Maybe we should have gotten a crankcase heater in the L3940!

[leonz]

If his dealer stated that these models have had "problems" why was the machine not pulled and repaired by him if a service bulletin exists??????????????????????

An indirect injection diesel will pull water through first as water is in the bottom of the tank as well as fuel and pump any fuel and water not pumped into the cylinder head back to tank and remix the mess.

Water in diesel fuel will ruin an injection pump from rust.

A plugged tank strainer will also create the problems with starting until the fuel starts pumping an it if pushed through the tanks return line which may be submerged at the time.

I did not state he needed a new injection pump.

"I asked why the banjo bolt bleeder was not cracked" to see if it was getting fuel continously at idle. this would solved that question.

In my experience changing air filters has been and always will be much less expensive than engine repairs, yes they cost money but piece of mind is more important and a set of inner and outer filters are cheap in the scheme of things.


The engine is still moving the same amount of intake air per "Revolution" at idle so its still sucking a lot of air only slower.

It also make me wonder if this engines timing was changed and "advanced"
or "retarded" when the machine was assembled which in turn effects the fuel delivery when cold.

 

[TripleR]

No one should feel embarrassed y'all were trying to help. It didn't make
back today, hopefully it make it back tomorrow. You should have heard her
when I said they might leave outside at the dealership tonight. She and her
late Dad never left any tractor outside in the elements. Man did she get loud,
"they better not" she said.

I appreciate all the suggestions. I will definitely post any and all details they
give us when it comes back. It's suppose to snow in the morning so it may not
make back tomorrow either. What do most dealers charge for pickup and
delivery back, I figure around $150. We have a Hudson trailer that would haul
but it's never been titled and tagged, she and my son use it to haul round bales.

I'm going clean the fuel filter regardless when it gets back, book says kerosene
but wouldn't mineral spirits do it?

I no longer clean fuel filters on mine.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/178075-cleaning-fuel-filters.html

 

[leonz]

No one should feel embarrassed y'all were trying to help. It didn't make
back today, hopefully it make it back tomorrow. You should have heard her
when I said they might leave outside at the dealership tonight. She and her
late Dad never left any tractor outside in the elements. Man did she get loud,
"they better not" she said.

I appreciate all the suggestions. I will definitely post any and all details they
give us when it comes back. It's suppose to snow in the morning so it may not
make back tomorrow either. What do most dealers charge for pickup and
delivery back, I figure around $150. We have a Hudson trailer that would haul
but it's never been titled and tagged, she and my son use it to haul round bales.

I'm going clean the fuel filter regardless when it gets back, book says kerosene
but wouldn't mineral spirits do it?

Use the kerosene if you have it as the spirits will ruin the new o-rings or simply replace it which is the lesser of two evils, I only want you to succeed sir thats all.

If you use a pair of SMV signs on the truck and trailer and use the 4 ways you should be alright I would think to haul it back.

I would not charge you for this haulage as it is an issue known to them but the plugged fuel tank issue still bugs me.

 

[Grateful11]

Use the kerosene if you have it as the spirits will ruin the new o-rings or simply replace it which is the lesser of two evils, I only want you to succeed sir thats all.

If you use a pair of SMV signs on the truck and trailer and use the 4 ways you should be alright I would think to haul it back.

I would not charge you for this haulage as it is an issue known to them but the plugged fuel tank issue still bugs me.

We don't keep kerosene on hand, plenty of diesel but no kerosene.

In this state you'd get a ticket without a tag on the trailer, we have tags on the cattle and utility trailer.

What plugged fuel line do you speak of?

 

[leonz]

Your fuel tank should have a strainer screen at the base of the tank if it is botttom draw tank.

Is the screen for the filler neck still in place?

 

[gerard]

I have my L2500 in an unheated, uninsulated garage. While I can start it with the glowplugs ok, I have a block heater on a timer. If you have cows you probably need the tractor around the same time each day so a timer would be perfect. Have it come on an hour or two before you need it and she'll start right up. 15 minutes is not a long time to run. It probably takes about that long to get the whole engine up to operating temp and I seriously doubt that it's putting the charge back in the battery that was taken out by starting. For that reason I'd either let it run longer and or throw a charger on it once in awhile. A multi tester will tell you the voltage. Should be over 13volts even though it's a 12 volt battery. 12.7, 12.8 is about right too for a fully charged battery. My tractor just turned 10 and it's still on the original battery. I attribute that mainly to a pretty long running time once she gets started. (That's just how it gets used. I do use 15w40 amsoil year round but a thinner oil in the winter wouldn't hurt. A block heater's only $50 or you can get the ones that stick to the oil pan but I think they would sustain damage in snow and brush. Another simple way is to get a 100watt clamp lighbulb. Clamp it to a jackstand and face it upwards right against the oil pan. The reflector contains the heat and directs it all to the oil pan. Just leave it on 24/7 when not using it. Does a pretty good job keeping the block and oil warm if kept on all the time.

