Kubota L3901 code P0087

[tbk5]

Boy, I am sure glad that my tractors do not have an ecu. Good luck and thank you for the updates.

 

[RonTXSouthPlain]

UPDATE: My problem still persists after fuel rail was changed out. One should note that only two codes were showing on the dashboard when the tractor was taken to the shop, e.g., P0087 and P2294 but 3 codes were found to be stored. Kubota shop manager now thinks it may be a problem with the ECU (one of the two onboard controllers?) due to known problems with it on this particular tractor.

I will update here whenever the problem is resolved.

After over a month of my 2019 Kubota L3901HST being in the shop we now learn it was a bad (or just stuck) suction control valve problem. Not covered under my warranties. My wallet says OUCH! My service manager says he has only seen this on the larger Kubotas. Unknown cause but he did recommend that I use red diesel in the future rather than from a gas station. I think you have to have an ag exemption for buying the untaxed diesel though?

Please note that I cannot complain about the time it took for the repairs because I had told the shop the tractor was more of a toy than a tool and that there was no hurry but I'm sure glad I had my trusty old '51 Ford 8n with a shredder as a backup. I would be neck deep in weeds.

 

[fried1765]

Will do Dan. With all this rain recently, I guess I'm lucky to have my old trusty 1951 Ford 8n that I can use to keep the weeds knocked down.

The old Fords just never die.
I have owned mine (1951 also) for 50 years.

 

[fried1765]

After over a month of my 2019 Kubota L3901HST being in the shop we now learn it was a bad (or just stuck) suction control valve problem. Not covered under my warranties. My wallet says OUCH! My service manager says he has only seen this on the larger Kubotas. Unknown cause but he did recommend that I use red diesel in the future rather than from a gas station. I think you have to have an ag exemption for buying the untaxed diesel though?

Please note that I cannot complain about the time it took for the repairs because I had told the shop the tractor was more of a toy than a tool and that there was no hurry but I'm sure glad I had my trusty old '51 Ford 8n with a shredder as a backup. I would be neck deep in weeds.

The only difference between "red diesel", and diesel for highway use, is the coloring dye!
The service manager is suggesting to you that the color of diesel can affect engine operation?
My take on this: You should look for a dealership with a more knowledgeable service manager.

 

[GrizBota]

After over a month of my 2019 Kubota L3901HST being in the shop we now learn it was a bad (or just stuck) suction control valve problem. Not covered under my warranties. My wallet says OUCH! My service manager says he has only seen this on the larger Kubotas. Unknown cause but he did recommend that I use red diesel in the future rather than from a gas station. I think you have to have an ag exemption for buying the untaxed diesel though?

Please note that I cannot complain about the time it took for the repairs because I had told the shop the tractor was more of a toy than a tool and that there was no hurry but I'm sure glad I had my trusty old '51 Ford 8n with a shredder as a backup. I would be neck deep in weeds.

So they were guessing what it was by firing the parts cannon. $1600 fuel rail that did not need to be replaced. Hopefully big k ate that expense. But more often the consumer get screwed while the dealer guesses at someone else’s expense (and to their profit). No better than car part swappers.

 

[RonTXSouthPlain]

The only difference between "red diesel", and diesel for highway use, is the coloring dye!
The service manager is suggesting to you that the color of diesel can affect engine operation?
My take on this: You should look for a dealership with a more knowledgeable service manager.

Don't think he was suggesting that. I think he was just suggesting buying diesel from place who sells a lot of it and not our convenience store in a town of only 1200 folks who mostly drive gas rigs. The only other place close to me that sells a lot of diesel is our Coop.

 

[RonTXSouthPlain]

So they were guessing what it was by firing the parts cannon. $1600 fuel rail that did not need to be replaced. Hopefully big k ate that expense. But more often the consumer get screwed while the dealer guesses at someone else’s expense (and to their profit). No better than car part swappers.

Yes Kubota did cover everything but the suction control valve R&R. However, it's still a significant bill.

Live and learn, I guess.

 

[RonTXSouthPlain]

The only difference between "red diesel", and diesel for highway use, is the coloring dye!
The service manager is suggesting to you that the color of diesel can affect engine operation?
My take on this: You should look for a dealership with a more knowledgeable service manager.

Ha! I barely get telephone service out here in the "boondocks" of the Texas South Plains. The only persons who seem to know I'm out here is my post lady and the county tax appraiser. And with our unpaved road, I think the post lady would like to forget about me on bad weather days.

Oh! And Google probably also knows where I am?

 

[RonTXSouthPlain]

The old Fords just never die.
I have owned mine (1951 also) for 50 years.

