If your bottom line depends on reliable equipment, my recommendation is remove Kubota skid steers out of your shopping list. I make my living doing brush/tree mastication and got talked to into buying a very $$$ brand new SVL95-2s for the job. The first 2 years the machine worked well, then my nightmare started... codes -- emissions error codes and lots of them. The first time the codes started flashing the dealership mechanic changed a number of DEF components, as they were recalled by Kubota. All seemed good for a while, but as soon as the warranty expired, the codes started flashing once again. Got the dealership mechanic to come by again, he spent around 4 hours with the machine, ran tests after tests, and after charging me $620, told me he has no idea what is wrong with my machine. He said the data makes no sense to him, and will send the results to Kubota service dept and get back to me. The only other thing he could think of is replacing NOX sensors at random to see if that fixes the issue. Great idea -- except the sensors cost $2,200 each!! Seriously?? A NOX sensor for a modern diesel truck costs about $300 bucks and Kubota chartes $2,200 for each of theirs after they do a crappy job designing their DEF system?? Wow - what a way to rip of your customers. This was over 3 months ago, and I have not heard back from them yet. In the meantime the skid just sits there -- can't do anything with it. The code ( E9518 ) shows up after 10~20 minutes of running. I feel so abandoned by Kubota. I obviously have a lemon -- my machine has only 500 hours on it, it has been meticulously maintained, and even the dealer has no idea what is wrong with it and how to fix it. I lost half of my work season because of this issue, had to cancel a number of contracts because of this. I just wish Kubota actually stood behind their product and not abandon their customers.
svl95-2s skid steer -- don't buy one of these for professional use...
- Thread starter tomic
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The only thing that stands out is this is your first and only post.
You do this for a living and ran it for 2 years without issue but only have 500 hours on the machine? Seems like it would have more.
What were all the codes? Were they DEF related? Are you the only operator? Anyone put diesel on the DEF tank?
You do this for a living and ran it for 2 years without issue but only have 500 hours on the machine? Seems like it would have more.
What were all the codes? Were they DEF related? Are you the only operator? Anyone put diesel on the DEF tank?
My neighbor runs the -92 for his side business- firewood. It has over 1000 hours in not quite 2 years. That’s a side gig.
sorry you are having issues, but maybe it’s not being used enough?
sorry you are having issues, but maybe it’s not being used enough?
whitetiger
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What are the other DTCs?
With P9518, there should be others that are shown on the KOBD ACE diagnostic tool.
There should be a P20## displayed, probably P20EE or P20F5.
Sounds like you need to locate a competent dealer.
With P9518, there should be others that are shown on the KOBD ACE diagnostic tool.
There should be a P20## displayed, probably P20EE or P20F5.
Sounds like you need to locate a competent dealer.
North Idaho Wolfman
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Answer questions or I will delete thread as an unsubstansuated rant.
NCL4701
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According to you:
- You make your living doing brush/tree mastication.
- This machine is responsible for half your production.
- It worked well for the first two years of providing half the production for your business, the net profit of which supports your living expenses.
- Two years of being half your business production resulted in 500 hours of use. 250 hours per year for the machine. That being half your production, 500 hours per year tree/brush mastication total for your business provides sufficient net profit to provide for your living expenses. (According to you.)
When you say things that are wrong, it makes it hard to believe anything else you have to say. If you have typos, they need to be corrected. If it’s a fabrication, you should delete the thread, but in that case you’ll probably never come back to see any of the follow up.
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dirtydeed
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i only clicked on this thread because of the title. I've never even heard of a Kubota SVL92. That must be a really rare unicorn. No wonder they can't fix it.
Hi, thank you for your question. I do mastication as a part time job, and our season here is Sierra Foothills is rather short -- only a few months in the spring, otherwise the fire danger is too high, and therefore I only have 500 hours on the machine. I also use other equipment when I cant use the masticator, such as tractors and mini excavators for dragging logs, or removing brush in areas that are too rocky to run a masticator, so the hours average out across the other equpment as well. I am the only one who maintains the machine, and no diesel has even been placed in the DEF tank, though I know you have to take my word for it. The dealership mechanic took the entire SCR assembly apart and checked all the sensors and parts carefully with an inspection camera and he said everything looked really clean to him.
