Blown head gasket? Can I use it?

[Gittyup]

If a car blew a head gasket with no more use that my tractor, or even twice that, it would be a piece of junk. My car has more than 5,000 hours on it. No blown head gasket. No injector failure. No failure of anykind.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Even driving it on and off the trailer was probably too much. Good way to trash your bearings.

 

[Gittyup]

Look it up. It is common, by my standards, and shown to be a marginal design. For years, I stood by Kioti. Defended them; Championed them. Convince others to buy. But this is unacceptable. I will now recommend against them. I've had too many problems. This head gasket is the last straw for me. Had it been 1000 hours or more, I probably could accept it as "things fail". Too many things have failed. I'm done with them.

 

[ritcheyvs]

Gittyup: What other problems have you had? Could any of them (like overheating) contributed to the gasket failure? I blew a head gasket on my Yanmar (Diesel) boat engine some years back. That head was slightly warped (which caused the gasket failure) so I had the head "planed" before reasembling. Hopefully, your dealer will check the head and block for flatness when it's apart and cleaned up.

 

[RickB]

Even driving it on and off the trailer was probably too much. Good way to trash your bearings.

Please give details. The OP has no contamination of his engine oil supply.

 

[Gittyup]

Until now, I never had any overheating issues. Tractor always ran between the dots. Other failures:

Injector pump. Loader failure. Remote detent failure. Cracked fuel bowl. Loader float failure. 4WD lever knob. Bent tie rod.

All design flaws using weak or inappropriate materials, and not a result of workmanship.

 

[DK35vince]

Until now, I never had any overheating issues. Tractor always ran between the dots. Other failures:

Injector pump. Loader failure. Remote detent failure. Cracked fuel bowl. Loader float failure. 4WD lever knob. Bent tie rod.

All design flaws using weak or inappropriate materials, and not a result of workmanship.

Wow
That is a fair amount of issues.
My 2001 DK 35 never gives me any issues. (2000+ hours)
I did have the cracked fuel filter bowl 10 years ago. The updated (white) version seems fine.

 

[JimR]

Until now, I never had any overheating issues. Tractor always ran between the dots. Other failures:

Injector pump. Loader failure. Remote detent failure. Cracked fuel bowl. Loader float failure. 4WD lever knob. Bent tie rod.

All design flaws using weak or inappropriate materials, and not a result of workmanship.

I had a tractor once that had 10 times more issues than what you have had. Blown head gasket, broken front spindle, broken rear axle, split banjo housing and a lot more. I think it is in a junkyard somewhere now. The brand was a Ford.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Please give details. The OP has no contamination of his engine oil supply.

Dipsticks don't always show coolant in the oil.

 

[Gittyup]

I just online priced a JD 2038R. Real nice tractor, with the typical JD advancements. But, ouch! It's expensive. Don't know what I'm going to do when I get my tractor back. I'd like to sell it. But, notwithstanding the expensive repairs every few hundred hours, it is paid for. What's next? Front axle? Clutch? PTO? I'm afraid to wait to find out.