Bad day,Lost an engine

[1stDeuce]

Knowing a little about the way engines fail when they lose oil pressure, I'd have to agree... Rod bearings are probably gone, but mains may be OK. Either way, there's likely not a lot of other damage... Cam bearings can eventually go, but the loading is much less severe on cam bearings, so for a quick shut down, they're usually fine.

Pull the pan. Pull a rod cap and see what the bearings look like. If the bearings are still mostly intact, then the rods are fine and new bearings should do the trick. Do the same with a main bearing or two. You can plastigauge the main bearings to check them, but if it was run w/o oil pressure, I'd probably just replace them all anyway.

Most likely, the bearing bits are in the bottom of the pan, not the rest of the oil system, so you should be OK there too...

So you'll need all the rod bearings, and main bearings to do a good job. You can usually tap the mains around one way or the other (Opposite the tang) and replace them without removing the crank...

The only special tool you'd need is a torque wrench for the rod an main cap nuts/bolts.

 

[winston1]

According to what I see in the repair manual the crank has to be pulled to service the main bearings.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I guess I will. I have A great Bobcat dealer who has always handled my larger repairs, but cheap is not part of the equation. I am not sure I can afford them. Have a great motor shop to do the machining but struggling to find someone to do the tear down. Good thing it is at the end of the season and I have several months before I will need it , so that lets me do some looking.

Consider calling an independent auto shop in your area to see if they would be interested in dropping the oil pan, pulling the engine, or replacing the bearings.

 

[1stDeuce]

According to what I see in the repair manual the crank has to be pulled to service the main bearings.

Yup. Every manual will tell you that. But I've done mains before without pulling the crank, and it isn't that difficult... Much easier than pulling the engine...

 

[winston1]

Yup. Every manual will tell you that. But I've done mains before without pulling the crank, and it isn't that difficult... Much easier than pulling the engine...

The front main is a one piece insert that has to come out with the housing. Only repeating what the manual states. I still believe start with the rod bearings and go from there. Bound to be some tractor repair guys around your area that would tackle that. If you wern't so far off I would do it for you.

 

[CCWKen]

Were the metallic particles you found magnetic? Seems strange that it would start clattering after five minutes. I suspect the lifters are plugged. I'd pull a main cap and a bearing cap and check the bearings but the clattering may have been caused by the release of metal particles or fibers already in the filter. Be sure to keep the bearing caps oriented to removal. They typically need to go back the same way.

 

[truckdiagnostics]

If you use the tractor in a commercial application where you need it every day to make money, by all means put in the long block. It is amazing how tough an engine can be and what you can get away with. I taught in a tech college and we used 855 Cummins to teach engine rebuild. We reused everything! At the end of each class before the students could move on, we would start and run every engine. Granted they where not under load, but until i actually did it a couple of times I didn't think it was possible. Countless times I have thrown a set of rods and mains at a lower end to have it hold up. If the pan is easy to get off like others have said drop it and take a look. It is not hard special tools are minimal and you get to lay on your back all day.

 

[MESSMAKER]

Going in for a new set of rod bearings. We will see how that works out. I am just not sure how well I will sleep with this fix as much as I use the tractor. If it breaks during peak mowing season, I could see myself losing jobs and customers that I just can't have happen. I think I will be forced to trade for another tractor. I am not unhappy with the Bobcat. It could have happened to any tractor. When you run a rotary mower, it's a tough environment. Things are going to happen.

 

[tman1020]

I hear yeah seems like once you open up an engine there's always that little worry in the back of your mind. However if the rod bearings turn out to be the only thing damaged now you have brand-new rod bearings. So you should actually be better than It was before the event. I'm just curious what type of oil do you use conventional or synthetic and what weight?

 

[MESSMAKER]

I hear yeah seems like once you open up an engine there's always that little worry in the back of your mind. However if the rod bearings turn out to be the only thing damaged now you have brand-new rod bearings. So you should actually be better than It was before the event. I'm just curious what type of oil do you use conventional or synthetic and what weight?

