L39 Leaking rear main crank seal at 350 hours

[danstod]

I have a 2007 L39 with 350 hours. The servicing dealer found a leaking rear main crank seal which fouled the clutch. Tractor was split, all seals replaced, and clutch totally replaced. The stated cause of the failure is not enough seal surface contact.

The warranty on this unit has expired. The area service rep for Kubota has been contacted and is responding as expected standing behind the expired warranty.

Is there any knowledge out there of this type of failure at such low hours? Has anyone had any luck escalating issues of latent defects with Kubota.

I am concerned the root cause has not been determined and frustrated that Kubota is not willing to help make this right.

Thanks for all the great information on this site

 

[First one]

danstod
I see that this is your first post ,glad to have you along.
I was wondering if you bought your tracter new? .
I don't have the L39 but the L3240 with about 280 hrs and my warranty has run out too .I bought mine used from a dealer ,but so far I haven't had any problems yet. I will be checking back to see how Kubota treats you on this matter. Sounds like it was a costly repair, I hope they go good for all of it ,good luck and keep us informed. Scott

 

[JoelD]

Ouch would not expEct an industrial kubota to fail this way

do you use commercially?
did you have regular service performed at dealer?

Joel

 

[BotaBigot]

Normally, I wouldn't expect a rear main seal to fail that soon on any internal combustion engine. Likely causes: Defective seal, improper seal installation, improperly machined crank journal, dirty oil, or high crankcase pressure. The first three are Kubota's...

The dealer should have seen a defect, and been on your side in dealing with Kubota...

 

[danstod]

Thanks for the feedback and I am a new member.

I purchased this machine, the second in 3 years, from a long distance dealer. I got it fully serviced at 125 hours in 12/2007. Over the last two years it has been used for general site construction and maintenance on my 5 acre home site. The machine is not used commercially.

It went in for regular service with no complaints of any kind. The dealer doing the service has done all the service on this machine in the time I have owned it, the last major service was completed in the fall of 2008.

They found oil in the split pin drain when they went looking for water. A seal was the suspected culprit. I went looking for reports of this problem all over the internet and found very little. A explicit request was made to the service manager to invite the Kubota rep. out for an inspection while the machine was open to get a consensus on the diagnosis thinking I had no argument without it. Unfortunately for me the dealer choose to ignore my request and closed the machine without getting Kubota involved or even taking photos.

So after making a bunch of calls and getting rather chapped the area service rep has stated she does not support the dealers diagnosis and the warranty is expired regardless. I am only asking for parts coverage as that alone is better than a grand.

It is a pretty sad story with a very small likelihood for a positive outcome but maybe worth fighting as a hobby.

Has anyone had any luck escalating issues with Kubota?

My biggest fear expressed to the dealer is that they have not found the root cause setting me up for this failure again.

Also even though I have spent nearly $12K with this dealer on implements and service they must remind me that since it was bought out of state they have less ability to "help me out". Nothing like salt in the wound...

 

[BotaBigot]

No experience escalating...maybe another member has and will chime in.

Unless problem is crank journal, new seal most likely fixed it.

Dealers (car dealers do this too) who use the "out of state" or "another dealer" argument are being lazy (they didn't profit from the sale). We're talking manufacturer's warranty...not dealer's. Any authorized dealer can do warranty work.

Having said all that, the warranty wording is explicit with respect to time...so, any work/parts after expiration date would be subjective. Based on your usage/maintenance...a cause worth fighting...plus, "you may have other rights, which vary state to state."

 

[Goodluck w/ That]

Sounds like it was a bad seal or improper fit from the factory. I would think Kubota would back it up with such low hours even though the warrenty is out. I think it's one of those 1 in million chances that happen, bad luck & your gonna be screwed. I recently bought a 06 L39, with about 900hrs, these type of stories scare me. I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

 

[KennyV]

I am only asking for parts coverage as that alone is better than a grand.

What exactly did they replace? What machine work was 'necessary'? KennyV

 

[danstod]

In addition to the parts for full clutch replacement, about 700, it was the seals, fluids, and tax.

 

[KennyV]

Oil on the clutch 'could' require a clutch disk replacement... but should not have needed a pressure plate or anything else clutch related. Not at your few hours. Actually a good cleaning should have left the clutch disk in very good to perfect condition.
Too many times when a tractor is split to replace a $5 seal there are those that think it is necessary to run the bill up to justify the labor costs. I hope they gave you your old parts, they will come in handy after a few thousand more hours, and should still be good as new... I suspect your dealer is more than not cooperative... I could be wrong, but you did not go in because YOU were having a clutch problem.
They found a leak at the rear main bearing, caused by "not enough seal surface contact", WHAT dose that mean??? I've been around a LOT of rear main seals and I do not understand that statement. I have also cleaned a few oil saturated clutch disks and put them back in service... Did they claim that there was any needed machine work to increase the seal surface contact?? This looks strange. KennyV