I'm sorry..... I have a typo in the title! Its SVL95-2S -- my badi only clicked on this thread because of the title. I've never even heard of a Kubota SVL92. That must be a really rare unicorn. No wonder they can't fix it.
I'm sorry if my description came through as a rant. I'm just frustrated with this situation.Answer questions or I will delete thread as an unsubstansuated rant.
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I'm sorry if my description was confusing. Mastication is just one of the things that I do. I also use other equipoment such as mini-ex or 4x4 tractors for clearing dead logs or bursh in rocky or steep areas where a masticator just doesn't work well. Therefore the hours get spread out across other equipment. Our mastication season is very short, as most of summer and fall the fire danger is just too high, so I do other things during that time. But you are correct -- 500 equipment hours is not very much -- but these are "hard" hours where I run the machine at full throttle and drive a 2500 lbs masticator head.
On the console I only saw E9518, and the dealership mechanic didn't say that he saw any other codes. He plugged in his laptop into the diagnostic port and ran a number of long tests, however he said that the results were inconclusive. Then he took the entire SCR tube apart, did a visual inspection of the two NOX sensors and the DEF injector -- and said they all looked OK to him. He also used an inspection camera to check the membrane inside the SCR and said the membrane looked clean to him. He was stumped. Still had to pay $620 bucks for the service -- and there was no conclusion other than "let's swap the NOX sensors and see what happens". Well, each of those things costs $2200, so I said "no thank you", I can't afford to spend that much just on a hunch. Still have not heard back from Kubota on the root cause of the issue.
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You know, I can totally see why people hit that "key"Six letter word, that is also a key on your keyboard, will fixyourthis problem.
I am trying to be 100% compliant with the rules -- and try to find a fix for the issue the right way -- but after paying $620 to a dealership and getting "well, we have no idea what's wrong" answer -- what else is there left to do?
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Hi Jason, thank you for your questions. I only see the E9518 code flashing -- nothing else shows up. This code translates to "Low SCR Conversion Efficiency". Yes, I am the only operator, and I do all the maintenance myself. I know you have to take my word for it -- but diesel was never put into DEF. Prior to calling the dealership, and after I kept on repeatedly getting the code, I drained the DEF fluid and replaced it with brand new one but that did't help. I know I have low hours on the machine -- only 500 -- however these are "hard" hours -- running a 2500 lbs masticator head at full throttle. I also use other equipment for my job, and working in hilly and rocky areas, I can only use the masticator for certain selected jobs, and hence the low hours. Additionally our mastication season is short here because of summer/fall fire danger.
whitetiger
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If the dealer actually filed a case with Kubota, they had a response within 48 hours.
Since the use time for the machine is limited to the spring, I'd say you likely have some bad DEF from sitting. Drain the DEF tank, add some fresh stuff and go work the machine. If the skid will sit over the winter, I'd do it again just before use.
Thank you for your tip, I think that is certainly a good way to go. I work the machine hard in the spring, then it more or less sits over the summer as it is too risky to operate it around here due to wild fire danger. I do exactly what you suggest, I drain most of the DEF tank, leaving only about 1/5 when my work season is over. Once or twice a week I fire up the engine and use the skid for odd jobs around the shop or backyard. When the mastication season starts again, I completely drain the DEF tank and fill it up with fresh DEF. I do believe that my usage model may have something to do with the DEF issues I'm seeing, however if this is the case, there should be some kind of a warning issued by Kubota specifying that the machine needs to be ran so many hours / week ( or per month? ). I purchased the skid with a long term in mind, but it seems that once the DEF system warranty expires things just start going downhill fast. The scary thing is that not even the dealer mechanic could figure out what is wrong with the DEF system after he spent about half a day running various tests, looking at graphs on his laptop, and inspecting the NOX sensors and the injector. He told me he could start randomly swapping the NOX sensors, but since Kubota charges $2200 for each NOX sensor, I didn't want to go that route. He also told me that possibly the DEF inejction tube "may" be bad ( just a hunch, no data pointing at that at all ) but that tube costs over 10K -- so I'm definitely not interested in swapping that on a "hunch"...
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The dealer mechanic worked on my SVL95 middle of June, told me he has no idea what is wrong with it after charging me over $600 bucks for his service, then told me he will submit all data he collected and images of the internals of the DEF injection module to Kubota. That was the last time I talked to him. I left him a message last Wed, but no response so far
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