Kubota D1105 No Start Black Smoke

[ElectricLee13]

To avoid confusion do this:

Choose a valve to be adjusted.
Turn the engine till that valve has opened completely, doesn't need to be perfect.
Mark the crankshaft pulley with chalk.
Turn engine one turn till the mark is at the same place, doesn't need to be perfect.
Adjust that valve.
Remove the chalk mark.

Lather, rinse, repeat for each valve.

This procedure can be used on nearly every gas or diesel engine produced in the past 100 years. The purpose of the procedures stated in manuals is to reduce the engine turning, but it adds confusion. The method I suggested above is actually better as it insures that the lifter is on the base circle of the cam and not just close enough.

Awesome I really appreciate that write up! Definitely made the procedure easier to digest. I'm getting ready to head out there and get started on the troubleshooting for today. I'll definitely keep the thread posted if I make any meaningful progress haha

 

[ElectricLee13]

it's got dead cylinders. 2 of them have little to no compression, one has barely enough to try to run. This based on my experience with them, and my ears/eyes.

Put a gauge on it. I would imagine one of them is 150-250 psi, the others probably less than 100. You need to see 350 or better. IIRC service limit is 380. New they're closer to 500 or a little over.

Is there any possibility that could be due to valves needing to be adjusted? When I had the valve cover off and cranked it to make sure all rockers were moving, I was getting puffs of smoke around the rods as the motor turned over.

 

[ElectricLee13]

easier yet, the eoic method

turn engine til exhaust just starts to open. Check intake valve clearance. Then turn the engine til the intake valve opens, then almost closes (but not quite). Then adjust the exhaust valve. Once ya figure this out, you can do a check in a minute or two. Us race car guys have done it this way for decades and it works great, saves time.

Another great write up with great advice. I really appreciate it, I'm about to head out there now and try to start checking a few things. Definitely will keep the thread updated

 

[lynnmor]

easier yet, the eoic method

turn engine til exhaust just starts to open. Check intake valve clearance. Then turn the engine til the intake valve opens, then almost closes (but not quite). Then adjust the exhaust valve. Once ya figure this out, you can do a check in a minute or two. Us race car guys have done it this way for decades and it works great, saves time.

Understand that but I wanted to take out even the direction of rotation and get the cam lobe opposite the lifter without any confusion. Those that are doing a once or twice in a lifetime job won't care about a few minutes of time if they can be certain they will be successful.

 

[ElectricLee13]

Just an update to the thread, I believe I got my valves adjusted properly, manual specs .007, lowest i had was .008 so i got it there and then gave it the slightest turn then tightened. Added my truck battery in parallel and she's definitely cranking faster/harder but still acting the same. Very confident that I have air bled out good since I'm only getting pulses of fuel at each injector while cracked. At this point I'm pretty confident that compression results will give me an answer I don't want, but need to see.

Will definitely update when my m8 adapter arrives! Thank you everyone for your time and help so far!

 

[TimAT]

I'm doing the same dance with a D1105 in a Kubota mower.. No start. I got a little bit of smoke, but not much. Did a compression check-- High 325 to a low of 200. Little oil in the cylinders, no help. Pulled the head, valves didn't seal very well, did those, no help. Pulled the pistons-- second and oil rings on all 3 were stuck like a big dog. New rings don't fit the grooves in the pistons. Someone had given it a big shot of ether. Appears all the ring lands have collapsed. Waiting on a rebuild kit, rings, pistons, and bearings.

 

[ElectricLee13]

I'm doing the same dance with a D1105 in a Kubota mower.. No start. I got a little bit of smoke, but not much. Did a compression check-- High 325 to a low of 200. Little oil in the cylinders, no help. Pulled the head, valves didn't seal very well, did those, no help. Pulled the pistons-- second and oil rings on all 3 were stuck like a big dog. New rings don't fit the grooves in the pistons. Someone had given it a big shot of ether. Appears all the ring lands have collapsed. Waiting on a rebuild kit, rings, pistons, and bearings.

Dang it man I'm sorry to hear, yeah definitely sounds like the route I'm going down. I found a d1105-T with around 200hr for $1500 and I'm very tempted to just grab that and drop it in for the couple extra horsepower but still entertaining trying to rebuild this one. It does have 2500hr though so no telling what all is needed until I can do a compression check.

 

[lynnmor]

Sounds like a plan. I didn't mention it before but I didn't like the sound when you were cranking the engine, like at least one cylinder was softer than the others. Good Luck.

 

[lugbolt]

these kubota engines aren't known for valve issues. Very seldom are they more than .001 out of spec, even with thousands of hours on them. They are pretty bulletproof, but not stupidproof.

If it were in front of me I'd have the head off by now. Just based on the sound, it's got no or little compression on at least 2 cylinders.

 

[ElectricLee13]

these kubota engines aren't known for valve issues. Very seldom are they more than .001 out of spec, even with thousands of hours on them. They are pretty bulletproof, but not stupidproof.

If it were in front of me I'd have the head off by now. Just based on the sound, it's got no or little compression on at least 2 cylinders.

Yeah that's definitely my next step. Currently brushing up on the service manual and trying to plan to remove the head. Either that, or I found a super low hour D1105-T for a good price so I could always just swap that in

 

[John D 2]

If you're sure the super low hour D1105 is in good shape, I think I would get it. Then I would have a working mower. Then I would fix the original engine, and sell it to help recap the expense. . .

 

[pblakeway]

Here's a video of the engine cranking over. https://youtube.com/shorts/XoOcN1ufjQE?si=8p3sTMwOtkDUrcKG

Is it me or can you see exhaust being expelled out of the intake when you first turn it over? and you also mention puffs of smoke around the rods, have you checked compression ? I've just had an issue with a d1005 not starting and was fixed this weekend with new piston rings, now it starts within a few seconds, i was also seeing exhaust coming out around the rods