Kubota - Will Not Turn Over

[marc2012]

Have unstuck a few,used trans. fluid,marvel mystery & penetrating.Friend used brake fluid.Think I would use pb blaster now.Advie allready given is good.Best of luck.marc

[GordMay]

Would this characteristic (Will Not Turn Over) make the Kubota an ideal multihull engine?

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Would this characteristic (Will Not Turn Over) make the Kubota an ideal multihull engine?

Boooooo (grin)

[Tellie]

I guess I'm a bit old school. There are reasons an engine will sieze. Not knowing the reason before attempts are made to break it free by brute force is in my opinion unwise. I've found, after hard won experiance, that it is mechanically prudent to find the cause of the problem before you attempt to cure the symtom. The OP was honest in his opinion of his skills. He may get lucky, (and that's what it would be), by spraying in PB, changing the oil and the engine may run purrrfect for the next twenty years. Or he may hear from a mechanic "You should have called me first".

[Stillraining]

FWIW..If what they say about PB blaster eating seals is correct I would not spray any of it in my engine myself....Marvel mystery oil is great for this if you have it available..or as mention ATF.

Nothing wrong with Old school Tilly...I guess Im old school and back woods.....Served we well all these years so far..

I will never intentional advise someone to do something I haven't done or am not willing to do myself knowing pretty much the outcome...and I cant afford to screw up very often my livelihood revolves around my diesels...I don't intentionally hurt them.

[capt_douglas]

Is it possible that the tranny's in gear, preventing the engine from turning over?
Does the starter relay click when the key's turned on?
Are there any indications that a sensor is giving the engine a no-go indication?
Is there any indication of water in the oil?
Is the exhaust system clear and no water in the hoses?

- Call the dealer and talk to the service department. They may have some suggestions.
- Make sure the tranny's in neutral
- Pull the injectors and pour in some oil to see if you can gently break the rings away from the cyllinder walls.
- Using the 'gizmo' gently rock the engine's flywheel and try rocking the pistons fore and aft. It may take some effort and patience to get the metal-metal seal broken. I'd avoid putting all your effort into forcing the engine.
- If nothing, then pull the head and look carefully at the piston tops and cyllinder walls. If the engine has a bent connecting rod, then brute force may take the engine from less- to more-expensive repair or worse.

[Scare_Rab]

poured kero/diesel down the injectors : went for a sail

yesterday got a BIG spanner onto the fly-wheel nut and gently rocked forth and back.

little bit of movement YAY!

rocking forth and back gave a little more

etc etc

round & round she went

turned over by hand many many times.

then hit the starter motor, with the injectors still out.

She spins!

Hooked up the injectors, fuel lines etc, leaving them hanging mid-air.

Cranked that starter motor & saw as fine a mist of fuel/air as ever I'd did see.

Off with the tappett cover - cranked her over and enjoyed watching all them valves move!

But the de-compression release lever was siezed; so took it out, wire brushed the rusty end, "smooth as" Bro!

the sun goes down
I'll do more tommorow.

Thanks for your sugesstions and HOPE!

[Healer52]

YAAAAAAY!!!

[Stillraining]

She will be fine

[Scare_Rab]

Ignoring the hassle of finding poor earths / bad connections etc...

Finnaly got her turning on the starter, spun her up with the de-compression lever ... dumped that spin into "compression"...

Plenty of Compression - almost stopping the starter turning...

But no firing.

Glo plugs warm to the touch.

Bought a can of 24% ether (actually sold here in Australia with the name "Start ya Barstard")

Same process + couple squirts down the intake.

Same result - Zip Nil Nothing

Seems likely that this diesel is simply not turning over fast enough to start her up.

Ho Hum

Guess there's 'nowt for it but a new "Starting battery"

I've hear say of some fangled machine that plugs into the 240 volt 'Mains power' to provide "starting OOOMph"

or?...

suggestions comments

[osirissail]

If you have a friend in the aviation mechanic business, get him to "boroscope" your cylinders through the injector ports, if possible. What you are looking for is rust or standing water on/in any piston.
- - If there is evidence of rust or water then the removal of the cylinder head is the next logical step to really look at each piston and cylinder walls. Piston rings rusted to the cylinder walls will prevent any movement of the crankshaft until enough force is applied to break a connecting rod, the piston or worse.
- - If more than one piston has rust/water in it then you might consider a rebuilt replacement engine, a new engine, - 0r, find a good but not greedy engine mechanic to rebuild this engine.
- - If there is no evidence of rust/water in the pistons then proceed with suggestions about soaking the pistons/rings with penetrating oil/fluid and using the pulley adaptor and long bar to break the piston loose. But be warned that doing so might fracture one or more piston rings and you will end up with scoring of the cylinder walls. There is a lot of "luck" involved freeing up a stuck piston.

[Stillraining]

Don't use ether if you cant get proper start RPM and don't know the engine...it will work against you.

It is very probable you need your starter rebuilt as well if it sounds like its dragging or as you say needs hot batteries...Starter Probably needed done a long time ago and the PO never did it.

Always start with the simple things first...

1) Clean all cable terminals and posts making sure of good tight contact ( this means taking each of them off ) Look at each cable end closely ..if the bare wires disappearing into the cable lug are all green with corrosion..you probably need new ones..as they are giving to much internal resistance to current and the starter isnt getting full amperage from the battery...Again check EVERY cable..follow the flow of current from the battery..through your switch to the clinoid to the starter..everything!..then do the same with the ground leg.
2) Replace or fully charge and load test existing battery.
3) Rebuild or replace starer if engine easily turn over by hand and the above checks out

She will fire with enough RPM and clean air free fuel to the injectors.

Have some patients and go down the list..It will be something simple I can all but guarantee you of that.

Iv done it many times...

You should be able to get plenty of RPM from a good starter and battrie to start her after 50 or so revolutions by hand.

[Starbuck]

Original Poster said: Seems likely that this diesel is simply not turning over fast enough to start her up.

With hot glow glow plugs & good compression, you don't need a lot of RPM to cause combustion. If the starter doesn't stall completely or seriously bog down for multiple revolutions of the engine, that's "fast enough" and your electrical system is adequate.

You have adequate compression (even if your rings are damaged & will not stop blow-by, there's still enough to combust the fuel). You have fuel being delivered in the misty form the engine likes. Air intake is lot blocked. Glow plugs are hot.

How old is the fuel?

[Chief Engineer]

No ether in glow plug engines

No ether in glow plug engines

No ether in glow plug engines

[Ex-Calif]

I just bought a battery charger with a "boost" position that is supposed to supply cranking voltage.

If the engine "almost stops" when the decompression lever is dumped then that is your next step.

A new battery takes the guesswork out of the electrical system but before that there are some "free" checks you can do.

I would remove all the secondary and primary battery wiring and clean the connections. You can also check the voltage drop at the starter while cranking.

Under no load you may find voltage stays high. When you dump compression and get a large voltage drop you have now isolated a bad battery, high resistance in the connections or simply a bad (internally failed/corroded) cable.

You have to have good rotation before troubleshooting anything else - fuel etc.