2015 Kioti RX6620PS

[PuJo]

Well,
I was just about at the 100 hour mark and the tractor caught fire while brush hogging. I am discouraged. Yea, it's still under warranty and will be fixed but now I'm worried that this will happen again.

Looks like all the injectors are melted along with the wiring.

Anyone else have a fire?

 

[kromc5]

I'm also approaching the 100 hour mark. much of that time was spent in 93 / 110 heat index. So far no leaks or any odd smells that would worry me. Even with the whole front grille clogged the needle never moved. I do see a lot of tractors catch on fire in my tractor magazines. Were you able to put the fire out or did it extinguish on its own? Most of them I see the front end or the entire tractor have completely burned. I keep a 4lb extinguisher on my tractor at all times just in case. Were you able to get any idea on what might of started it?

 

[PuJo]

I am in south Louisiana and in the heat all the time. My grill did get clogged and temp did risk however a quick stop by the barn and the hose usually takes care of it for a few hours or so but not my issue today.

While I was brush hogging 10" grass, the regent light came in for the first time. I stopped the unit, ideled it down then I saw smoke. I shut down the unit an grabbed a bucket of water I had close by. (I will have an extinguisher tomorrow). Diesel was poring out from somewhere and all the injectors are melted along with the wiring. I will post pics when I get home. I can't seem to do it in my phone.

The dealer is a friend of mine and assures me that this is the first instance on this unit that he knows of.
He also said its warranty. Im not worried about the repairs, but I am worried that this can happen again.

I don't know what could have caused this, there was no debris or grass under the hood.

Pujo.

 

[holeycow]

Sorry to hear that.

I am also curious as to the cause.

At 100 hrs the tractor couldn't possibly be all greasy and leaky to have that kind of fuel for a fire.

Once the diesel fuel and then the other flammable fluids start to burn the heat can melt all kinds of metals. I have seen very expensive equipment burned to the ground with virtually no salvageable parts left. None.You may have gotten very lucky.

Chaff on the turbo?

I have wondered about the heat in a dpf (is that what its called?) Being hot enough to start dry grass burning???

I would be discouraged too.

Hopefully the outcome isn't as bad as you think.

Those RX's are my favourite tractors in the Kioti line. I would like to own one. This event gives me pause...

A neighbors' combine burned up the other day. I saw the black smoke from the house and knew something bad had likely happened. It was a shiny big one in its second season. A modern new holland something. One little leak in the wrong place can be a bugger. Or a buildup of chaff near something very hot.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Well,
I was just about at the 100 hour mark and the tractor caught fire while brush hogging. I am discouraged. Yea, it's still under warranty and will be fixed but now I'm worried that this will happen again.

Looks like all the injectors are melted along with the wiring.

Anyone else have a fire?

Any idea what the caused the fire?

 

[PuJo]

Any idea what the caused the fire?

No idea what caused it.
It happened a couple hours ago.

The tractor was clean no grease build up and no leaks that can be seen. I always did an initial inspection around and under hood before each use.

The fire was on the right side of the engine opposite of the turbo.

the dealer will be picking it up tomorrow or Wednesday and as soon as he lets me know what the cause was, I will share it with the group.

Maybe this can be avoided if we can get a definite cause.

Pujo

 

[holeycow]

Absolutely. I am sure the dealer will be all over that. Nobody likes a fire.

 

[cat fever]

I am at 230 hours on mine. No heating problems of any kind to report. I did have to add coolant many times to get and maintain a level in the overflow bottle. When it finally seemed to have enough coolant I have not added any since, that was before hay season. It never did run hot though, regardless of how hard I was using it.
Sorry to hear about yours and I am looking forward to what the dealer has to say about it.

 

[PuJo]

Hey guys,
I finally made it home and had a good hot shower. It's been a rough day to say the least.

Anyway.....

As the tractor started smoking and I realized that something was on fire, I opened the hood.
I saw what looked like antifreeze all over the back size of the motor, next to the firewall.


Now I feel stupid...


It was not antifreeze... I had filled the tractor with road diesel 2 days ago 1/2 block down the road at the local convenient store and the color is green.

So no, it wasn't antifreeze, it was diesel pouring down the back side of the motor. I didn't get into it to find out where exactly it was leaking but its back there somewhere.

I mean it was pouring, not dripping or spraying. So I think it has to be something in the fuel system.

I am going to try and attach a few pictures.

