Diesel engine sucked up water! Now what?

[Teel6060]

So my father in law drove my 1140 into the creek. Upon pulling it out at first it wouldn’t restart so I cracked all the injectors and was able to start it but now it smokes bad and has little power.
Any thoughts?

 

[hagrid]

Any thoughts?

Yaesh. Your father in law bent one or more of your connecting rods. The pistons no longer reach the top of their stroke resulting in insufficient compression for complete combustion, hence the color of your exhaust.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

So my father in law drove my 1140 into the creek. Upon pulling it out at first it wouldn’t restart so I cracked all the injectors and was able to start it but now it smokes bad and has little power.
Any thoughts?

Now is probably as good a time as ever to renegotiate the dowry.

 

[Jim L.]

When going into the creek, the machine needs to be shut down before it gets water into the cylinders. Water being incompressible, the connecting rods will have to give.

After pulling the machine out of the water, glow plugs or the like need to be pulled out so that by hand cranking the water can be purged. Sounds that neither of these procedures happened. Engine will have to be opened up and inspected for damage.

 

[DustyRusty]

I am speaking from my education on these forums, not personal knowledge. You should have removed the injectors and glow plugs completely instead of just cracking them loose. I know that this is what we used to do with gasoline engines that were submerged in water and I had done many of them when we had flooding. I was cleaning cars for the insurance company getting them ready for the salvage auction.

 

[whitetiger]

now it smokes bad and has little power.

Did you remove the water logged air filter?
Next step is to perform a compression test by removing the 3 glow plugs and testing through the glow plug holes.
If you do not have access to a compression tester, you can remove the cylinder head to check the piston height protrusion. Most likely, you have one or more bent connection rods.

 

[xtriggerman]

I'm having a water damage issue as well with one cylinder on a V1200. A good question is can the bad rod and piston be removed from the bottom? I know normaly they pull up and out after the jug lip is taken out but I think some old engines had enough room above the crank shaft to drop the piston down & out. Thoughts?

 

[whitetiger]

I'm having a water damage issue as well with one cylinder on a V1200. A good question is can the bad rod and piston be removed from the bottom? I know normaly they pull up and out after the jug lip is taken out but I think some old engines had enough room above the crank shaft to drop the piston down & out. Thoughts?

No,it can not be removed with the head on.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Hmmm....It does not look too bad/deep from that picture.

Is the motor in the back on one of those?

I would be shocked if that little bit of "rear end submersion" bent a rod. But I have been wrong plenty in the past, so........

 

[Alfred_2345]

The engine is mid mount but the air filter is up front under the hood with the intake tube pointing to the right head light (at least on my X900). From the picture if they drove in going forward the front might have dipped low enough to suck in water. The air filter being wet would be a clear indication of water ingestion. The picture just shows the final resting place after it cam to a stop. We would need to know more about how it went in....

I'm learning a lot of "what to do" and more importantly "what not to do" on these forums. I feel sorry for those folks that I am learning the "what not to do" from....

 

[Runs With Scissors]

For some strange reason this popped into my head when looking at the OP's picture.

Blame it on the Yeti!!!!!!

 

[Henro]

I believe I may have seen the guilty Yeti in the picture the OP posted!

 

[woodman55]

My X1100 also has the filter under the front hood, with the intake pointed at the grill.

 

[GeoHorn]

There’s a OEM snorkel available…it runs up the right-front ROPS to the roof with an umbrella top….but you can make your own with PVC pipe and hose clamps…..just make it 90-degree back downward at the top to keep rain out.

 

[lmichael]

Yeah, I find it weird Kubota would make a machine like this then make the air intake so low rather than put a snorkel on it right at the get go

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re: So my father in law drove my 1140 into the creek.

WHY ???? Seriously would like to know why. Trying to cross a deep creek on an angle is a bad idea. Is he a rookie and didn't know better ? Did he not know the 'lay of the land'?
I can see this costing YOU 1,000s of dollars for a new engine, IF you can actually get one, in a reasonable amount of time.
Dealer near me is $135/hr,so 10 hrs to get the engine out is already north of $1300. Teardown/inspection could be another 10hrs aka $1300. Then the dreaded 'order of new parts list', then another $1300 to install.

 

[Alfred_2345]

I find it weird Kubota would make a machine like this

I have the feeling that the main market for the RTV is construction/industrial/commercial. I don't think that market is crossing streams. The other marker is farm/rural property use as a work vehicle.

The RTV isn't really a contender in the recreational market. The common complaint is it's too slow.

 

[GeoHorn]

I have the feeling that the main market for the RTV is construction/industrial/commercial. I don't think that market is crossing streams. The other marker is farm/rural property use as a work vehicle.

The RTV isn't really a contender in the recreational market. The common complaint is it's too slow.

Exactly! The RTV series are serious Work Vehicles….a “cut above” the “Toys for Tots ‘n’ Teens”.

it’s expected that operators are professionals or at least serious workers… not Destruction-Derby Do-Do’s.

Any diesel which is submerged will suffer the same fate.

John Deere Gators are not standard-equipped either. Here’s what JD says:

“Water damage is a pain to repair. So if you find yourself riding through ponds, ripping over mud, or creeping across creeks, don't make the mistake of getting wet without a John Deere Gator snorkel kit! Using a snorkel to prevent moisture from getting in your engine air intake is important, but you'll also want to snorkel your other vent lines as well (like the one that leads to your clutch housing, for example).”

The numb-skull who sinks an RTV will find the transmission/HST in trouble also, although Kubota does place short “J”-snorkel-vents on those. (not to mention electric cooling fan motors, winches, etc etc.)

You wanna play submarine..? REally..??

 

[GrizBota]

Pretty easy fix. FIL drops about $21k plus fees and taxes for a new one at the local Kubota dealer, hands you the keys to it and enjoys his new submarine, however he’d like, running or otherwise.

Might piss off the wife. But I’m sure your FIL knows as soon as you barrow someone’s equipments, you’ve bought into returning it in as good or better condition, up to and including replacement. Unless he was working for/helping you and you told him to do it.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Yeah, the OP can't win, heck can't even break even on this.
getting FIL to repair/replace the unit....he loses, as if FIL will do that...(a real man would offer though)
asking FIL to repair/replace the unit..he loses as wife will be 'bent out of shape' ( how dare you ask ! )
paying for it himself, ..he loses, out a LOT of coins (grr, I didn't cause the problem...)
not repairing it..he loses , the USE of his machine (grr, I didn't do it but have to LOOK at it...)

If FIL won't pay for the damages, park next to garage,best spot, in front of wife's car. When asked when will it get fixed....show the estimate from the dealer to her and say when 'we' have $xxx, THAT'S when it'll get fixed.