Try running it each time until the fan kicks in. There's no way I would do a 15 minute warm up. See if that makes a difference. Knock wood my only complaint so far is poor fuel economy. More than enough zoom zoom for me.
Sidekick RTV-XG850 backfiring / loss of power
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Mine sucks fuel also and the exhaust smells like half of it doesn't get burned. I can ride around for 20 minutes with the grandkids and it only goes up a notch or 2. Don't know how accurate that indicator is though. Basically it has only been run in low gear because the fastest I can get up to on my land is about 20 mph. Slow crawling through the firewood trail, some muddy areas in the spring and a pond at the bottom of a hill. Did get it up to 30 mph on the road once but mostly just putting around the yard carrying firewood, loads from the garden, and yard tools I will wait to see what they say and have to give them a couple tries to fix it. Hopefully they find a way to fix it. Is yours an earlier one with the engine built by Subaru?
the fan helps control coolant temp, but the oil temp is not logged. Oil temp somewhat follows coolant temp, but oil temp often is slower to follow. Sometimes a LOT slower. On my car I log coolant temp oil temp and trans temp. I can get coolant to 200 no problem but oil will be 110-115. takes a while to get it warmed up.
The thing is I could care less about all this crap Kubota is now saying about having to evaporate oil and water from the engine. I have almost $19k in this machine and now all this is coming to life. The epa is worried about a little evaporation from my 5 gallon gas can but doesn't seem to care about how these engines are 1000x worse. Plus Kubota mentions nothing about crap like this upfront. A little thought into the root of the problem could solve most of it. Definitely shows Kubota has zero care for the longevity of these machines. Still waiting for the final conclusion before deciding what to do next because most manufacturers start by making excuses before solving or denying serious issues.
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I understand your frustration. Re-read Lugbolt's post#39
All IC engines can be susceptible to these issues it isn't just K.
All IC engines can be susceptible to these issues it isn't just K.
I did and all I am saying is this is excessive compared to my friends machines in the same usage and conditions. So either there is a problem with my machine or problem with Kubotas engineering as their first response was it is normal for the Sidekick to see large quantities of gas and water in the oil in a couple hours. They are fairly new and not many higher hour ones around yet so don't know the long term reliability of the engines yet. Just a fact that future buyers should be aware of before deciding on a machine that I was not aware of or ever had a problem with in the past with all my other machines.
So today's update after over a month in the shop is Don't waste your money on a Sidekick. They were told to replace the injectors for the gas in oil problem and checked the head gaskets along with oil change. The dealer took it to their farm and ran it another 5 hours hard as Kubota said (has about 30 hours now) and the oil level went up again. Kubota says this is normal for these engines and has been avoiding looking in to this any further. Dealer can't do anything else to fix it if Kubota doesn't call the shots so it's just sitting there now waiting for a response from Kubota. Apparently the water and gas contamination is a problem with these machines and they are trying to avoid documenting it. I made a mistake thinking Kubota Cares as their logo says. I definitely say Kubota kicking the can down the road and not getting involved with a serious problem says a lot about them as a company to me. As you can tell I am not happy with how the Kubota reps have become useless puppets.
OP here. Sorry for the lack of updates - I have been slammed with work and haven't really had any time to deal with this in the past few months. We're basically just using our quad now and our like new XG-850 just sits parked. I am so upset with this XG850 - we have very low hours on this unit and sold our Mule which was problem free for over a decade!
I am still dealing with my original issue. I already changed out the plugs as suggested and that did not correct the issue - glad that fixed someone else's problem. It will drive but if you get on the gas, it is starved for power will try to backfire. It will pretty much not go any faster than 21mph. It idles perfectly fine and will drive around the yard fine as long as you don't get on the gas.
I don't have a ton of time to throw at this, so it really needs to go back to the dealer if this isn't something I can fix in an hour or two. I also don't have any other injectors or coils here to test with, nor do I want to just throw parts at it with how much parts have gone up.
It feels like a fuel delivery issue, which is why I was initial asking about the fuel pumps, but it could certainly be something with the coils. Open to suggestions.
I am still dealing with my original issue. I already changed out the plugs as suggested and that did not correct the issue - glad that fixed someone else's problem. It will drive but if you get on the gas, it is starved for power will try to backfire. It will pretty much not go any faster than 21mph. It idles perfectly fine and will drive around the yard fine as long as you don't get on the gas.
I don't have a ton of time to throw at this, so it really needs to go back to the dealer if this isn't something I can fix in an hour or two. I also don't have any other injectors or coils here to test with, nor do I want to just throw parts at it with how much parts have gone up.
It feels like a fuel delivery issue, which is why I was initial asking about the fuel pumps, but it could certainly be something with the coils. Open to suggestions.
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I just spoke to the mechanic working on mine and he said they just got a 2023 in and it's a whole different engine. Different intake manifold, different injectors, completely redesigned intake plus they added a cam sensor and different ecu. Guess they know there's a problem and redesigned everything. Seems early buyers got the shaft. And yes if there's a problem with them the only way to find it is throw parts at it because Kubota offers so little support I am being told.
how is there not a recall campaign on them if there is a known design flaw. so what do I do? have it fixed and trade it back in? Mine is a 2020 with ~400hrs - it is no longer under warranty. I will have to pay out of pocket for any repairs.
