Another nothing burger

[TheOldHokie]

New L3901 purchased in April 2021. The regens have been as regulat as clockwork - 40 hour intervals up through 120 hours. Then nothing. I was coming up on 190 and starting to wonder/worry. Did I miss one or is something wrong? Then this morning I had just fired it up to take a bunch of recyclables to the road and the regen and RPM light were blinking. Kicked the RPM up tp 2300 and the RPM light went out but regen kept blinking. The temp was still down around cold and sure enough - a couple minutes later the gauge hit middle and regen went solid. Ten minutes later three loads of recyclables had been delivered and the fourth regen was complete. I am guessing all of the mowing this summer kept RPMs high and I was getting passive regens. The dead fresh road diesel it drinks probably helps as well.

Just a little story for anyone who finds themself in a similar situation.

Dan

 

[Pawnee]

Nice to read a good story once in a while.

Most of the forum is about trouble but that makes sense. Nobody needs help with something that works the way it should.

 

[DB-n-VA]

New L3901 purchased in April 2021. The regens have been as regulat as clockwork - 40 hour intervals up through 120 hours. Then nothing. I was coming up on 190 and starting to wonder/worry. Did I miss one or is something wrong? Then this morning I had just fired it up to take a bunch of recyclables to the road and the regen and RPM light were blinking. Kicked the RPM up tp 2300 and the RPM light went out but regen kept blinking. The temp was still down around cold and sure enough - a couple minutes later the gauge hit middle and regen went solid. Ten minutes later three loads of recyclables had been delivered and the fourth regen was complete. I am guessing all of the mowing this summer kept RPMs high and I was getting passive regens. The dead fresh road diesel it drinks probably helps as well.

Just a little story for anyone who finds themself in a similar situation.

Dan

It's nice to hear that the system is working as it should. Most people never read their tractor's operating manual when they get a new tractor. The new tractors are supposed to be ran at a higher RPM all the time. It also tells you to run onroad diesel as well, not offroad. You my friend are doing what Kubota is asking.

 

[NCL4701]

Same experience with my L4701. It doesn’t have a “soot meter” or whatever it is on the nicer models so I can’t track passive regen activity. But I have experienced more frequent regens if I’ve spent numerous hours forking stuff around, even at 1800 to 2000 RPM v the same hours chipping or heavy brush hogging near WOT putting a heavy load on the engine. The Tier 4’s, and maybe all diesels, seem to like being run hard.

 

[MOOTS]

It also tells you to run onroad diesel as well, not offroad.

Where is this in owners manual? And what is the reason behind it?

 

[fried1765]

New L3901 purchased in April 2021. The regens have been as regulat as clockwork - 40 hour intervals up through 120 hours. Then nothing. I was coming up on 190 and starting to wonder/worry. Did I miss one or is something wrong? Then this morning I had just fired it up to take a bunch of recyclables to the road and the regen and RPM light were blinking. Kicked the RPM up tp 2300 and the RPM light went out but regen kept blinking. The temp was still down around cold and sure enough - a couple minutes later the gauge hit middle and regen went solid. Ten minutes later three loads of recyclables had been delivered and the fourth regen was complete. I am guessing all of the mowing this summer kept RPMs high and I was getting passive regens. The dead fresh road diesel it drinks probably helps as well.

Just a little story for anyone who finds themself in a similar situation.

Dan

Congratulations on the good news.
I will never have a regen delight experience!

 

[SDT]

Where is this in owners manual? And what is the reason behind it?

Good question.

I have read all of my Kubota Operator's manuals cover-to-cover, both previously owned models and currently owned models, and have found no such directions in any.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

It also tells you to run onroad diesel as well, not offroad.

That's stupid. Except for the dye, they are identical.

 

[Crash277]

That's stupid. Except for the dye, they are identical.

exactly. its just a tax thing!!

 

[DaveFromMi]

Mine once did a regen while bush hogging. I was running at PTO speed, regen light came on. No engine speed light. 8 minutes later, the regen light went out.
It got funky and would not do a regen once. It requested parked regen, but that turned out OK.

 

[D2Cat]

I don't think off road diesel is an option in many countries Kubota sells tractors. Using dyed diesel does not effect engine life or performance. I don't think (off road fuel uses is prohibited) it's actually printed in any Kubota manuals.

