kubota hydraulic fluid

[rebb]

i think i told all y'all i was taking delivery on a 2350. well, it came, but was empty of diesel (just enough to get it on the trailer), so the delivery guy waived the delivery fee to compensate.

i adjusted the mower, and mowed. 'bout 1.5 hours.

had some i missed; went to look at it today before startup; checked the oil, checked the hydraulic/trans fluid. h/t dint show on the dipstick. i took a clean 6" file, and dipped it all the way to the beginning of the 'handle', and it came out with about a 1/4" of fluid on it. i am madder'n a wet hen.

tomorrow morning, i am going to give the dealer a chance to correct this; i am going to ask him to bring me adequate kubota h/t fluid and a filter to change the fluid out. he can or not, makes me no never mind. later in the week, i am going to the post office with a certified/return receipt letter advising them of this situation (and i'm of course going to keep a copy), and send a copy to the kubota u.s. office.

either way, i'm going to change out the h/t fluid and filter. if the dealer don't cooperate, i got the name of a large volume dealer over by college station who will mail order stuff, and there's other dealers all over the place.

just a word to the wise; i usually check everything on vehicles if they've been worked on, but can't remember the last time i got a new vehicle with too little fluid in some area...just can't believe it. wouldn't let their maintenance department work on a texas toothpick now.....

rebb

 

[Taiser]

I'd be mad too, and worried if there was any damage caused by the low fluid. I agree, I'd drain all the fluid out and go completely fresh, that low amount of fluid may have been overheated which will wear it down pretty fast. I'd probably ask for a tractor exchange, depending on how much work the thing had done but the dealer would probably balk and blame you for not checking the fluids in the first place.

These are usually lifetime purchases and we think long and hard (at least I do) before plunking down some serious cash for these toys!!! You'd think they would be a little more careful. Then again, could have been some new stockboy who got stuck doing the prep because no one was around, but that still falls on the dealer to make it right.

If the dealer fails to satisfy then I'd never darken his shop again and I would make sure everyboby I know was aware of "quality control". I'm amazed that he would still have a viable business if this was his regular practise!

 

[rebb]

Taiser, i called the dealer this am. he called back later after talking to the service manager. he admits (on the phone) they checked, but maybe dint check too good. told me to come by and get a 'bucket of oil'. i think i will tell them i want a filter, too, and change the whole mess out, jic.

also, gonna call legal shield in a lil bit; i ahve them for a variety of reasons, but 'protecting my warranty rights on something that could be expensive' is another one. they'll tell me whether to 'touch the h/t mess' or not, and if that will change the legal situation in case there's damage further down the road, as well as how to record this in case of future warranty arguments. may tell me to take pictures, etc.

also wrote kubota corporate an email; asked them for the u.s. office address, told them they'd be getting a certified letter from me.

trying to cya.

rebb

 

[rebb]

the upshot is i was advised to make a letter detailing the facts of what happened, and get a rep of the dealer to sign it. very plain, to the point, not 'you did this' or anything, just a straight recounting of the facts. i did so; they gave me a gallon of super udt. one of their guys called this pm, and said that, if i had the fel off, that a lot of the super udt was in the lines and pistons; there is about 2" of the op rods showing; there's on ly 3 gallons in the whole system.

never worked on a scut before, or had one. gonna hookup the fel as the fella said, and see what the level is then. then add the extra fluid to the middle of the dipstick. then disconnect the fel, and see what happens....interesting...the dealers' man thinks that most of the 'missing fluid' is in the bucket and lines...

rebb

 

[kenneyz]

Man that ain't right. I'm actually surprised it moved at all. When my ps lines were leaking I could tell right away I was low on fluid....it will start to get real whinney and lose power. You're nicer than I am. I'd make the come get it AND do a trans service on the machine, but not before I asked for a new one! Make sure to check your tranny screen too, that things catches a lot of crap, usually metal fillings from break-in or if anything real big was floating around it'll grab it. Good luck and I hope it all works out.

 

[Jimmyp5]

Gee...where do you guys find these dealers????

Come on down to Texas... My dealer would not deliver my BX until I spent about 4 hours in his shop!! He personally, not his staff... walked me though the entire tractor, we checked each and every fluid level, he had me put on and take off the FEL/BH and Mower... He told me he does that with every new tractor wants to insure you know what you are doing and that the tractor goes out the door correct!

Guess I got lucky.

 

[rebb]

once ya got a new tractor, ya got the guy ya got. it's kinda like the tar baby...especially if the others are 40 miles away, and gas is $3.60...or whatever it is today.

a picture; worth a thousand words; sent on email to the dealer and the kubota customer service people yesterday-the nicholson was all the way in to the 'trademark' to get this much fluid on it....

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j285/rebelraindrop/DSCF0099-1.jpg

 

[CharlieKtractor]

rec,d my new kubota L3130GST in may '03---upon 50 hr. service, discovered only 1 gal. in front axle housing---supposed to have almost 6 gal. -- not happy 'bout it--but all has been well since--have learned dealers and service managers don't know all there is to know about kubotas---especially if they sell alot of other makes.

 

[Marcussen]

The dealer probably serviced the tractor with the FEL off. When they installed the FEL the lines and actuators filled with fluid and the level on the tractor went down. They should have rechecked and toped of the fluid because the amount of fluid in the FEL is going to stay in FEL hooked up or not. I would be worried about them working on my tractor in the future. I doubt 1.5 hours would damage anything.

 

[Volfandt]

The difference in HST fluid level on my BX23 w/the 3ph up, then down is close to 1/4". On the BX23's HST dipstick that is enough difference to make one believe the fluid is at or below the fill line with the 3ph up.
I've always checked the fluid level w/the FEL on the ground with all pressure removed so I don't know how much difference there will be if it was raised.
As been said, they could have serviced it before they installed the FEL and never checked it again afterwards. Could be an honest mistake, but they should have rechecked after they cycled the FEL.

Probably didn't do any damage but if it did it should show up well before the warranty is up. These HST's are pretty stout and can run as long as theres enough fluid to keep it lubricated.
Theres been a few folks have the unfortunate malady of unknowingly damaging their HST filter which inturn drained their fluid down. The symptoms of the HST failing started soon afterwards with grinding metal on metal sounds at differing speeds.
HST whine is normal and will naturally increase with increased load so this is not a symptom, grinding is.
Good luck

 

[rebb]

after getting the lil feller up to the dipstick, it hasn't varied with fel/without more than 1/4"....the 'whine' sounds good (better'n the old ford i used to use to clean up trash dumps-lol)...the operation is perfect (or as good as i get). so i put my earplugs back in, and went to work mowing the other night....the tasks it will do are perfect, as far as my place. i got a signed 'we did this letter'; i got a picture to corporate customer service; i got 'er filled to manual specs....as was said if there IS damage, it will surface way before warranty is up, and i covered myself.

intended this as a warning for others who may believe 'dealers know what they're doing and check everything'....obviously, that isn't an 'always true' statement...what disappoints me, since i have this feeling about machinery that it deserves love, too, is the amount of 'don't g.a.s.' i see in business nowadays....i respect the abilty of a machinist or mechanic to 'make something good, and make it work'-a lack of respect for that ability makes my ears get red.....i have often said that the change in society from the middle ages, where the tradesman/craftsman was lowered on the societal scale, and the hawker/lawyer/politician raised was a serious error, and we continue to pay for it....

thanks to all y'all who replied...the 2350 and i are going to go forward (or backward, depending on pedal applied), and we'll see what happens

rebb