Kubota catastrophic engine failures

[dodge man]

I don’t know an exact date for tractors but for diesel pickups it started a while ago. Dodge for example, I think the year was 2003, came out with the high pressure common rail on the Cummins. I said something about it earlier but I think it was lost in the chatter, but it’s also when they came out with multiple injection events. When I say multiple events it’s per cylinder per power stroke. For example the first couple of years with the Cummins it was two, then 3 injections after that. So this means on a six cylinder the injectors fire a total of 18 times for one set of power strokes on the engine. In my mind this means there is three times the wear. I think some engines fire the injectors as many as 5 times for one power stroke. Some of this is to make the diesel quieter but mostly for emissions.

Then you throw in the high pressure, usually over 20,000 psi, and take a little piece of dirt, rust, water, and it wears the heck out of the injector.

 

[Fordy20]

My 2019 M5-111 (tier 4) last month had catastrophic engine failure, 1,200 hours, from the diesel high pressure fuel pump. I only use gas station diesel in 5 gallon containers used only for diesel. Cost estimated $17,000. I wonder how many other Kubotas are having this issue. KTAC, Kubota insurance is not covering the claim.

I will start collecting contact info from other Kubota owners to see if this is a systemic problem of filters not filtering and maybe hold Kubota accountable. Send your contact info to me at Landruma@aol.com if interested.

When we used 5 gallon containers to fuel our backhoes years ago, we had a lot of problems fuel related. Since changing to a 112 gal. Tank with an electric pump and water/fuel filter, we’ve eliminated fuel problems.

 

[eagle628]

I don’t know an exact date for tractors but for diesel pickups it started a while ago. Dodge for example, I think the year was 2003, came out with the high pressure common rail on the Cummins.

Yeah this is about the same timeframe for tractors, they lagged by a few years depending on manufacturer but by 2010 I would say the vast majority of, maybe all, farm tractors were common rail. CNH machines tended to switch over earlier, their 6.7 engine that replaced the ex-Ford and CDC engines might have been the first broad application of the technology in the mid 2000s.

 

[Hay Dude]

Yeah this is about the same timeframe for tractors, they lagged by a few years depending on manufacturer but by 2010 I would say the vast majority of, maybe all, farm tractors were common rail. CNH machines tended to switch over earlier, their 6.7 engine that replaced the ex-Ford and CDC engines might have been the first broad application of the technology in the mid 2000s.

I have a 2000 MX-270 with an 8.3L Cummins and CAPS fuel pump
In 2003 HPCR was introduced

CAPS Cummins Injection Pump | Fuel Pump | Thoroughbred Diesel

Cummins CAPS injection pump for a variety of class 6-8 vehiclee and ag equipment available from Thoroughbred Diesel.

www.thoroughbreddiesel.com

 

[MHarryE]

I lived in Europe in the latter 90’s. I had a 1994 BMW diesel (most cars in France were diesel). BMW introduced common rail in their European 3 series in 1998. Improved fuel economy and power from their 2.0 liter 4 over my mechanically injected 2.8 liter 6. And yes, mechanically injected diesels there were also subject to fuel issues. When I bought my car used from a BMW dealer, I was given a list of recommended brands to buy in each country to prevent fuel system issues. I averaged about 7 liters/100 kilometers with my car and later had rentals that were around 5.5 liters/100 km so economy was improved as advertised. Also the common rail engine was peppier and quieter.

 

[ultrarunner]

When I picked up my 2002 325it in Munich I was repeatedly asked why gas and not diesel?

Bringing home a diesel to California not an option at the time… I have enjoyed BMW diesels when renting and found fuel economy to be very good.

Even with gas the lower quality of North American fuel de-rates horse power slightly.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I still can't get over the fact that Kubota cheaped out so much on such a sensitive fuel system. Considering how they overprice their tractors so much, would it hurt them so much if they include a simple water in fuel sensor and a light on the dash or an error code? That simple gadget could've saved lot's of money on the owners as they would easily caught the water in fuel before ruin an entire fuel system.

Even the so called "cheap brands" have a water in fuel sensor on models with common rail engines.

My NX series has a water in fuel light and senosor. Water in fuel came up on me a couple of years ago.