DK-40se hst Cold Weather whining - continues

[southerniltractor]

Good morning folks,

I've been putting it off due to extremely cold weather, but today I HAD to move firewood with the Kioti to heat the house. It was about 5 degrees in the shed when I cranked her up and like always, I sat on the tractor watching and listening until it warmed up. Today was the first time I've started the tractor since I changed the hydro oil and filters and I hoped with my new Shell Spirax MD oil, the whine I've observed in the past would disappear.

Well, the noise is still present when very cold. It is almost certainly a hydraulic noise as I can make the sound go away by simply putting pressure on the FEL control and suddenly it is blissfully quiet. Any movement on any hydraulic component makes the sound lessen or completely disappear. Once temperature comes up just a bit the sound goes away completely. Usually after about 10 minutes of idling.

I don't use the tractor much in the very cold weather, but I still would like to know what might be causing it and if it is harmful to the machine. Ideas anyone?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[RandyT]

My 45S makes a vibration type noise, actually sounds like a buzzing sound, toward the rear of the tractor if the 4wd is engaged. Goes away as soon as I hit the button to turn it off.

 

[Ford850]

Good morning folks,

I've been putting it off due to extremely cold weather, but today I HAD to move firewood with the Kioti to heat the house. It was about 5 degrees in the shed when I cranked her up and like always, I sat on the tractor watching and listening until it warmed up. Today was the first time I've started the tractor since I changed the hydro oil and filters and I hoped with my new Shell Spirax MD oil, the whine I've observed in the past would disappear.

Well, the noise is still present when very cold. It is almost certainly a hydraulic noise as I can make the sound go away by simply putting pressure on the FEL control and suddenly it is blissfully quiet. Any movement on any hydraulic component makes the sound lessen or completely disappear. Once temperature comes up just a bit the sound goes away completely. Usually after about 10 minutes of idling.

I don't use the tractor much in the very cold weather, but I still would like to know what might be causing it and if it is harmful to the machine. Ideas anyone?

Thanks,
Mike

It sounds normal to me. My CaseIH sounds like it acts exactly like you describe, and has since day one, ten years ago. I only let it idle for a couple minutes then start to use it lightly and the sound goes away as the fluids warm up.

 

[Msamt]

Someone once told be to engage the pto (with the little cover cup secured over it) when starting up to get the hydro pump and fluid warmed quicker. I use this method when it's cold and it seems to get things happier a bit quicker.
MT

 

[jabelding]

It is completely normal, just the hydraulic pump pumping thick oil through the system and filter bypass one it gets moving a bit it quiets down. It is actually the sound of cavitation in the pump. You always want to keep the tractor at idle for a bit once it starts. If you rev it up it makes the cavation much worse, give it a few min to quiet down then start to idle up slowly little bit at a time.

 

[southerniltractor]

Thanks everyone. I always idle the tractor for about 20 to 30 minutes in this extreme cold weather before moving to work. The tractor and I both prefer much warmer weather!

Be well,
Mike

 

[k0ua]

Switch to Kubota SUDT2. and it will be greatly reduced. It's costly, but partially synthetic, and has better cold and hot weather performance. SUDT2 is the latest and greatest.

 

[southerniltractor]

K0ua, I just spent a bit too much switching to Shell Spirax MD, so that will have to wait a bit! It not horrible, only when temperatures are in the single digits and that is rare around here. When the next hydraulic/hydro oil change is due, will research the subject thoroughly.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[unimog_jason]

It was -20C the other day when I had to start my DK40 to move some hay for the horses. My steps to get things going:

- Give the glow plug a little extra cycle time
- Start the engine at an idle, once it fires I keep the glow plugs on to limit that cold weather hammering and white smoke
- Give the engine some time to start to cycle the oil, the hydraulic pump is howling at this point
- With the main transmission in neutral, push the forward pedal to the floor and lock on cruise control to get more oil moving
- Bring the engine up to 1200 RPM, engage the PTO. I keep the brush hog on as ballast and creates engine load
- Give the machine 10 or 15 minutes to warm up everything.
- Run it as you normally would.

I've been doing this for the last 5 winters and down to -32C at times, never had a problem with the machine.

My tractor will be rolling over 1000 hours by spring, my plan it to dump the oil and replace it with SUDT2 to help with the cold weather starts going forward.

 

[jbrumberg]

I recently purchased and installed a 110/120V hydraulic filter heater to supplement the tractor's engine block heater. 3 hour pre-heat in temperatures 0F/1F. Toggling the injector glow plugs twice and the tractor fired right up. The "normal" HST whine was gone. I discovered that another 15 minutes of warmup idling would be "helpful."

unimog_jason- Thank you for your suggestions. I learned a couple of new ideas.

I have a 110/120V battery heater pad than I have yet to install. My battery is fairly new; toggling the glow plugs discharges/heats the battery sufficiently for quick starting (so far).