New engine quoted at $18 000 and told only that specific exact engine will fit. [/QUOTE[
this is correct.
Lots of other used, rebuilt or surplus v2403 engines available for far cheaper. Can I swap out another v2403 engine, lets say a turbo for a non-turbo?? Surplus vendor says I can swap, dealer says no. Vendor says can use parts from blown engine to exchange with surplus engine to fit?
Don't know who to trust but also don't have $$$ to consider dealers options.
V2403's are not all the same. V2403-CR's are completely different than most other V2403's, the only similarities are the displacement and they're both diesel fuel powered. They can share the same bellhousings too. However, not only does the CR work differently, it's also illegal in the usa to install a previous tier emissions (e.g., tier 1,2,3 even interim tier 4) engine onto equipment that is tier 4 final emissions rated which is what you have currently. This is exactly why the EPA mandates that if an engine is replaced, it's supposed to be destroyed and then the destruction and scrapping must be documented. Trust me from experience--it's a pain!! And to add to that, Kubota (or any other diesel manufacturer) has to keep records of this for infinity. And folks wonder why this newer stuff costs so much??? They don't want old engines out there. They want all new tier 4 stuff out there, and there's fixing to be another tier added sooner or later, which is a mandated ~50% reduction in the already extremely stringent NOx and PM standards. It's getting ridiculous and with our current government leaders, it's going to get even more ridiculous. To the point where they're gonna have to consider what to do about going to different types of fuel and/or just keep jacking the prices up. Pretty soon common people won't be able to afford to do anything.
surplus vendors have engines to sell you and they don't take returns usually so if you buy one, that's all they care is that they sold you an engine and made a couple hundred bucks. They don't address the fact that your tractor has a computer controlled engine, meaning none of the wiring will work, the $3500 ecu you just bought won't work, the fuel system is completely different, and a bunch of other differences, they are assuming that V2403's are all the same and they are not.
So what these guys think is that you can spend a buch of money on their used engine and then you (the end user) get to buy a bunch of other stuff to make that used engine work, and in the long run you'll have just as much $$$ tied up in an old used V2403 as you would if you'd have bought the new one in the first place. Maybe even more by time all the necessary changes are made.
Sheepfarmer, yes sometimes a neglected stage 5 will contribute to engine failure. Why/how? The dpf can be thought of as a screen in the exhaust stream (although it's a lot more complex than that in reality). The screen plugs up, egt's rise, and keep rising. If it doesn't regenerate and get all the soot out, it just plugs up, egt gets out of sight, and it's entirely possible that the engine can eat itself alive. I've seen an M6-111 do it. That is why there are safeguards, beepers, de-rated power and rpm, etc. Those help protect the engine from neglect and sometimes from other failures that contribute to a plugged dpf. When I say engine failure, it typically means burnt/ broken piston(s) and exhaust valves.
for these and many more reasons, the technician's job is no longer "it just needs an engine". It is now their responsibility to find out the root cause and that is where the hardest part of the job is. The owner or operator a lot of times never really knows what happened, or won't admit to it in some cases. Used to with the old mechanical injected engines, if I had one that didn't run, first thing is to check fuel. If it has fuel going to the engine, do a compression test. If it has fuel and compression, it is likely going to run unless it is starved for air somehow. Now with the CR engines-and owners that don't understand them-there is much, much more involved in doing a proper and thorough diagnosis. Us old guys who cut our teeth on mechanicals are throwed for a loop. Fuel? Sure. It's got fuel to the filter and lift pump, but what about the scv? What about the rail and rail sensor? Regulator in some cases? Injectors? ECU? Wiring? CAN system? Is it injecting fuel at all or is it just cranking over and moving air? It's all computerized now, so that stuff isn't terribly hard to figure out BUT there is STILL a need for a technician to use some common mechanical sense. You don't want to sell a $3500 part to a customer not knowing with 100% certainty that it will fix his or her problem. Or if there is any question if it will, you need to be up front with the owner--they should be telling you that the ECU is dead, and should be replaced-however it might still have other issues, are you willing to go forward or? Now when I did it (and I dont' anymore....thank goodness!!!), in a rare situation like this (and there were 2 that I can think of, M6-111 and an SVL95) there is another way. If I knew the ECU was dead, but questioned the integrity of anything else such as the engine, I'd gas-rag the engine to see if it would even try to start. The M6 would not, the SVL95 would. So I knew right away that the M6 needed internal engine inspection, but the SVL was likely to run. I do not recommend doing this as it's real easy to mess up a good engine doing so, but it let us know how to approach the consumer. Typically if the engine is low on compression, you can tell by the way it cranks over. If there is any gut feeling that it's low, get authorization to do a compression test, and then you know. And in this case it sounds like they jumped the gun which is really easy to do in a fast-paced shop like the one I worked in. I like fast paced but when you do 2 or 3 weeks consecutive 1-3 hour each lawn mower services and then a M6 comes in needing an engine, you have to totally change gears and it's VERY hard to do for any tech. Particularly techs that get paid on commission; they'll a lot of times have more than one job going on at once which makes it easier to make errors.