Perhaps DB-n-VA can post a picture of the source he's using so we'll all be up to speed.

 

[bmblank]

I wanna say mine has done 2, but it must have been 3 now - it's almost 150hrs old. I've gotta be getting darn close to the next one, but it just keeps on holding out, despite the pretty low RPMs I've been running recently.

 

[hagrid]

What RPM should I run mine at for regen?

 

[bmblank]

I think the book says somewhere around 2k. If you run it high to begin with you will rarely even have to do a regen. If you do a lot of idling (like I have, loading and unloading deck furniture by hand onto pallets on the forks) you'll end up having to crank it up to 2k or whatever and do a regen.

 

[TheOldHokie]

I think the book says somewhere around 2k. If you run it high to begin with you will rarely even have to do a regen. If you do a lot of idling (like I have, loading and unloading deck furniture by hand onto pallets on the forks) you'll end up having to crank it up to 2k or whatever and do a regen.

Check your ankle for a string or rope - I think someone is pulling your leg.

Dan

 

[bmblank]

Very possibly. I guess I'm in a talkative mood or something.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

Where is this in owners manual? And what is the reason behind it?

It depends on what owners manual and where in the world you are. Often stuff is pulled off internet where jurisdiction of manual is maybe not appropriate for where you reside.

Kubota is a world wide company so they talk bigger picture than many of the "vocal local" guys on this forum.

In the USA, yes off road and on road diesel is the same except for added dye so tax breaks can be tracked and enforced between various groups or right holders. However for most of the world and people in it this is not true.

For the vast majority of people in the world, off road diesel is much different than on road diesel. For most people in the world off road diesel will be in the 10,000 ppm sulfer content area BUT same areas on road is low sulfer as lot of cars are made by European or north American companies which are designed for the lower sulfer but local made large trucks and off road equipment do not need low sulfer, etc.... Place the two side by side and the difference is night and day.

That's why American kubotas have DPF's yet those in other areas do not as diesel is different.

So FWIW just take care you are looking at an online WSM or Op. manual or other manuals you are looking at the one for your jurisdiction as only 4% of the world resides in the U.S.A. . Lots of stuff on internet is not necessarily applicable to the USA as 96% of the world is elsewhere.

Most people here are from N.A. but there are others who are the other 96%'er.

Narrow view and operationally for us in USA and Canada... all diesel is the same.... larger view it is not.

Cheers

 

[DB-n-VA]

Where is this in owners manual? And what is the reason behind it?

It appears that I referenced the wrong manual. I have read a lot information in the last year regarding the use of both and the source in which I'm referring to was not saved to my laptop but it was from a Kubota document. But being a owner of multiple diesel engines over a long time now, I have a good understanding of what do and how they run. I'm attaching the web address to a Kubota website regarding ULSD and LSD use in their engines.
https://www.kubotaengine.com/parts-...tra-low-sulfur-diesel-for-mechanical-engines/
ULSD is much cleaner and is the reason why auto makers was pushed to use it to clean-up exhaust emissions. The cleaner the fuel, the less the emissions will clog up causing a regen to happen.
Back when Cummins was putting the 5.9L in their trucks, the engine power band was lower to save on fuel usage. When Cummins was forced to comply with the EPA, they started with adding the DPF on their trucks. In order to get the DPF to function properly, the engine needed to be run faster to create more heat helping the cleaning of the DPF and burn more of the soot from the DPF. Kubota's system is very similar in its operation. It only makes sense to run cleaner fuel to prevent the system from working more or harder than it needs to.
I apologize for quoting something I can't backup at this time. I just wish we could go back to not having emissions because the added heat load put on the engine only shortens the life span of it. Tractors today will not last like the old ones still are.
At the end of the day, it's your tractor and you can run whatever fuel you see fit.

 

[Fordtech86]

Diesel Fuel Standards and Rulemakings | US EPA

This page lists the regulations, rules and fact sheets on highway diesel and nonroad diesel.

www.epa.gov

(For us here in the States)

 

[DB-n-VA]

So I'm responding to a previous comment I made regarding fuel. I stated it was in the Operator's Manual but it's actually stated in the Workshop Manual. I know I read it somewhere. Bottom pic clearly states ULSD ONLY. This only applies to tractors that have emissions.