Changed Glow Plug Relay - A Little Tricky To Get To

Gordon Gould · Oct 17, 2013

My glow plug relay would intermittantly chatter and when it did starting the tractor was harder. I thought I better take care of it before winter. I was told the problem was either the glow plug relay or the controler. I went with the relay first because it was cheaper.
From the Messick's diagram I knew they were both in the upper right and behind the dash panel. I took out all the screws and bolts I could see that were holding the dash on. It doesn't move much after that and you can't get to the connections and screws behind it. So next I took out the four bolts holding the inverted horseshoe shaped plastic cowelling behind the dash. I could see this would give me the access I needed if I could just move it out of the way. But there was an invisible fastener of some type underneath and dead center on top. Being plastic I was afraid to pry or bend to much so I worked very carefully. To make a long story short I finally discovered the plastic cowell was really quite flexable. To get it off you have to pull out the bottom left side enough to get your arm and hand with a small 12 mm wrench up into the very top. Then feel for the bolt buried up in there. Once removed you can easily get the cowell out of the way. You can see the nut plate welded in up there.

Pretty tricky of Kubota to do that I thought.

So maybe this might help someone and save them a lot of time or a broken cowell someday if they have a good memory.

Jim1764 · Oct 22, 2013

Gordon, I'm having the same problem with my L3710GST tractor. I think my tractor is pretty much the same as yours with just a few more ponies under the hood

Looking at your pictures the dash looks the same as mine. I have researched the problem on the Internet, call my local dealer and talked to the service manager and got the same results, "it could be the relay or the timer or the controller". I've checked voltages at the glow plugs and battery, all was good. So I was going to do the same thing as you, start with the cheapest part first.
You didn't mention in your post if changing out the relay fixed the problem, did it?
Thanks for the pictures and tips on getting to the relay as they will save me some time.

Jim

Gordon Gould · Oct 23, 2013

Well I just got in, not 10 minutes ago, from changing the controler because the relay did not fix the problem in my case. It appears that the controler was the bad part and changing it has fixed the problem because so far it has not chattered again. But I won't be absolutely sure for a day or two because it was an intermittant problem. It was bad more often than good lately and always bad if the weather was damp. It is supposed to be showery tonight so tomorrow morning will be a good test.

One other warning if you take the cowel off. There are a bunch of nut clips like speed nuts in there. The four around the dash panel, two vertical bolts on top and a verticle phillips screw on each side, well those clips are loose !! They will fall off and disappear when you start wrestling with the cowel unless you remove them first. Don't ask how I know. I finally found the last one under the steering linkage cover held on with 3 screws at the base of the steering wheel. This time I took them off first thing before they disappeared.

Jim1764 · Oct 23, 2013

Thanks for the follow up reply Gordon. I think I'll wait a few days before ordering parts for my tractor to see how yours works out. Once again thanks for keeping us updated and hopefully you got it this time. Also good tip on the speed nuts, I'll keep an eye on them when I finally tear into it. Give us an update in a few days if that was the fix.

P.S. I also got your PM, thanks.

Take care,

Jim

Farmerford · Oct 23, 2013

Gordon:

Thanks for posting the tips and pictures. I have to do the same thing to an L2900 and I expect most, if not all, of your advice will apply. Although I may recruit my wife who has smaller hands to remove that bolt in the top of the cowling.

Gordon Gould · Oct 25, 2013

After two cold wet nights with snow and freezing rain and cold damp days in the 30's with the tractor outside the whole time I can say with certainty that changing the Glow Plug Controler cured the chattering relay problem. Not only that it starts like a dream; just like it used to.

gg

Jim1764 · Oct 25, 2013

Gordon, great to hear you got it fixed. I guess I'll order a controler for my tractor tomorrow. I'll let you know how I make out once I get it installed. Once again Gordon, you have been a huge help to me in troubleshooting this problem with my tractor. Thanks again.

Jim

Jim1764 · Nov 1, 2013

Gordon, I ordered a controller last Sunday and it came in on Wednesday night. Got a chance late this afternoon to swap it out. The tractor starts great now and there is no more chatter from the relay after the glow plugs shut off. In tacking off the plastic cowell I found if I unplugged the light / directional switch harness and unscrewed the tach cable from the back of the dash I could move it out of the way. This gave me much better access to that 12mm nut at the top of the cowell you had trouble with. And yes I did drop one of those square nut clips and had to go looking for it! can't say you didn't warn me. It is a little tricky getting the tach cable screwed back on but wasn't that bad. But all is back together and starting great now. A big THANK YOU Gordon for your help, guidance and pictures on this.

Take care,

Jim

Gordon Gould · Nov 1, 2013

Well good - Glad you got it fixed. :thumbsup:
To be honest I had the two cable harnesses unpluged but I wasn't smart enough to unscrew the tach cable. For some reason It didn't look like I could do that. Duh. Now I know if I have to get in there again - Thanks