BX1850 engine trouble

[drag_slick]

A few months ago at 310 hrs my oil pressure light would flicker at idle, other than that no strange symptoms. Replaced the sender and it still does it so we put a gauge on it. 7.5 psi at idle and 25psi at 3100.

Dumped the oil and cut the filter apart and there was a bunch of metal shavings so the engine was yanked and dropped the pan off. Looks like the main bearings are shot, the crank can be wiggled about 1/8".

I've owned the tractor since new, and all maintainence was done at recommended intervals. After the initial oil change I switched to synthetic and have been running Amsoil 5w-30 diesel oil.

Just trying to figure out what happened here and if I did something to cause it. Unfortunatley the tractor's a year out of warranty so I'm guessing I'm outta luck.

Edit... guess I could be more specific about usage...
Bought the tractor in 2006 with a loader and tiller. First two years was tilling yard, tree rows and a couple gardens and loader work, tractor sat the winter indoors and was started maybe once a month to keep a charge on the battery.
In 2008 I bought a 50" 3pt snowblower and spent a lot of time snowblowing as the winters the last two years have been crazy. The tractor sits inside in an unheated garage, and I always let it warm up until the temp needle is up almost to the middle before heading out, and the summers are still mostly loader work.

Any thoughts?

 

[leonz]

A few months ago at 310 hrs my oil pressure light would flicker at idle, other than that no strange symptoms. Replaced the sender and it still does it so we put a gauge on it. 7.5 psi at idle and 25psi at 3100.

Dumped the oil and cut the filter apart and there was a bunch of metal shavings so the engine was yanked and dropped the pan off. Looks like the main bearings are shot, the crank can be wiggled about 1/8".

I've owned the tractor since new, and all maintainence was done at recommended intervals. After the initial oil change I switched to synthetic and have been running Amsoil 5w-30 diesel oil.

Just trying to figure out what happened here and if I did something to cause it. Unfortunatley the tractor's a year out of warranty so I'm guessing I'm outta luck.

Edit... guess I could be more specific about usage...
Bought the tractor in 2006 with a loader and tiller. First two years was tilling yard, tree rows and a couple gardens and loader work, tractor sat the winter indoors and was started maybe once a month to keep a charge on the battery.
In 2008 I bought a 50" 3pt snowblower and spent a lot of time snowblowing as the winters the last two years have been crazy. The tractor sits inside in an unheated garage, and I always let it warm up until the temp needle is up almost to the middle before heading out, and the summers are still mostly loader work.

Any thoughts?

The loss of your engine with low hours would defintely lead me to say its was the synthetic oil in my opinion.

Ii dont use the synthetic oils simply because I am unsure of them to this day with all the adequate lubrication isssues and oil adhesion to wear parts.
was the water pump in good condition? do you know if it was adequately pumping coolant?
Did you look at or tear down the oil pump to see what condition it was in?
Is there a screen to catch any metal in the sump?

The chaff screen for radiator is another issue with over heated coolant heating up the oil breaking it down sooner.

My other concern is air flow and air filters only from a maintenance standpoint.

if your air filter has an inner element it needs to be changed every time you change the outer elelement as it is referred to as the safety element.

The The air filter tattle tails are not fool proof either and even thses littel engines should have cyclone precleaners which are available-I will gladly tell you where they can be purchased.


I have never run a multi-viscosity oil in my machines and I use a salamander to heat everything up when the time comes in the colder months or sooner only because I know the transmissions and the oil tank on the processor will need to be warmed up to avoid pump and oil flow issues.


I would contact a kubota engine only distributor to see if they have an exchange rebuild program or not and see if they will take your engine in towards a new one.

It will be much more costly to buy one from your local dealer to replace it.

The only way to tell why it failed is to have an oil analysis done through Exxonmobil or others at every oil change which tells you if there are trace metals in the oil from the bearings. etc.


I am sorry you lost your prime movers engine but the only guaranteed way to find problems or prevent them is with oil analysis.

There are many kubota engine dealers nation wide that handle the small engines as they were made for other purposes prior to them being used in small tractors so finding your engine with them will be easy to accomplish.


The engine dealers are linked through the Kubota corp homepage and you can find one through there.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Actually, I'm not sure how helpful Kubota engine would be. We get really good prices on crate engines.

 

[dodge man]

I seriously doubt it had anything to do with the oil. Just a guess on my part, the engine was dusted or you had a bad crank and or bearings, or a bad oil pump.

I would think overheating would be an issue with a warped head and such, so I would guess that isn't the problem

 

[rdsaustintx]

the engine was dusted

I thought dusting killed rings and valve seals, not main bearings.

Any thoughts?

Drag, my only thoughts are the obvious heartbreak you must be feeling. 310 hours is nothing. This is probably the worst story I've ever read here. Yeah, a few people have had hydrostatic transmissions self-destruct, but infant mortality in a Kubota diesel engine? Yikes.

Please keep us updated on whatever you can find out. Personally, I would be talking to my dealer and the regional rep. I don't buy Am$oil, but if I did, I would be all over those guys. Warranty or not, 310 hours is awfully low.

 

[drag_slick]

Never had a problem with overheating, actually never have seen the needle even close to red, assuming the gauge was correct.

Only time the air filter looked real bad was after I tilled my yard which was in the spring of 2007, then I replaced it. After that, it's been replaced at least yearly.

About 2/3rd's of my hours were put on in the last two winters snowblowing.

Every oil change since new we've cut the filter apart, the last change was at 270 hours and didn't see anything bad in the filter.

The guy that's tearing it down for me suspects bad crank, bearings, oil pump too. I just want to make sure if it was me that I don't do it again. These little diesels get pricey fast.

 

[dodge man]

I agree, it would have to be dusted pretty bad, but I wonder what the top end of the engine looks like? What does the pistons, rings and cylinders look like.

 

[SPYDERLK]

That is very strange. I have not treated my BX1500 engine as good as youve yours and its running strong at 1470+ hrs. The engine has been used at full load for hrs on end mowing and snow throwing. It doesnt sound like your engine was ever right to go bad that way. Are you speaking of endplay in the crank being 1/8"?
larry

 

[Kubota-guy1911]

It is definately NOT the oil. I've been running Amsoil in 2 different 3 cylinder Kubota engines for a long time. The oldest since 1987.

kj

 

[drag_slick]

I do also have an oil analysis report, if there's any values anybody's curious about, they did flag tin and aluminum as high, and silicon was a little elevated.