1512 Turbo plow tractor project

[rbeem]

Meanwhile in diesel town:
Rebuilt head $550
Rebuilt injection pump $350

I'm going to slap anybody that cries about their Kohlers.

 

[kmcconaughey]

 

[rbeem]

I'll save your weak eyes from the rest of the receipts. It is not pretty.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Rick, I have well over $1K worth of parts and labor into the Killer Kohler K301 in my #2 125.

 

[rbeem]

Pretty sure I've gone north of 3K in the motor and turbo.
Stiil cheap compared to building race cars or classic bikes, so whatever, it is what it is.
Just anxious now to get this buttoned up so I can move on to other things.
If it does not survive the next plow day, look for it on Greedbay, LOL.

 

[bbranstetter]

It'll be sweet when its done!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Rick, I second what Brian wrote!

 

[rbeem]

Update:
Rebuilt pump and head and the tractor fired and ran enough to get it warmed up and run up and down the road a bit.
No leaks and the rebuilt hydro pump and CV driveline works as it should.

It started harder than it should and had a slight miss here and there.
At the suggestion of the pump rebuilder, I sent in my injectors for calibration.
They were all 200 PSI low and shooting a stream instead of a nice mist pattern. So, add new tips and some labor to the pile.

Moral of the story. Everything, and I mean everything that I have made an assumption to be in good working order, has had at least minor problems.
The minor problems snowballed into major meltdown when a turbo and some load was added.
-factory bores too tight
-injector pump ate itself (center port)
-injectors firing poorly
-sediment in the cooling system (lower block drain would not even drip, Lower hose full of crap.)

I would recommend to my diesel guys that you take the next step above filters and fuel lines and get your pumps and injectors calibrated.
A really good cooling flush including PULLING the lower radiator hose, it is a sediment trap...big time.

Oh yeah, I can set valves in about 15 minutes now! LOL
With any luck, I'll have the tins back on it this week.

 

[dtanner]

Kraig McConaughey "Keeper of the Photos"
I must have over 5k easy in my 129 Loader. It started out as a small project that never ended and lots of $$ for parts I thought were necessary for the correct kind of build.

 

[eford]

I understand where your coming from Rick. I have around $3000 in my total collection of 4 tractors/attachments, etc. Earlier this year I thought my 1200 was turning into a money pit, then you post about your diesel and it doesn't hold a candle to it.
Again that is a beautiful machine and I look forward to seeing it in person again!! Excellent work!

 

[jbaker]

good to here it will live

 

[rbeem]

New head and it still leaks coolant.
Pull the pin, release the spoon, throw fragmentation grenade.

On the hunt for another motor or block.
But hey, Ill have lots of extra parts to sell...

 

[kmcconaughey]

Rick, sorry to hear this.

 

[jdiederichs]

Rick, is the coolant leak internal or external?

 

[rbeem]

Mostly from between the head and block. Intake side towards fan. I need to pull the dip stick, I was pissed and walked away from it before I took a hammer to it.
Looks like a fair amount of blow by, but the rings are not really seated yet either.
No sign of the radiator getting over pressurized.

I borrowed a system pressure tester to put on it tonight.

 

[jdiederichs]

Rick, here is my thought FWIW. If you look at the length of the head bolts and measure the O/A "thickness" of the head and the tapped holes on a Kubota, you have like zero tolerance to work with.

I am serious, the bolts are practically bottoming out "as issued" and any tolerance stack can cause a negative clearance, thus the leaking gasket issue.

The stretch associated with head bolts does not help at all either. Many of my friends in the engine business will always add a hardened steel washer to each head bolt in addition to the original washer to overcome this. These are available at most hardware/automotive shops.

Although I never understood the lack of geometric tolerancing in that case, there is my solution to overcome it. My recommendation is to remove a single head bolt at a time, add the washer and re-torque it to spec, continuing on until are are done. You can use the original torque sequence as a simple method.. When all are done, I'd run the engine and re-torque when warm for that ideal "sealing" tourque.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Jim,

Rick, for sure give Jim's suggestion a try. He knows his stuff regarding the Kubota diesel engines used in Cubs and actually all the Cub engines in general. He used to build diesel pulling Cub Cadets.

 

[rbeem]

Jim,
That sounds like it is worth a shot for shure.
One would "assume" that there was some designed tolerance....but we all know what "assume" means.

This thing has made an *** of me, for sure.
Thank you.

 

[jdiederichs]

Rick, if you can borrow the shop's thread chaser ( a bottoming tap style) you may also want to chase the threads in the block as you do each washer. Just a small dab of grease to carry the debris out works great. Good luck and best wishes on this project

 

[rbeem]

Thanks Jim,
I'm a tool & die guy by trade, so I have all the tools.
That's why this is killing me, I'm a detail guy... and I do not like doing work twice.
I'll post my progress as always, good and bad.
Despite some hurt pride, sharing will help others, as you are helping me.