8 hours in and the freeze plug is leaking...

[dieselfuelonly]

Well this sucks, loving my new tractor but disappointed with this especially with about 8 hours on the meter... looks like the freeze plug on the rear of the head wasn't installed correctly and is weeping some coolant. To me it looks like the bottom half was driven in a little further than the top and it's sitting in there a little lopsided. Part of me is tempted to knock the top half in a little more but it's under warranty and I guess I need to be patient and let the dealer look at it. Guess this will be the real test to see how my Kioti dealer takes care of me. Fingers crossed.

 

[4get gto]

I'd be a little worried how they "attempt" to fix it.
(Bars Leak)

 

[VictorW]

Straightening it up may make it leak more. They need to be started straight and driven in straight. I'd definitely ask for a new plug to be installed.

 

[JoelD]

Definitely new plug. Wonder if they have to pull motor to do that?

 

[oosik]

Geeze - at least its nothing that the dealer forgot to do when prepping the unit prior to delivery. I should hope there is a way to fix this without pulling the motor.

To the OP - dieselfuelonly - I will definitely be following your post here. Let us know what happens and what the ultimate fix is.........

BTW - that picture is better than 1000 words.

 

[tornadowatchranch]

When I installed my bobcat (kioti clone) electric block heater I had to remove a freeze plug. That would be pretty cool if they just installed one of those for your trouble! Not sure if that is the correct freeze plug to use.

 

[thepumpguysc]

Wow.. THAT IS terrible.. I hope they/Kioti has a PROMPT solution & don't keep it for months.??
OR try to halfazz the fix.. a NEW PLUG is required.. getting to it.. is gonna be the test of their mechanics..
OR if they say, "heres a new plug, good luck"..
Heres hoping for the best.. TPG

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Dealer came and picked the tractor up the same day I called about it. Gotta say, so far I think this dealer is a good one. I discussed with them that I expected the plug to be replaced and not just some stop leak dumped in the radiator of my brand new engine, and they obviously agreed. The plug is on the back of the cylinder head, it looks like it will require them to probably remove part of the dash to get to it, but since the tractor has fully hydraulic steering it doesn't look like it would take too long to get to. Frustrated, but like I said, giving the dealer and Kioti a chance to make it right.

 

[tjkubota93]

Like they said, remove part of the dash and replace, probably.

As a mechanic one of my co workers had a matco freeze plug driver that you could use at many unusual angles and hard to get at places. Changed a 4-8hr job to 30 minutes with a little skill and some luck. They normally seal on their own, some guys coat the edges with gasgasinch or something similar.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Well dealer spent two weeks getting different freeze plugs from Kioti and it was still leaking. Got a call today that they found a defect in the head from when it was cast, so now waiting another week (if not more at this rate...) for a new cylinder head. Had that feeling that was the problem after the dealer told me the first freeze plug they tried was still leaking. Sheesh.