Kubota l175 hard starting and other issues...

longdude17

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Oct 29, 2019
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Howdy everyone, this is my first post on this forum. I’ve lurked around for a bit looking for information at times but since I’ve got a tractor now, I figure it’s time to join the family.

A bit of background info: I’m from down in south Louisiana, and I spent lots of time in my youth on tractors but never owning one. I’m an engineer by paper and a master tinkerer by nature. My paw in law had an old kubota sitting outback his house under oak tree for as long as I’ve known him. One day I asked what his plans were for it, and he pretty much said if you can get it running, you can have it.

Got to tinkering, oil looked good, air filter looked good, rad looked great, antifreeze was gorgeous, but the tractor looked like shit....

Dropped a battery in it and turns out the starter was shot... $100 and had it spinning over



This is where it gets fun. I’m not sure what works and what doesn’t on the dash, or electrical system for that matter....the Tach doesn’t work (not sure yet why), the oil pressure light works, but after 5-7 min of cranking it puffed some whiteish blue then black and roared to life.

The Trans has issues...Appears that 1 & 2 grind and pop, but the rest of the gear work fine—-will worry about that later.

Loaded it up on my trailer and took it home. Let it sit on the trailer for a week due to weather, but went to start it up this morning and holy molly it took forever to start. It’s 45f outside, held the glow plug switch for 1min three times during the course of trying to start it, until it finally started to catch and die and finally fire off.

I’m assuming the glow plugs aren’t working...how do I check them?

Can anyone point me in the right direction of trouble shooting with a few pics?




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Last edited:

Roadworthy

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L2501 HST
Aug 17, 2019
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Benton City, WA
Well, at free you got an excellent deal!! You can check the glow plugs with an ohmmeter. I they read open from the terminal to ground they're bad. Normally they're a very low resistance - they're electric heaters. Some plugs read a low resistance (short) when they go bad. It depends on the plug. You can try removing then, applying power, and see if they heat. Caution - they will get very hot very fast. If the glow plugs are good be sure the switch is good. They can burn out or go bad. There will also be a series resistor of some sort or a glow plug controller to drop the voltage. Most glow plugs actually operate on less than twelve volts - typically about 9.5 volts.
 

longdude17

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Oct 29, 2019
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So basically unhook this wire and measure resistance from the tip to ground??



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Roadworthy

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The glow plugs are all wired in parallel. With them undisturbed if you put one meter lead on the top of the glow plug and ground the other end your are checking them all (both?) simultaneously. You need only disconnect wires to remove them or check them individually - though all will probably be in the same condition.
 

D2Cat

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Longdude17, welcome to the forum. Your started looks like it had a good dose of salt water nearby. Be sure to clean the bell housing frame where the starter mounts to get a good ground.

You see the slot on the nut holding the wire on the glow plug? That's to insert a screwdriver to remove them!
 
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Tagreen820

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L175
Oct 29, 2019
6
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1
Lima ohio
The. Switch that you turn backwards to heat the GPs is common place to blow a wire off.....kinda makes the wire into a fuse. When i restored mine it was replaced and within 3 months i melted the new one i made up. Admit i did use slightly too small of wire. I think the termnal is 32. On switch someone can correct me or better yet check the workshop manual. Make things easier and lable your wires.
Your tach is more then likely busted its drive off. If u can weld ...weld a tab on it so it can be driven by the pump driveshaft.. But youll have to remove and check that tach drive out.
 

In Utopia

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L175 FEL
Apr 21, 2013
613
113
43
Utopia,Tx/Pasadena,TX
Even with new glow plugs my L175 is hard to start.
Just guessing, but at 45deg. and fairly new plugs I'd say it would take about 45 seconds of heating for it to kick off. Replaced the resister (I think that's what it is) under the dash a few years ago and that helped, but didn't solve the problem, but it did help.
Often I'll just pull out the compression release knob while spinning over.
 

Jpatrick

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BX1850, L210, Various 3 point implements
Apr 4, 2017
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Buckingham, Pa
To start my similar L210 at 50 F it takes a full minutes of glow plug. The dash indicator glows red after 30 sec, and then 30 sec more is enough to get it to fire.

If the engine start is rough, I turn the switch back to "glow" while the engine turns and adjust the throttle to find a smoother idle. Sometimes it's smoky and shaky but it does warm up after a little while.
 

Dave_eng

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Oct 6, 2012
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It would be a good idea to check if the Glow Plugs are powered while the engine is cranking.

Sometimes key switch has been replaced with an incorrect one or the switch is failing.

Dave
 

bucktail

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L1500DT, 6' king kutter back blade, boom, dirt scoop ford disk JD212
Jun 13, 2016
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My L1500DT has the same engine. I read here the glow plugs should ohm out under 10 ohms. Mine were open circuit when I got it and the new ones were a hair under 3. Specs notwithstanding, I'd replace them at 5 or 6. They're cheap. My tach just needed a new cable.

If you're going to be trailering it more than just down the block, I'd recommend fastening it to something more substantial than those rails on the trailer.