I've got a 2014 MX5100 that's been a great machine winter, spring, summer and fall. I've been diligent making sure all the fluids are changed according to the manual and have not had any problems until lately. Engine has about 580 hours on it. Recently its been getting louder in that it has developed a quite noticeable ticking sound, that is loudest on the left side of the engine from the seated position in the tractor. My immediate response is to think there's a valve clearance issue. I'm comfortable taking on that task as i have a reasonable amount of experience with motors, including a few rebuilds. But I know I'm no expert. Would like to know if there's any advice on why this problem has just started up and if there is anything else I should do besides adjusting the valves. Also wondering if the noise may be being caused by something other than the valves.
MX5100 engine ticking sound
- Thread starter kjb
- Start date
I have heard a number of them do it, same thing. I've run the valves on them, and they still tick. Replace injectors. Still ticks. Pump. Still ticks. At that point customers all said send it back and I'll deal with it--and to my knowledge, they're all still running just fine. One for sure I know is, he uses it about 5 hours a day 5 days a week.
Lugbolt, thanks for the quick reply. If I'm hearing you right, even if I adjust the valve clearances or make other repairs to potentially fix the problem, it may not go away. Yet the tractor will still work well even with the ticking noises. Winter and snow blowing is hopefully about done soon, so I may look into checking the valve clearances later in April or May and that might quiet it down and if not, it might still work fine. I'm averaging about 120 hours a year and the example you gave is about 1200 a year, so with any luck I'll be fine. Its such a great tractor. I just don't want to ignore a problem that might come back to haunt me.
Most of these Kubotas have a scheduled valve-clearance adjustment listed in the required mx schedule. The WSM for my M has them adjusted “cold” and to the same clearance both Ex and In.
It’s a ridiculously long period between adjustments (800 hrs) .... My M4700 is a 1996 and only now is approaching 600 hrs...... leads me to believe it’s not very critical, in my particular instance.
It’s a ridiculously long period between adjustments (800 hrs) .... My M4700 is a 1996 and only now is approaching 600 hrs...... leads me to believe it’s not very critical, in my particular instance.
I just adjusted mine at 850 hours, turned out it didn't really need it. Some of the valves were at the limit of the acceptable tolerance, but most were still in the middle of the range. I'll probably wait 1500 hours to do it again. So I'd agree it doesn't seem like something that needs a lot of attention.
The only time mine made a new sound was when I used an aftermarket oil filter. I noticed right away the engine sounded different and it bugged me so I took the filter off and bought a kubota brand and the noise went away. I cut the filter open to see what was in there. The outer canister was the same size as the kubota filter, but the actual inside filter element was this little runt of a thing that was about a third the size of the canister. It looked more like the size of a fuel filter than an oil filter.
You might try using a piece of rubber tubing like a stethoscope to figure out where the ticking is coming from.
Are you sure its not the injectors?
If you haven't already, I would call your local kubota dealer and talk to a service manger. Most of the time (depending on the dealer) they can be pretty helpful and will offer advice. If its something common with that model, they will surely know of it. Just call and tell them you need help troubleshooting and would like to talk to the service manager or a tech.
If you haven't already, I would call your local kubota dealer and talk to a service manger. Most of the time (depending on the dealer) they can be pretty helpful and will offer advice. If its something common with that model, they will surely know of it. Just call and tell them you need help troubleshooting and would like to talk to the service manager or a tech.
Thanks, I'm coming up on 600 hours and have already done the big job of changing oil and hydraulic fluids. I'll just add valve adjustment to the list. From what I've heard, good to check it, but no need to get panicky. It can probably wait a couple more months when its warmer and dryer.
Good advice that I'll follow. The dealer is great, would likely give me some advice on this.
Follow up. Although I'm handy and have worked on engines successfully before, I wasn't certain what the problem was and there was a lot of things to remove to check on the injectors and valves. So I bit the bullet and decided to have the tractor floated to the dealer. It turned out to be the exhaust manifold gasket. I would have never figured that would cause the noises I was having. Total cost to float it 10 miles, have all the repairs done and floated back home was $560 cdn. It's never fun to part with money, but I think I got off pretty well. Fortunately our local dealer is great and only I have good things to say about them. I bought the tractor when it was one year old and had 186 hours on it. Not that any tractor is quiet, it's quieter now than when I bought it. If I get that sound again, I'll know where to look and will feel confident making the repair myself.
Glad you found the issue. I never even thought about the exhaust gaskets. I didn’t think that was very common.
It does remind of when I was young and had put headers on my car. it would blow the exhaust gaskets about every 5000 miles as they just didn’t seal properly. It would make a pretty loud pop noise for sure.
It does remind of when I was young and had put headers on my car. it would blow the exhaust gaskets about every 5000 miles as they just didn’t seal properly. It would make a pretty loud pop noise for sure.