. I changed the primary air filter this spring also, but the hydraulic system fluid and filter are original.

 

[Hay Dude]

Rust inside storage tank transferred to tractor fuel system?

 

[dodge man]

Just a guess on my part but the rusty looking plug is a dead end on the fuel rail and maybe a place water settled.

High pressure common rail is itself a form of emissions control. It gives more precise control of the injection events. I know in some cases they can have multiple injections for a single power stroke, as many as 5. I don’t know how many Kubota has. In my mind you have the high pressure, more than one injection event, things will wear faster. Throw a tiny bit of water and microscopic grit, then things wear even faster.

 

[5030]

That invoice also reveals that you don't perform oil analysis. That much fuel in the engine oil suggests you had early barrel and plunger failures in your injection pump that was likely caused by corrosion from bacteria and fungi, aka "Diesel Bugs". Really surprised the dealer wasn't more specific about the "debris" found in the fuel tank. Could be pure ignorance on their part. I recommend you treat your fuel with a biocide for at least three tankfuls, and treat and monitor your "nurse" tank. I don't think you want to repeat this again.

I don't believe Post 4 common rail engines have plunger and barrel pumps at all but a biocide as well as regular oil analysis is a good regimen to establish. I use both with my pre 4 tractors and pickup truck as well Oil analysis is cheap and so is a biocide compared to a repair situation. Far as your comment about $175 grand compared to 9 grand, Not a good comparison as the you are comparing commercial to not.

The moral of this tory is:

Try not to buy a post 4 unit if you can avoid it. Neither of mine are and I'm all good with that.

Of course pre 4 units are getting to be 'unobtanium' as they are being sucked up and the prices of the existing ones, reflect that. Even an abused pre 4 unit is cheaper to rebuild than dealing with a troublesome post 4 unit.

My dealer (where I work part time) wants to buy both of mine and has offered me basically what I paid for them originally but neither are for sale at any price, least not now. When I do sell them, they will be sold for top dollar as both are carefully maintained. In my view, you can keep the common rail, SCR and DPF motors, not gonna happen here, ever.

 

[ruffdog]

I have seen people advising NOT to pre-fill your new fuel filter on a modern common rail system. If you do, you may contaminate the fuel system. Another thing, they say to NOT crack the injector lines on those same common rail systems to bleed them.

 

[5030]

I don’t know how many Kubota has.

As many as there are cylinders, could be 2 or 3 or 4.