Sounds like you got a good one back when Subaru was making the engines if you got 400 hours with no problems. Sounds like midyear 2023 models are different and I can't find a explanation why. Surprised the mechanic working on mine. I definitely would avoid this machine after my experience and Kubotas response.
I remember hearing something about K taking over manufacturing the Subaru motors.
Looks like K should stick with making diesel engines.
I bumped into my sales guy a little while back picking up parts. He said I could sell my RTV now used for more than I paid for it in 2021. Maybe something to consider...
GreensvilleJay
Well-known member
Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
recall for a design flaw ??
really ??
heck, my F150 lost BOTH tierod ends(literaly fell off )...NOT deemed to be a safety issue, so no 'recall notice'....
really ??
heck, my F150 lost BOTH tierod ends(literaly fell off )...NOT deemed to be a safety issue, so no 'recall notice'....
That doesn't make it right. Both of those tie rods should have been recalled, too if it was inside the service life of the part. And yes... if there is a known mechanical defect the manufacturer is dragging its feet on replacing, repairing, or informing about that becomes a safety concern - then yes - recall. A sudden loss of power is certainly a safety concern.
In any event... so what is the consensus on fixes? new injectors? I already replaced the plugs at like $15 bucks per plug, which is nuts for sparkplugs.
the government likely just didn't know about it.
There has to be a certain number of the same failures. Then it has to be reported to the government agency in charge. If they think there's an issue, they'll force the manufacturer to issue a safety recall.
Another one that made no sense was the old kawasaki prairie steering knuckles breaking. No recall on "that" part of the knuckle, but I bet I replaced 100 of them, steering arm would break off and user loses steering on that one wheel. Should have been a recall in my opinion. Later on they replaced the aluminum knuckles with iron ones, which to my knowledge didn't break. But that was a FAR (factory authorized repair) more than a recall, which dealt with the bearing making noise in the aluminum knuckle, causing noise. Not a safety recall although they had a few of those too on different things. at one point there were 8 or 9 bulletins and recalls on them. Kept us shop guys plenty busy!
the way the manufacturer knows of "issues" is by warranty and/or goodwill claims. They sometimes never know about a certain failure because they're being repaired outside of warranty. If they were in warranty, they'd see the number of claims on a particular failure item over a certain period of time and number of claims in that timeframe. Government knows about all this stuff because the maker of the product has to report to them.
There has to be a certain number of the same failures. Then it has to be reported to the government agency in charge. If they think there's an issue, they'll force the manufacturer to issue a safety recall.
Another one that made no sense was the old kawasaki prairie steering knuckles breaking. No recall on "that" part of the knuckle, but I bet I replaced 100 of them, steering arm would break off and user loses steering on that one wheel. Should have been a recall in my opinion. Later on they replaced the aluminum knuckles with iron ones, which to my knowledge didn't break. But that was a FAR (factory authorized repair) more than a recall, which dealt with the bearing making noise in the aluminum knuckle, causing noise. Not a safety recall although they had a few of those too on different things. at one point there were 8 or 9 bulletins and recalls on them. Kept us shop guys plenty busy!
the way the manufacturer knows of "issues" is by warranty and/or goodwill claims. They sometimes never know about a certain failure because they're being repaired outside of warranty. If they were in warranty, they'd see the number of claims on a particular failure item over a certain period of time and number of claims in that timeframe. Government knows about all this stuff because the maker of the product has to report to them.
I won't disagree with em being subpar, but we also have to understand that they had to pass government emissions testing. IF they were running pig rich to the point where they're always fouling spark plugs and such, they wouldn't have passed testing. That doesn't mean that they aren't having issues later on out in the field, but what are those issues? I'm out of the kubota dealer loop but I'm sure interested in what's going on with these things.
The sidekick was an afterthought in so many ways, which I pointed out a bunch of them the day we got the first one.
Funny thing is you can smell the unburnt fuel in the exhaust of mine all the time, not just when starting cold. I doubt it would pass an emissions test. The mechanic mentioned it could be a bad ecu but Kubota won't approve the almost $2k replacement. Maybe I'll check with the epa to see if they would check it per Kubotas filing if Kubota doesn't fix it.
You can’t really go by that smell like you was Able to on old cars. EFI is completely different in that sense. My car clears epa standards perfectly but smells of unturned fuel out of the tailpipes. Perfectly normal.
not saying yours doesn’t have an issue, just pointing out that smelling the exhaust doesn’t really tell us much anymore, nothing like it used to anyway
there’s a small catalyzer built in the muffler. And a fouled plug can pump raw fuel to it, which can melt the substrate and plug it up.
Well another week gone by and nothing new. Kubota knows there is a problem, dealership knows there is a problem and Kubota doesn't know how to fix it. What a mistake buying a Sidekick and trusting Kubota. Probably would have had better service from some Chinese off brand at half the price.