 

[Johnbro]

A multi tester will tell you the voltage. Should be over 13volts even though it's a 12 volt battery. 12.7, 12.8 is about right too for a fully charged battery.

Fully charged 12 volt battery should be 12.68 volts, never 13.

 

[JoeL4330]

Your fuel tank should have a strainer screen at the base of the tank if it is botttom draw tank.

Is the screen for the filler neck still in place?

I have an L4330...about the same as the 5030 and, I would guess the 5040. I don't think there is a strainer screen at the base of the tank...if there were, it would be nearly impossible to service if it clogged...you'd have to take off the hood, dash, etc. to pull the tank ...and then what? The tank outlet is offset from the filler opening so you can't get a tool/vacuum source from one to the other (at least I can't)...and, what would be the point of such a screen...it's easier to clean the fuel line or the fuel filter than to mess with the tank outlet...see my post about blowing back up the fuel line from the fuel-filter-bowl end (from experience).

And, my shop manual doesn't show any such, either ..and my dealers don't know of such, either...some vehicles have such a strainer on the pickup hose in the fuel tank, but that is to protect the fuel pump ...but our Kubotas are gravity feed to the fuel-filter-bowl (and that filter protects the injector pump) ...and, in those other vehicles the pickup (with screen) is (relatively) easily removed, and service or replaced (generally with the "sender" unit)

If I were doing the design, based on my experiences, I would never put in such a screen in this gravity feed system ...but, I might raise the outflow tube (onto which the fuel line connects) a little (an inch, say, protruding into the tank) so that it doesn't pick up the water/sludge at the bottom of the tank ...or perhaps have two tubes one longer, one almost flush) w. a valve the way motorcycle tanks manage their "reserve" ...but in this case, to be able to drain water from tank (as in a wet wing on an airplane)

 

[leonz]

You can use a 1" shop vac flexible hose to clean the bottom of the tanks after the fuel is drained or siphoned out with no trouble. Don't you have the strainer in the filler neck on your L?


The chaff screen in the base of the BX model and other tanks is the last ditch defense against plugging the fuel line with crap.

The biggest problem we have is that the fuel we buy is not filtered to 2 microns and the water stripped out of it before it is vended or pumped into storage tanks by a bob tail delivery truck and the tanks on these trucks are not sacred and they are allowed to move petroleum products to balance the trucks center of gravity and thats were the trouble with diesel fuel, heating oil, and kerosene begins.

I had to switch to kerosene as the fuel oil was so dirty and cruded up with algae and I had water in the tank I could not keep my Reillo burner running.

I still have the same issues with a top draw system as a third of my capacity is lost just to keep the suction line clear and a foot off the bottom of the tank


A double wall tank is no help either as the algae and water love them too.

I will be installing a Racor type marine diesel fuel filter to solve these issues this year for my boilers kerosene system as its the only way to solve the water issues.

 

[JoeL4330]

no strainer in the filler neck of my L4330 ...would normally be a good idea and if there is one for the BX that fits, perhaps I will get one.

In fact, I have a filter and a water bloc on the electric pumps I use from a standing tank or from the tank mounted in my truck bed so that's normally not the problem...except, bugs, especially spiders like to inhabit the pump nozzles ...I now have slip-on covers but I hadn't before...and, the one annoying clog I had was actualy from the label that I had not fully removed from one of the pump nozzles...eventually I drained it out when I drained the tank which is how I know that I have no screen at the outlet of the tank.

As for your suggestion about a shop vac hose, I believe the design of my tank wouldn't permit me to get the hose through the fuel-cap opening and bent into two stiff right angles inside the not-very-deep tank to get over the outlet...and, although some vacs have explosion-proof motors, I don't know about mine (although diesel isn't all that volatile).

I did come up with a trick that could help clear the line, however, when I was replacing the fuel filter on my VW Jetta TDI and lost the prime from the tank ...I have a mitey-vac tool which should have been able to pull a vacuum from the tank, but didn't seem to ...what I did was put the shop vac hose on the output side of the shop vac and fit the end to the car's fuel tank filler tube, and pressurized the tank, slightly, which sent fuel up the line to the filter...worked great and could prove a useful tip for someone.