Most of the time I use Shell Rotella 15w40. I used dino oil, but this event may cause me to go synthetic. The added protection could have made a difference.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Most of the time I use Shell Rotella 15w40. I used dino oil, but this event may cause me to go synthetic. The added protection could have made a difference.

You just would have ran it longer and trashed it worse...

SR

 

[sd455dan]

New bearing are $144. Not cheap by any means. They are sold by the by the individual bearing, not a pair. Why in the world would you use one single bearing? Is there a time when you would replace the cap bearing and not roll the other one out and replace it?

That is crazy... never heard of selling 1/2 bearing shells individually, sounds like a way to charge more

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Going in for a new set of rod bearings. We will see how that works out. I am just not sure how well I will sleep with this fix as much as I use the tractor. If it breaks during peak mowing season, I could see myself losing jobs and customers that I just can't have happen. I think I will be forced to trade for another tractor. I am not unhappy with the Bobcat. It could have happened to any tractor. When you run a rotary mower, it's a tough environment. Things are going to happen.

Ask if you can look at it while it is apart, specifically rod and main journals, that way you can get that warm fuzzy feeling. At the very least have them save the old bearing so you can look at them. Take pics of the bearing and post them. There is a couple of guys on here that can look at them and give you pretty good idea, if it is time to trade or keep it, just by looking at the bearings. Another thing you can do is, cut open the old filter and look at it. Another thing you may want to consider is start pulling regular oil samples. New or new used stuff is not trouble free either.

 

[tman1020]

Most of the time I use Shell Rotella 15w40. I used dino oil, but this event may cause me to go synthetic. The added protection could have made a difference.

That's kind of what I was thinking to. I'm a big fan of synthetic oils.

 

[MESSMAKER]

Ask if you can look at it while it is apart, specifically rod and main journals, that way you can get that warm fuzzy feeling. At the very least have them save the old bearing so you can look at them. Take pics of the bearing and post them. There is a couple of guys on here that can look at them and give you pretty good idea, if it is time to trade or keep it, just by looking at the bearings. Another thing you can do is, cut open the old filter and look at it. Another thing you may want to consider is start pulling regular oil samples. New or new used stuff is not trouble free either.

Will do if I can. The mechanic I picked is about an hour away so I might not get a ton of one on one. I did get the feeling that he was not out to take me for every cent. He was the mechanic and his boss is the machinist. He let me on a tidbit of info. He said he had done a bunch of head jobs on compact kubota's. He said the heads are warping if they get hot. He said he usually did a coupe a year and he is on pace to do 12-15 this year. I wonder what is up?

 

[KubotainNH]

Ask him to send you photos of the inside. The guy I go to for inspections texts me items he finds. That's the world we live in now. Painless.

 

[D2Cat]

Will do if I can. The mechanic I picked is about an hour away so I might not get a ton of one on one. I did get the feeling that he was not out to take me for every cent. He was the mechanic and his boss is the machinist. He let me on a tidbit of info. He said he had done a bunch of head jobs on compact kubota's. He said the heads are warping if they get hot. He said he usually did a coupe a year and he is on pace to do 12-15 this year. I wonder what is up?

He's just setting you up so you'll be easy to convince, you need head work done! Remember, his boss needs work to.

I have a hard time believing what he's telling you, unless his doing 40-50 Kubota heads a month.

 

[prichard]

He's just setting you up so you'll be easy to convince, you need head work done! Remember, his boss needs work to.

I have a hard time believing what he's telling you, unless his doing 40-50 Kubota heads a month.

I'm a bit suspicious of this as well. If this was really widespread there would be at least weekly threads on here.

 

[murphy1244]

He's just setting you up so you'll be easy to convince, you need head work done! Remember, his boss needs work to.

I have a hard time believing what he's telling you, unless his doing 40-50 Kubota heads a month.

Well he only talks about 12-15 a Year. That's one a month. Not much considering the thousands of Kubota engines out there.

 

[MESSMAKER]

I'm a bit suspicious of this as well. If this was really widespread there would be at least weekly threads on here.

Could be nothing. He said he had been doing work for the dealer for about 10 years and said it had went from a rarity to very common in the last year or so.