Water in fuel causes $10,000 damage to my Kubota Grand L6060

[Lineman North Florida]

I have little faith in the 'water block filters actually. Bulk tank maintenance is paramount as is draining off the crud that collects in the bottom and moving the pump pickup tube off the bottom to allow for a 'sump space' for the crud to collect and draining it off regularly which I do, monthly. I add an EPA certified biocide, not some elixir to my bulk tank for algae growth. In my case, I use Power Service Bio-Kleen and it ain't cheap by a long shot but a little goes a long way and my fuel polishing units strip any algae out anyway along with entrained water and anything else in the fuel supply. Nice thing is, I can just look at the collection bowl and see at a glance what they are collecting and when the fuel supply filter gets loaded, I just spin on a new one. probably should install a set of pressure gages on the units to observe any pressure drop but I never did and so far, it works just fine. I just change the filters every spring when I service the tractors.

I believe RJ has gages on his, not sure but I believe he does.

That's the same stuff I use in my bulk tank but it must be way more expensive up your way as I never thought around $30 per bottle was all that bad to shock treat up to 320 gallons.

 

[5030]

About 5 bucks more around here. Stuff stinks as well but it works as advertised and like I've said in the past, any elixirs that don't have the required MSDS label attached to them, whatever claims they make, they are fibbing.

The issue is, it kills any algae but the exoskeletons remain and have to be filtered out of the fuel anyway. My fuel polishing units do that just fine.

With algae, dead is dead but the remains need to be removed anyway.

 

[5030]

One would think so. Yet given the B3350 fiasco, I've lost faith in Kubota standing behind their products.

Ah yes the old 'Reformer' fiasco. Been told by knowledgeable people as in Kubota techs that they actually perform as intended so long as you run the bags out of the engines. Normal operating and the reformer engines aren't worth squat.

My dealer actually has a couple never sold units out back that he will not sell.

Kubota made a big mistake with them when they put them in production and made the end user the Beta testers.

Far as T4 final and beyond mandates, it's not just Kubota that has to comply but anyone selling diesel tractors and that is across all brands. When I read on here and elsewhere that blah, blah, blah don't have to comply, I just smile because I already know they will or they won't be selling their products here in the future.

That is everyone, from Dear John to Kubota to Yanmar to TYM, don't matter and guess who will bear the added cost?

 

[Bob Rooks]

FWIW, "diesel bugs" will bring a million dollar 16,000 HP diesel to it's knees in a matter of seconds. $75,000 in repair parts, and over 200 man-hours to repair and get running again, Another FWIW, steam and gas turbines are not immune from them either.

 

[5030]

Any plant that uses heated water or boiling water must add conditioning agents to the water and that includes Nuclear boiling water reactors.

 

[Bob Rooks]

Any plant that uses heated water or boiling water must add conditioning agents to the water and that includes Nuclear boiling water reactors.

We used Amerzine.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Update...

We got the tractor back from the dealer today. They pulled the water separator apart and cleaned it. There was rust and crud in it stopping the fuel flow. We had taken the water separator screen out and cleaned it when it quit running, but we did not take apart the entire assembly.

They also changed the spin on fuel filter. The tractor has 375 hours on it.

Total cost at the dealer was $340 which included about $65 in parts. I'm happy it was not more than that. But...??? what's next???

 

[Hay Dude]

Update...

We got the tractor back from the dealer today. They pulled the water separator apart and cleaned it. There was rust and crud in it stopping the fuel flow. We had taken the water separator screen out and cleaned it when it quit running, but we did not take apart the entire assembly.

They also changed the spin on fuel filter. The tractor has 375 hours on it.

Total cost at the dealer was $340 which included about $65 in parts. I'm happy it was not more than that. But...??? what's next???

You need a thorough review of where you get diesel fuel from, where you store it, and how you filter it.
If you have rust/crud in your bowl with that many hours, your fuel source is dirty.
Sounds like you dodged a potential major problem.
I’d be on that like white on rice.

 

[Bob Rooks]

Update...

We got the tractor back from the dealer today. They pulled the water separator apart and cleaned it. There was rust and crud in it stopping the fuel flow. We had taken the water separator screen out and cleaned it when it quit running, but we did not take apart the entire assembly.

They also changed the spin on fuel filter. The tractor has 375 hours on it.

Total cost at the dealer was $340 which included about $65 in parts. I'm happy it was not more than that. But...??? what's next???

In your case the spin-on filter is the secondary filter. The primary filter (decanter and screen) did it's job perfectly. The rust found could be a symptom of high humidity and not keeping the tank full during long term storage. The crud needs further explanation. Was it dead "bugs", live "bugs", or something else? Bugs have the appearance of sludge. Contrary to popular opinion, "bugs" are not algae, but a microorganism. You definitely need to thoroughly clean your fuel tank and treat and subsequently dose with a biocide.

Diesel Bug 101 - What Is It? How To Avoid It

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Update...

We got the tractor back from the dealer today. They pulled the water separator apart and cleaned it. There was rust and crud in it stopping the fuel flow. We had taken the water separator screen out and cleaned it when it quit running, but we did not take apart the entire assembly.

They also changed the spin on fuel filter. The tractor has 375 hours on it.

Total cost at the dealer was $340 which included about $65 in parts. I'm happy it was not more than that. But...??? what's next???

Glad it was something simple, I'm kinda like Hay dude I believe I would examine every aspect of how I was getting/storing/filtering my fuel to help eliminate this from happening again. Let us know if we can help, we are full of advice/ideas .