Help with glow plug issues

[ChadS]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this site but I love the service it provides. I recently purched a used L3600 and I'm having a small issue with the glow plugs. The tractor starts and runs perfect but the glow plug light on the dash does not go off... even after an hour+ of operating it. Also, the temperature gauge goes off cold, but not by much. I'm not sure how warm or cold these things are suppose to run, but the needle only gets to about the first tick mark. Is that normal? From reading through these threds, I suspect the culpret on the light is the glow plug controller, but when I started working on it, I ran into another problem... I can't seem to get the dash off to get to it. I got all the bolts and screws off, but the tach cable seems to be holding it, and it's too tight to get anything in there to get it loose.

So being a newbie here, I guess I have 2 questions 1) If the tractor is running a little on the cool side, could that cause the glow plug light, and 2) How do I get the dash off to get to the controller?

Many Thanks.
ChadS

 

[Bulldog]

Hello ChadS,

Welcome to OTT. I can't really help with the dash. As far as the temp goes, my L 3000 temp hand will normally stay about 1/8 of a inch above the cold mark on my guage. In the summer when I am using my mower it may get about a 1/4 inch above the cold mark when it's under a fairly heavy load. When it climbs higher than that it's time to clean the screen in front of the radiator. I wish the guage had real numbers on it but I guess Kubota doesn't think we need that information. I hope this helps.

 

[ChadS]

Thanks Bulldog, That pretty much rules out the temp, so I am thinking it probably has something to do with the glow plug controller, timer, or relay.... if I could just get that darn dash off.

Just a little more information in case it helps someone diagnose my problem... today I pulled around an aerator in my pastures. About an hour in, I noticed that the glow plug light was very dim, almost off. However, when I shut the tractor off for 30 seconds and started it back up, the light came back on and stayed on for another hour.

Any help with the glow plug light and the dash removal would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!!

 

[Bulldog]

You are welcome. My L 3000 has a plate between the dash and the top of the hood that comes off. If I remember correctly it has 4 bolts holding it and you have to remove some from the dash as well. When this plate comes off you have pretty good access to the back of the dash without removing the dash itself. I don't guess you are lucky enough to have this on yours are you? It sure would help you if it did.

 

[ChadS]

Mine has a plastic piece that wraps around the top and goes down the sides and that separates the actual dash (gauge cluster) from the hood, and yes, it has four exterior bolts, but there seems to be one "hidden" bolt right in the middle that is hard to get to. If I could get that bolt off, it would make it easier to get the dash out. Maybe I'll take another crack at it and see if there is a better way to get that bolt out.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Bulldog]

On mine after the bolts on the top plate are removed the one that actually hold the dash in place need to be removed as well. The dash itself doesn't need to be taken out but it does need to be pulled out just a little. The top plate has a lip that won't clear the top of the dash. Mine just needs about a 1/2 inch of clearance from the dash and it comes right off. Maybe if you are lucky yours will be this easy. I don't remember any bolts that were hard to get to though. It has been a while since I had mine apart. It only gives a limited amount of room but it lets you be able to see behind the dash fairly well. Good luck with yours.

 

[ChadS]

Thanks Vic, I'll check it all out and make sure the gounds are all tight and not corroded. Do you have any advice or any direction you can point me in on getting the dash off?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Sam427]

You can get the dash cover pulled back far enough to get your hand in there and get to the controller, especially if the cover is nice and warm from sitting in the sun. I know it's really tight, but you can get your hand in there if you try real hard.

It most likely will be the controller. The other thing it can be is the temp sending unit, if that is bad it won't tell the controller that it came up to temperature.

 

[ChadS]

Thanks Sam, I'll give it my best shot, but I don't want to break the dash. Isn't there a bolt in there that holds the controller on? I don't know if I can get enough of my hand up in there to hold a wrench as well, but I could be wrong. There has to be some procedure for getting that thing off... O If I could just get my hands on a service manual.

 

[Sam427]

Thanks Sam, I'll give it my best shot, but I don't want to break the dash. Isn't there a bolt in there that holds the controller on? I don't know if I can get enough of my hand up in there to hold a wrench as well, but I could be wrong. There has to be some procedure for getting that thing off... O If I could just get my hands on a service manual.

Yes, it is held on with a bolt, and a nut on the backside. If I remember right, I went up from the bottom of the panel and looked through the side to see what I was doing. I have a manual and I didn't see a section on how to remove that center bolt. It's the craziest thing I have ever seen.

 

[ChadS]

Thanks Sam, I'll try it this weekend and see if I can get up in there. Also, if I do figure out how to get the dash off, I'll post the procedure here.

 

[KubotaTech]

Make it easy on yourself and disconnect the other end of the tach cable. That will enable you to pull the dash back away, since the cable will travel with the dash. Then you should have enough room to disconnect the cable from the tach. I had an l4610 that the light stayed on all the time and it was the controller causing it to stay on. I replaced it and it worked properly. I believe it heats according to eng coolant temp. The colder it is the longer it stays on, but it should shut off after starting.

 

[ChadS]

Thanks KubotaTech... is the other end of that tach cable easy to get to?

 

[KubotaTech]

Not 100% sure on this particular model, but usually the cable runs off the drive out of the front cover, it should unthread like the other end, but it will have a slot in the end of the cable to drive it.

 

[ChadS]

Cool. I'll take a look this weekend and let you know if I was successful.

 

[ChadS]

Hey guys, thanks for all the advice on this. I finally got around to ordering the glow plug controller and getting it in there. KubotaTech, you were 100% correct on the tach cable. I disconnected it from the front of the engine and that gave me enough room to get to all the bolts and get the dash cover off. After that, it only took about 2 minutes to swap out the controller and everything works fine now. I love it when a plan comes together!!

 

[ibentaken]

I to unhook thw tach cable on the motor this lets the dash pull out enough to inspect and work on all the relays under it

 

[Richl3400]

Hello, all I am a new member, my glow plug came on when I first got my tractor but it has been about 70 plus degrees here and when I hop on the tractor to start it, the glow plug light does not seem to come on anymore?