CoolTech
Member
Well, I've had the Kioti for about 2.5-years now having purchased it new in June 2021. We only have ~5 acres here in SoCal so the tractor rarely works all day on any given task but instead gets used for 2-3 hour jobs here and there. The most frequent attachments are the bush hog and the box scraper - using both tools principally for weed abatement. On the FEL, I'll often swap on the skid-steer fork lifts and occasionally the rock bucket. Shortly after purchasing the tractor I bought the Kioti 3rd function kit but I still haven't installed it. I've thought about a grapple... but just don't have the need to justify one... so the 3rd function kit remains in a box, lol. Yesterday was likely the hardest/longest I've used the Kioti as I spent almost the entire day removing ~200' of an asphalt driveway. I used the Case backhoe to lift and break-up the driveway but the Kioti with the rock bucket was the right tool to lift out the asphalt while letting the underlying dirt sift through the grates. The rock bucket is 6' wide, 3.5' deep and about 700lbs (empty) and so the 40HP Kioti was getting a bit of a workout. I completed 90% of the asphalt removal and got that loaded into a couple of trailers that my paving contractor used to haul it off. The plan for today was to finish up any leftover asphalt and then to use the box scraper to get everything looking pretty for the pavers to be installed.
I guess temps dipped to about 30F overnight so this morning there was a frosty ice coating on the Kioti. I hopped into it and turned the key to on and waited for the glow-plug light to extinguish. As soon as it went out I turn the key and the Kioti started normally but then abruptly died in about 5 seconds. It's never done that before! I cycled the key, checked over all of the gauges, and re-started it. This time I upped the idle to about 1200 and all was good for about 15-seconds and it died again. WTH? Cycled the key once more and the engine would crank but not fire. Great! The ONE DAY that I really need to use the tractor to finish a job so that my contractor can stay on schedule with the paver install.... and this happens. Grrr. Mind you, in its 240 hour life, the tractor has been simply flawless. Always started - EVERYTHING just works and it has been dead nuts perfect, but now this.
The good news is that cranking but no-start eliminated all of the safeties. (When these are triggered, there is no cranking enabled.) First thing I checked was oil level - it was fine. Coolant overflow bottle was just below the LOW mark which was a little strange but I didn't think much of it. I pulled out several key fuses - start, fuel, ECU (2 of them),etc. and all looked fine. Removed and re-installed the fuel relay and ECU relay. Hoping I changed something, I once again tried to start it and had the same symptom - crank, but no start. OK, might the ECU be mad about low coolant??? Really? I removed the radiator cap and the radiator was absolutely full. I grabbed some distilled water and filled up the coolant overflow botte. (Note: LOW is where the coolant should be when the engine is cold and I was only about 1/2" below "LOW".) Anyway, filled it up and low and behold she fired up! (Spoiler alert: The sun was rising and temps were rapidly increasing.... probably 55F by this time.) I let the tractor warm-up for about 10 minutes while I put the tools away and then I hopped in and got ready to get to work. Raised the RPM to 2000, and was just starting to push-in to some of the remaining asphalt and noticed the RPM's were wandering around. Clearly, it was still not happy. I shut it down, popped the hood and really started thinking I was having a fuel problem.
I removed the fuel filter to discover ice and white slime visible thought the clear bottom of the fuel filter. I remembered that I elected NOT to change the fuel filter at the 100-hr service thinking that was too soon. Stupid me. The good news is that I HAD purchased a fuel filter and even more surprising - I was able to find it! Screwed that puppy on and pumped the primer and it started - and runs better than ever. For sure, it has smoother/quieter idle. Perhaps a coincidence but about 10 minutes after having started working again, the Kioti turned on the light indicating it was in a DPF cycle. Like the previous times this has happened, I just kept working. And like all of the previous times, after about 10 minutes the DPF cycle was completed and all is good.
In summary, I am still very impressed with the Kioti and I am a VERY happy owner. This fuel filter "problem" was not the machine's fault. First, I probably should have changed it at the interval that Kioti recommended. Second, I should check/drain for water at least every couple of months. Lessons learned!
I guess temps dipped to about 30F overnight so this morning there was a frosty ice coating on the Kioti. I hopped into it and turned the key to on and waited for the glow-plug light to extinguish. As soon as it went out I turn the key and the Kioti started normally but then abruptly died in about 5 seconds. It's never done that before! I cycled the key, checked over all of the gauges, and re-started it. This time I upped the idle to about 1200 and all was good for about 15-seconds and it died again. WTH? Cycled the key once more and the engine would crank but not fire. Great! The ONE DAY that I really need to use the tractor to finish a job so that my contractor can stay on schedule with the paver install.... and this happens. Grrr. Mind you, in its 240 hour life, the tractor has been simply flawless. Always started - EVERYTHING just works and it has been dead nuts perfect, but now this.
The good news is that cranking but no-start eliminated all of the safeties. (When these are triggered, there is no cranking enabled.) First thing I checked was oil level - it was fine. Coolant overflow bottle was just below the LOW mark which was a little strange but I didn't think much of it. I pulled out several key fuses - start, fuel, ECU (2 of them),etc. and all looked fine. Removed and re-installed the fuel relay and ECU relay. Hoping I changed something, I once again tried to start it and had the same symptom - crank, but no start. OK, might the ECU be mad about low coolant??? Really? I removed the radiator cap and the radiator was absolutely full. I grabbed some distilled water and filled up the coolant overflow botte. (Note: LOW is where the coolant should be when the engine is cold and I was only about 1/2" below "LOW".) Anyway, filled it up and low and behold she fired up! (Spoiler alert: The sun was rising and temps were rapidly increasing.... probably 55F by this time.) I let the tractor warm-up for about 10 minutes while I put the tools away and then I hopped in and got ready to get to work. Raised the RPM to 2000, and was just starting to push-in to some of the remaining asphalt and noticed the RPM's were wandering around. Clearly, it was still not happy. I shut it down, popped the hood and really started thinking I was having a fuel problem.
I removed the fuel filter to discover ice and white slime visible thought the clear bottom of the fuel filter. I remembered that I elected NOT to change the fuel filter at the 100-hr service thinking that was too soon. Stupid me. The good news is that I HAD purchased a fuel filter and even more surprising - I was able to find it! Screwed that puppy on and pumped the primer and it started - and runs better than ever. For sure, it has smoother/quieter idle. Perhaps a coincidence but about 10 minutes after having started working again, the Kioti turned on the light indicating it was in a DPF cycle. Like the previous times this has happened, I just kept working. And like all of the previous times, after about 10 minutes the DPF cycle was completed and all is good.
In summary, I am still very impressed with the Kioti and I am a VERY happy owner. This fuel filter "problem" was not the machine's fault. First, I probably should have changed it at the interval that Kioti recommended. Second, I should check/drain for water at least every couple of months. Lessons learned!