Yep. Great old tractors the n-series were. Although I prefer the late 1950 to 1952 8Ns with the side distributor, I have owned over 40 of these guys (9ns, 2ns, 8ns) since retirement almost 25 years ago. I use to buy and sell them but age and the lack of patience has finally caught up to me.

I've always said, "If Webster had placed pictures in his dictionary next to each of his words, beside the word machine he would have placed a pic of an N-series Ford.

 

[RonTXSouthPlain]

After over a month of my 2019 Kubota L3901HST being in the shop we now learn it was a bad (or just stuck) suction control valve problem. Not covered under my warranties. My wallet says OUCH! My service manager says he has only seen this on the larger Kubotas. Unknown cause but he did recommend that I use red diesel in the future rather than from a gas station. I think you have to have an ag exemption for buying the untaxed diesel though?

Please note that I cannot complain about the time it took for the repairs because I had told the shop the tractor was more of a toy than a tool and that there was no hurry but I'm sure glad I had my trusty old '51 Ford 8n with a shredder as a backup. I would be neck deep in weeds.

MORE UPDATE: After actually picking up my Kubota, I was told they did find a rodent-chewed ground wire they had to repair. I do not know if the wire was completely chewed into or not.

In the past, rodents have also chewed the wiring on my '14 F150 which had completely shut the truck down. I now have more barn cats than rodents. Haven't seen or heard a rodent in months now.

 

[whitetiger]

Difficulty getting corporate approval is one thing but coverage of fuel delivery and injection components is clearly enumerated in the emissions warranty.

They are covered in the event of their failure, but Kubota is rather finicky about replacing a part someone THINKS has failed. If Kubota calls for the rail, tests it, and deems it OK, the dealer will get charged back for the part and labor as they should. The rail is very simple to monitor using Diagmaster as is the SCV.

There are also a few very simple and quick tests using a multimeter in conjunction with Diagmaster that would have confirmed the fuel rail sensor operation.

 

[lugbolt]

They are covered in the event of their failure, but Kubota is rather finicky about replacing a part someone THINKS has failed. If Kubota calls for the rail, tests it, and deems it OK, the dealer will get charged back for the part and labor as they should. The rail is very simple to monitor using Diagmaster as is the SCV.

There are also a few very simple and quick tests using a multimeter in conjunction with Diagmaster that would have confirmed the fuel rail sensor operation.

yup a lot of times owners think that dealers are the warranty administrators, that the dealer eats the cost. Nothing could be further from the truth

Here's what happens. Warranty is kind of like a bank account specific to in-warranty repairs only. In other words, if the actual materials cost of, say for example, an L3301 is $5000, then they tack on expenses--labor for workers, machinery, tools, taxes, import fees, etc. Now we're up to, say $10,000. Now warranty costs are also tacked on to every machine's "cost", let's say $5000. Remember, manufacturer does all this. A lot of it is government mandated so you nor I nor any dealer has any control over it.

Now lets say it's sold for $18,000 (tractor by itself of course). I don't know what they cost, just using the number as an example. Dealer markup is included. Dealer markup covers their expenses, which include but are not limited to paying workers, taxes, insurance, rent/lease/mortgage, supplies, tools, boss's vacations, training costs, and a whole bunch of other stuff. You get the idea.

Dealer's markup covers THEIR operating costs. Manufacturer's markup covers their own operating costs, which includes warranty. They log all this stuff, which tractor gets which in-warranty repairs and how much it costs per unit and per repair. Again, the dealers really don't have much to do with this part of it other than offering the service....or do they??

Yes. But what the dealer has to do with it is only offering the service, and then having to eat the costs of their own mistakes, and/or the cost of "customer service"....e.g., eating the cost of returned warranty repairs that weren't really "warranty". It happens a whole lot more often than people think, but since owners are people, they don't really care so long as they don't have to pay the bill.

When I did it, there was some transitioning between the old Kubota dealer system and the newest version (circa 2018?). At one point, there were over $265,000 worth of warranty repairs that were not paid. Some of them went back 2-3 YEARS, because kubota sometimes "forgets" to pay them, or there is a miscommunication (electronic or otherwise). Had two GR series transmissions that were not paid. They didn't pay those at all, dealer had to "eat" those on a technicality. An M7040 engine, not paid. L4060 stuff, not paid. Lots of bulletins/recalls that they didn't pay yet (lawn mowers mostly). Normally if a repair is not paid, the dealer keeps the equipment until it is. In warranty stuff, they release it nearly as soon as the repair is complete. Then they worry about getting paid for it. Owner don't care, his stuff was "free" and he got it back, end of story. Then dealer gets to screw around with kubota (or whoever the manufacturer is) about getting paid for it. Sometimes they don't pay at all, sometimes they decided to pay 1/3 and leave the dealer on the hook for 2/3, sometimes they drag it out on technicalities for years.