PTO problem and more....

[CajunRider]

After my tractor was flooded during hurricane Rita, I brought it in for service. I was charged an arm and a leg $8K for the repair. Being so busy to repair my damaged houses, I never paid much attention to my DK45 and just barely use it with minimum maintenance. Shortly afterward, the PTO failed and I finally got a chance to look at it yesterday.

First I thought it was the PTO switch because it can go round and round, I fought to get the panel apart, lots of rust every where, looks like they never clean out the salt water for me. I took the wires off the switch and connect them together to simulate the auto and manual, nothing happened. My next guess is the solenoid valve under the seat.

The DK is in serious rust trouble. The seat rusted out and I had to throw the seat away. I had to grind away the bolts to get it out. Once in there, I put 12 volt on the solenoid valve and nothing happened. I took it out and it looks rusty. With it on the bench, I put 12 volt again on the solenoid and saw no movement inside. I called a different dealer and was told that I have to order the entire solenoid valve assembly. I could not just buy the solenoid. I put in the order $300+ for the new solenoid valve assembly. I hope that'll solve the problem.

The more I looked into it the more I realized that the previous dealer did a totally crappy job of repairing my DK45. Financially I can't replace the DK so what do I do guys? The tractor still runs but practically all the sheet metals is falling apart. I'm thinking about going after repairing every thing slowly when I can. I still got massive amount of work on home repair for Rita and Ike hurricane damage so it'll have to be bit and pieces one day per month at best.

I just replaced my oil and oil filter with Mobil 1 and a new filter even though it's been only 30 hrs. I now plan to dump all the oil from my transmission and front axle and replace the filter. How do I drain all the oil? Do I just drain whatever I can?

My fuel tank is questionable. With the tank lid broken, it seems that the tank cap alone can't keep the water from entering the tank. I get way too much water in my tank than can reasonably expect from just condensate from the humid Louisiana weather. I constantly have to drain water from my fuel filter bowl. That can't be normal, can it?

Feel free to add in what I should do.

BTW, it feels good to be in here posting again. I disappeared from here for a while. Life just got too crazy. I apologize for not answering some of the private messsages I've received from all my friends here.

 

[MotorSeven]

CR,
Man, that is terrible. Your tractor should have been totalled out. Complete sumbmersion in salt water is a certain death for any vehicle or piece of modern equipment. Can you file another claim on it? I can't see any homeowner insurance company not paying on this.
If, however you are stuck with it, I would say that a total break down of all exterior components is required. Disassembly, pressure washing with detergent, then de-greaser & then I would buy a couple of gallons of marine grade lubricating oil(like T9 Boeshield) and a couple of gallons of Ospho rust stopper & a garden sprayer. Once everything is apart and de-greased I would spray it all with Ospho, then paint it. Once painted and cured I would spray it all down with the T9.

Same thing with the frame, wash, de-grease, paint & spray with oil.

I would remove the entire wiring harness, throw it away and buy a new one(bite the bullet). Once salt water has entered you harness it will continue to degrade no matter what you do. This will cause more trouble than a new harness is worth.

All this might stop the rust, but then again......
Rita....was that in 2005? I fear that the rust has advanced so far into every working component that you may just have to walk away from it.......sorry, but sometimes there is a point of no return(jmho).

RD

 

[CajunRider]

The tractor was not covered by insurance. That's why I'm so upset. I repaired it on my dime and since I was so busy with more pressing issues I did not check and now I have a mess in my hand.

 

[o2batsea]

As a general rule of thumb, if flooding comes from above, it is covered. Flooding that comes from below (rising water) isn't.
I'm sure you realize that the condition of the tractor is by your own admission your fault. Submersion in water, salty or otherwise, is the mechanical equivalent of a drowning ; radical emergency action is required to save it's life. I assume the dealer was (pardon the expression) swamped with other customers in the same boat. No wonder you got shabby service.
What can you do now? I guess the short answer is not much. Address the symptoms as they arise and try to get as much use out of it as possible before you have to get rid of it.

 

[CajunRider]

I knew that I'd be so busy dealing with home repairs and that the local dealer would be swamped so I took my tractor to another dealer away from the storm area. Their area was totally unaffected and it was just normal business to them. The service was just plain lousy. My fault is that I trust it was done right and did not check afterward.

I guess it's just par for the course, bad contractors were just like flies around dead carcasses after the storm.

 

[VictorW]

Sorry to hear that the DK was drowned and especially in salt water. I think you're stuck as MotorSeven mentioned with taking things apart, cleaning, painting, oiling, and a new wire harness. I live up North where they use salt on the roads in Winter. It sure does rust and corrode the underneath of a vehicle unless it's totally and completely undercoated.

You mentioned using Mobile 1 for your oil change. I haven't used that oil but is it for diesel engines? I thought there was a post that mentioned it wasn't.

Good luck with your "restoration" project.

 

[blueriver]

So ... What did the dealer do for the $8K ...

 

[CajunRider]

They claimed a total engine rebuild, replacement of starters, alternators, all electrical components, a total "desalt" wash. When I got it back it was running and things looked OK so I never thought twice and buried myself with home restoration on every available time I have away from work. Now that I have my houses partly in order I took a look at the tractor and am not happy.

 

[CajunRider]

I've replaced the solenoid valve assembly but given the sad state of the wiring I was not able to get the switch at the dash to work. Can I do some temporary wiring to bet my PTO to work until I replace the wiring harness? Would bringing 12 volt to the solenoid get my PTO going?

 

[CajunRider]

Well I rewired the solenoid valve but still couldn't get it to turn properly so I took the tractor to a Kioti dealer. Of course this one is different than the one I brought it to originally.

What the dealer has found:
1. The hydraulic fluid of the top part is clean and clear (what I see in the dip stick). The hydraulic fluid in the bottom part is milky and full of junk.
2. They are splitting my transmission to repair every thing right. They will have to replace all the lower levels bolts because the heads have rusted away.
3. They told me that they are weary about the axle as well given the state of the transmission so they are going to take it away and take care of that too.
4. They are taking pictures as they go along so I can see what went on.

Hopefully I'll have a properly working DK when I get it back. If it's back in good working order, I may get my friend who works on restoring cars to help me repair the sheet metals so the DK will be back in good shape.