New guy with a L4310 and questions

[cannarella]

Hi there guys. I am new here and hoping to learn a lot about the Kubota L4310HST 4x4. Our church is getting one donated with a catch. It needs a new motor.

The current owner was letting us use it, it hasn稚 been used in a couple years and is a spare, to mow the field when he was using his JD 4310 that he normally lets us use. We used it twice and on the second time while my buddy, who works for the owner of it, was driving up the driveway to mow the front he noticed the oil light came on. He immediately throttled down and turned off the tractor. He looked behind him and there was a line of oil where the engine oil plug vibrated out and left its trail of tears. He found the plug on the driveway, put it back in, filled the oil, and she ran great for 30 minutes after that and then he noticed it starting running rough and some smoke was coming from the left side of the engine. He shut the tractor down again and there is a 50 cent size hole in the engine block and you can see the crank journal where a piston should be connected to it all scared up. Amazingly enough his boss was not upset. He said at least it happened working at the church. This was last fall.

Fast forward to early this week. My buddy was talking to his boss about it and if the church could buy it from him since we recently got a donation to get our own and stop borrowing his. Well his boss pretty much said he had no intent of selling it and would give it to us. So now we have a platform but need to either rebuild of replace the engine. I have priced new engines from Kubota dealers at about $4500. I don稚 know if there are reputable places out there that sell remanufactured engines. I don稚 even know if we could maybe get a lower end assembly and move over our head and accessories. I am hoping to find some wisdom out here.

Look forward to the knowledge and ideas.

Andy

 

[some zilch]

check out any place that deals in reman engines for skidsteers, mini-excavators, etc, specifically bobcats. they use kubota engines, as do alot of other "small" equipment. i used to have about 10 kubota engines that were supposed to be bobcat warranty engines, but after years of sitting in storage were given to me. get yourself "heavy equipment trader" magazine-available at gas stations, truck stops, places like that. they'll have pages of ads for you.......

 

[cannarella]

Thanks. That has opened a new world of possibilities. I still have to get the exact engine model number off the tractor but I now have something to go on. So if I get a remaned one or used one it should drop right in with the addition of some minor gaskets and such. What do you think a decent price would be?

Andy

 

[dfkrug]

Andy, you will probably have to get an engine made for the L4310. It
will be called something like V2000, where the V means 4 cylinders and the
2000 is the displacement in ccs. If you get a Kubota engine of the
correct size and type, but not made for your tractor, it may not have the
mounting points for the front axle subframe, and it may have a different
bellhousing. It will be very hard to adapt.

Since that machine is only about 10y old, it will be hard to find a donor
tractor in a junk yard.

What you can do (or have done by others) is to rebuild the engine with
new crank, rods, and possibly pistons. The engine can be bored and
oversize pistons installed, but that may not be necessary. The hole in
the block is not likely structural, so it can be easily patched. If the cam
is scored, too, you will likely need $1500-2000 in parts to rebuild, worse
case.

 

[cannarella]

Thanks. I think the engine is a V2203. I still need to get all the markings off of it. If the head is good would getting a short block and move over all the stuff?

 

[dfkrug]

If the head is good would getting a short block and move over all the stuff?

Looks like a 2.2L engine, similar to what is in the current L4240. The
question is, is a short block a "part", or "whole goods". If the latter,
Kubota may no longer sell it. If a "part", you can probably buy it, but
it will probably be $3000. Or use the one from the L4240, if it will work.

Low oil can score your cam lobes fast, so you need to check that.
Also, your bores may be salvageable with honing. Gotta go in and look.

 

[cannarella]

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like we are thinking about going that new crate engine route. We don't have time to fuss with repair and if a new one is only $1500 more then a reman it may be worth it for factory support on any warranty issues that could arise. Also get that feel good factor...

Andy