Mud Puddle - Now what?

/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #1  

40_acre_mule

Silver Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
183
Location
South Mississippi
Tractor
Kubota L4701
If the picture appears, you can see that I dunked the front end in the drink.
I shut it off just a second or two after the exhaust went under.
It's been pulled out and I figured to let it sit a couple days.
Then I'll check the fluids for water before I try to start it up.

Anything else I should do
 

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/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #2  
Dunno what to say... That sucks?
Hopefully no cracked blocks etc. from sudden temperature change.
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #3  
If your air breather was under water I would be worried about water being sucked in. Maybe hydro lock in the compression cylinders as a result . I would remove the injectors then crank the motor to see if water shoots out. Re-instal injectors, change the fluids as you said, replace the air filters, then you should be ready to go.

Take it to the dealers if you are uncomfortable about it, it is better to spend a few hundred then to have to pay thousands for a new motor.
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #4  
If the picture appears, you can see that I dunked the front end in the drink.
I shut it off just a second or two after the exhaust went under.
It's been pulled out and I figured to let it sit a couple days.
Then I'll check the fluids for water before I try to start it up.

Anything else I should do

Not being a wise@$#, but how'd that happen. I've got my share of stuck myself, looks like a doozy
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #5  
I gave myself the name stuckmotor because rain water got into the engine on my WD. If I was in your situation, I wouldn't want to take a chance on water rusting or locking the engine. I'll leave advice on getting it out to others.
Good luck,
Stuckmotor
 
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/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #6  
Ouch...how long did it stay like that?
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #7  
Definitely check the cylinders for water.
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #8  
If your engine, breather, etc. is situated like mine then I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised. From the picture and based on the fact that you shut it down I believe the chance for damage is minimized. On the other hand if it had shut itself down that would be a much larger issue since that would suggest inhaled water or like a previous post mentioned, a cracked block.

If it was my machine I would start like you said, drain and replace the engine oil. But if possible it wouldn't hurt to manually rotate the crankshaft just to be sure nothing mechanical has locked it up and as stuckmotor said, to be sure the cylinders aren't hydro locked. Still, I am placing my money on the positive outcome with little or no damage to anything but the EGO. :D
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #9  
I would recommend removing glow plugs before attempting to turn engine over as that should be much easier to do than R&R injectors.
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #10  
I would drain the engine oil and front axle oil and replace with new. I would grease all the fittings in the front axle real good.

Was the fuel tank in the water? How do your fuel filters look? Do you have a water separator or glass bowl under your fuel pump?

If there is any chance at all of water getting in through your air filter, I would remove the glow plugs and turn it over to make sure there isn't any water in the cylinder. With a diesel engine, I just don't know if that's even a concern?

Eddie
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #11  
I wish I had a picture of when my tractor went in the pond. As my wife says, my son's life was saved twice in 5 minutes...... God spared it when it went in the pond and she saved it ( from me) when I realized what he did!

Mine went in deep enough to hydrolock the engine. I pulled the glow plugs and bumped the starter to let pressure/ water off the pistons then took the oil filter,valve covers and oil pan off. I drained anything ( oil or water) that would come out. I poured 5 gal of diesel through the top end to help flush it then put a new filter and valve covers and pan back on. I filled it with fresh oil and she fired right up.....was 1 hour exactly after I'd pulled it out of the pond. I let it idle for 5-10 min. and changed the filter and oil again. Ran great for next 5 operating hours but since it was still smoking slightly, I had to tear it apart..... sure enough, it bend a rod when it hydrolocked.

Your engine didn't lock up so (at most) probably needs a good flush and couple of oil changes.
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what?
  • Thread Starter
#13  
Well, I was able to get a friend to come pull the machine out after only about three hours.
My son-in-law, a diesel mechanic, also said to pull the glow plugs instead of the injectors.

As to the how...
There's a gully running across the property that normally has about 6 inches of water in it. After a heavy rain, it reaches 2 feet. The spot where it run under my fence tends to clog up with logs and branches. Many times over the years, I've used the FEL to push the clog under the fence.
We've had a lot of rain the last two weeks. Apparently, the gully got blocked real good. The water had to go somewhere. It cut a new hole under the fence three feet over from the original.
So here I come driving over ground I drive over all the time. I pull up to the gully and start to lower the bucket. Next thing I know the tractor does a slow motion slide off the right side into the new hole.
Live and learn.
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #14  
I feel your pain, many years ago my grandfather put perimeter ditches around all of our fields for drainage, they can be deceiving as to their water content, especially after a wet winter/spring. I've gotten stuck mowing around them on more than one occasion. If I could only afford a boom mower, life would be so much simpler. I always dreaded the walk back to tell my Dad I got stuck and needed a hand. I miss those days, I can still hear him every time I get the tires spinning.
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #15  
My apologies, they are correct in telling you to pull the glo-plugs. I didn't even think about that option and I have pulled glo-plugs several times before. I just didn't want you to crank the engine in case there was water in the cylinders. Pulling the injectors would have worked, but that would have been a whole lot more work. I will put my dunce cap on and go set in the corner.
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #16  
Your quick thinking on shutting it down may have saved the day.
It looks like it was leaning more on the 'injection pump' side, I'm not familiar with
where the air filter is located on your machine, but it looks like it was above the water line.
The injection pump may have received a 'shock" from the cold water however,
but other than that, I think you should be fine,
Keep us informed.
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #17  
The air filter is at the front upper area of the hood.

What does your air filter look like? Can you see any evidence of water in the cleaner? That will dictate next steps. There is a water drain on the bottom of the filter. You may not need to do anything.

I would also drain and refil front axle along with regreasing everything.

There is also a water drain on the belly.
 
/ Mud Puddle - Now what? #18  
Good lord, were you drinking? :D
 
 
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