For your viewing pleasure...
View attachment 483446View attachment 483447View attachment 483448View attachment 483449View attachment 483450View attachment 483451

 

[jabelding]

That really sucks, I almost had the same issue with mine. I had about 100hours on it and I was mowing and I started to smell diesel quite strong so I stopped and opened the hood and found that the injector return line had a pinhole in it and was spraying all over the side of the motor! Luckily it was on the opposite side from the exhaust or it would have gone up. The hole was just at the end of the rubber line where the spring clamp was it looks like it got pinched and cut when the tractor was being built and just showed up after 100 hrs, nothing has been near the line that could have caused the hole.

 

[ritcheyvs]

Education please: I have an older DK so can someone (maybe Eric?) educate me on the RX injection system? Does the RX have a mechanical injection pump (like DK/CK) or is it a high-pressure common rail system (with electrically-fired injectors) like many of the newer cars?

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Education please: I have an older DK so can someone (maybe Eric?) educate me on the RX injection system? Does the RX have a mechanical injection pump (like DK/CK) or is it a high-pressure common rail system (with electrically-fired injectors) like many of the newer cars?

I'm on an iPhone right now watching the Vikings play the Giants. When I get to a proper computer I'll look at the photos again.

One question: what are the three wires going to?

Too small for me to tell on an iPhone.

 

[PuJo]

I think it's the temp sensor.
I say that cause the temp was normal but once I saw the smoke, the temp gauge pegged full scale to the hot side but it was instant so I'm assuming that the unit shorted across the wires.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Okay, here is my conjecture prefaced by the fact that I must piecemeal the photos togethther in my head from one side of the engine back to the left side and any tech who looks in person certainly trumps what I think I see.

I think the sending voltage on the temp sensor dead shorted and without tripping a fuse (because temp sensors aren't fused) melted insulation back up the harness from one side of the engine to the opposite side and that melting insulation dripped on the rubber tubing and set that tubing on fire on the other side of the engine.

I don't see a fuel leak.

 

[DieselBound]

I agree with Eric. Before even reading his posting my thought was that this was an electrical short to start with.

I see no signs of heat below that area (no flames from below).

Will be interesting to see what that wire looks like going back.

Regarding pin hole leaks in fuel lines, after hearing about coolant hoses being tightened to tight, and in conjunction with cheaper hoses in general, any flex hoses should be suspect. I'm going to be monitoring mine.

 

[PuJo]

Hey guys,
The tractor was picked up by the dealer and is in their hands now.

The tech and I looked at it, and from first impression it looks like the temp sensor wires were fried from the sensor to the back of the engine.
The coolant hose that goes over the engine now has a hole in it probably from the fire...(I think)

With the heat and pressure on the coolant hose, it would have been easy to burn through.

What I don't understand is that the injectors were destroyed and how could the temp sensor wires get hot enough to cause that damage.
Why didn't the fuse blow? The most damage was between the ECU and the back injector. Also, looks like a fuel line was burnt as well.

The Kioti rep will be visiting to determine the root cause.

I just hope this doesn't take 6 months to get repaired, however I was given a new RX6620PS as a loaner.

 

[DieselBound]

Glad to hear that you're set up with a loaner. Just keep on tractoring on! Let the factory and dealer have sufficient time to make sure they know what happened and get it straightened out: the more confident they are the better job they'll do and the the more confidence you should end up with in them (and their job).

Electrical stuff is just tricky as all get out. That wire on that sensor might have gone so quickly that the fuse really wasn't able to stop the heat buildup in time. It's all related to temperature ratings, and, possibly, Kioti will find they need to fortify something here.

 

[comancheflight]

The wrench in the electrical theory is the fact you said when you opened the hood you saw fuel over the back of the engine where the fire had been. I'll admit I don't know the power in the sending unit but I can't imagine it would be significant enough to support the amount of damage that occured. A wire that has runaway current will get hot but typically will burn itself open and modern insulation doesn't readily burn. Coupled with the fuel and regeneration that occured moments before it just seems that would be suspect. Also wonder if the burnt hole in the hose helped extinguish the fire. This will be interesting to hear the diagnosis.

 

[comancheflight]

Any update?

 

[PuJo]

Sorry guys, I guess I left everyone hanging....lol

The issue with the fire was apparently some kind of rodent nest said the dealer.
Not sure I agree however everything was replaced under warranty and haven't had any issues since.