skid steer with 4cyl kubota diesal motor

[GKB Landscaping]

Hello all, I have a ramrod 784A full size skid steer. in the morning i have to spray starter fluid in it to start it. once i get it running, the whole day it does not need it. but once the next day comes, i have to spray it again. what could be causing this? thank you.

 

[art]

I hope you aren't hitting the glow plugs before you do that as it would cause a lot of damage to the engine!

Most kubotas would start with this weather with out the glow plugs so lets figure you aren't using the glow plugs and you have a fuel leak. It could be just a small leak that lets air in but doesn't leak fuel.

 

[GKB Landscaping]

no, i spray it into the air flilter hose.

 

[DZLDamon]

He means if you cycle the glow plugs just before or after spraying ether, you could cause and explosion! If the ether touches those hot glow plugs, it will blow up in the intake manifold, which is not in a controlled enviroment like it is in your cylinders.

My old Kubota will not start without glow plugs even after only being shut down for a few minutes. But she has a slight grey wisp smoke when running, indicating to me she might have some poor compression. It's possible you have the same thing. Either valves not adjusted right, stuck rings, or worn rings/cylinders.

Light grey smoke/hard starting (especially after sitting overnight) can be air in fuel also as also noted. It indicates a cold combustion chamber, poor compression, or air in fuel.

 

[GKB Landscaping]

ok. that helps. now there is a little of grey smoke like you said. when it is running. now what should i do about this problem. you are getting me nervous because i just bought the machine a few weeks ago. it has been at a job site ever since. it runs great all day once i spray ether in it. how do i go about this problem?

 

[MikeInEburg]

First thing is to verify that glow plugs are operating. My eager is that they aren't
Mike

 

[GKB Landscaping]

ok. great thanks mike. now lets say that i replace the glow plugs, (all 4 ) and i still have the same problem. what should be my next step? i am concerned now about the air in the fuel problem that it might have, that art and damon were speaking of.

 

[DZLDamon]

Test your glow plugs. You don't even have to take them out.

1.) use a multimeter and test the continuity. Take the connectors off and put one probe onto the end of the GP, and the other probe onto the block or - of the battery. Should be 1-3 ohms or so. You can also use a test light if you don't have a multimeter. Just clip onto the + terminal of the battery and touch the tip of the GP again in the same place. The test light should light up BRIGHT, not dim. If you have an LED test light there will be no illumination difference anyway.

2.) If all GP's are good, test the voltage across the GPs as you are cycling them. Turn the multimeter to Volts DC and put the red probe on the tip of the GP as the connector is still making connection with it. Put the black lead on the block/ground. You should have 12vdc or so. You can use the test light in the exact same manner. If it lights, it's getting juice.

You will probably need a friend to hold the GP's on for you as you do this. Don't cycle the plugs too too long, I know some old International 7.3L IDI's had some cheap, aftermarket plugs that would burn off and bend the tip after glowing only 15 seconds (Autometers and Champions are cheapys)! I'm sure the type in the Kubota are good for a minute or so since I've read you can glow them 30 seconds or so. Good luck.

 

[KubotainNH]

Damon has good instructions for testing the plugs. I would like to add that on some Kubota diesels you need to run the glow plugs for a minute to do the job, mine is like this. The colder it is the longer I need to run the plugs. I've never burned one out. If all tests well try running them longer, you may find you just don't know the starting procedure yet. Here's how I do mine at say 50F.
1)run the glow plugs for 45 seconds
2)crank it for 2 seconds
3)if no start run it another 30
4)go back to #2

If the plugs have done their job the engine should start up quickly, no need to keep cranking.

 

[GKB Landscaping]

I tried testing it and got no light on my test light from the gp. so i got annoyed, called the local shop that does work on skid steers and we towed it to there shop. over there we took out the gp's and i think manually jumped them and they heated up quickly. all 4 worked great. hooked everything up again and tried to heat the gp's and no light on the tester. took a propane torch and heated that area up, machine started right up. My mechanic said it is the wiring that goes to the gp's is no good. He is planning on running a new wire there. Now there is no relay on those machines, since its age. There is a little circle thing on the dash that is supposed to turn red when it heats up, but does not. So I will let you know how I make out tomorrow. Thanks alot for your help.