Bobcat t190 power loss ...new motor , maybe turbo ?

[Tillys26]

Sorry if I don't know a lot about these things , I've read a ton of posts and tried a few things that I'm capable of and still not figuring out my problem... Anyways I have a 2001 bobcat t190 with the Kubota v2003t motor in it , 1,475 hrs and it got hot about 2 years ago and ruined the motor , after saving up and $3,800 for a complete rebuild we finally got it back in and it runs fine , idles fine and hydraulics are fine , but when u try and go up any grade of significance it starts losing power and blowing a little black smoke and I have to pull the levers back some to let it power back up and kinda inch it along , it's like it wants to bog out with the levers full forward, both in reverse and forward ... I have changed the air filters and the fuel filter twice, I have checked the belt tensioner and made sure it's tight, I have pulled the air cleaner and intake to the turbo and spun it and even ran it without the tube on and seen the turbo spinning, I have pulled the exit hose from the turbo and there's no oil .... So what's some more suggestions ? Anyone ran into this problem ? Thanks for any and all input , this things tried all my patience

 

[crewchief888]

Sorry if I don't know a lot about these things , I've read a ton of posts and tried a few things that I'm capable of and still not figuring out my problem... Anyways I have a 2001 bobcat t190 with the Kubota v2003t motor in it , 1,475 hrs and it got hot about 2 years ago and ruined the motor , after saving up and $3,800 for a complete rebuild we finally got it back in and it runs fine , idles fine and hydraulics are fine , but when u try and go up any grade of significance it starts losing power and blowing a little black smoke and I have to pull the levers back some to let it power back up and kinda inch it along , it's like it wants to bog out with the levers full forward, both in reverse and forward ... I have changed the air filters and the fuel filter twice, I have checked the belt tensioner and made sure it's tight, I have pulled the air cleaner and intake to the turbo and spun it and even ran it without the tube on and seen the turbo spinning, I have pulled the exit hose from the turbo and there's no oil .... So what's some more suggestions ? Anyone ran into this problem ? Thanks for any and all input , this things tried all my patience

1st thing that comes to mind is restricted fuel coming from the tank.....
2nd thing is too much fwd travel on the steering levers.
on flat ground, does the machine run faster in fwd than it does in reverse?

:drinkup

 

[old-iron-habit]

Injection timing correct?

 

[Tillys26]

1st thing that comes to mind is restricted fuel coming from the tank.....
2nd thing is too much fwd travel on the steering levers.
on flat ground, does the machine run faster in fwd than it does in reverse?

:drinkup

I lifted the cab up and it doesn't look to hard to get to the fuel plug that goes into the tank, should I pull that out chief ? And I ran it today to see if it's faster in reverse then forward and they seem about the same , maybe a tad bit faster in reverse ...?

 

[Tillys26]

That's a good question , my buddy and I did it (he's a heavy equipment mechanic but he's never done bobcat stuff .... How would I know if it's correct ? Maybe that's why it starts but not nearly as easy as it did before ... Turns over about 10 seconds before firing and smokes what looks like white or grey smoke at first but then clears right up ...

 

[willie59]

Sorry to hear about your trouble Tillys26, and welcome to HEF.

I can't say what your problem is, not near enough info yet for that, but just my humble opinion, a Kubota in a T190 is much like an old two stroke Detroit engine, if you have to crank it for 10 seconds, they's something not right. And again, just my humble opinion, but $3,800 dollars for a complete rebuild? That sure sounds cheap. Who did the overhaul?

 

[Tillys26]

Sorry to hear about your trouble Tillys26, and welcome to HEF.

I can't say what your problem is, not near enough info yet for that, but just my humble opinion, a Kubota in a T190 is much like an old two stroke Detroit engine, if you have to crank it for 10 seconds, they's something not right. And again, just my humble opinion, but $3,800 dollars for a complete rebuild? That sure sounds cheap. Who did the overhaul?[/QUOTE

Thanks Willie, I'm assuming a two stroke Detroit was a easy starting engine ? Lol I raced a lot if motocross and two strokes so they were easy to work on n start I'm
Assuming that's what u meant ... Anyways quality diesel machine shop did the rebuild , 1300 for the Kubota engine kit, 500 to recondition the head (which ended up still being cracked when we put it back in first time.... Then I bought a new one , reconditined the block $600, polish crank cam and rods $300 and strip and assemble long block $1000 .... And there u have it .... First time we got it in before we figured out the head had a hair line crack still it fired right up , but the 2nd time it's taking much longer ... And I don't recall the power missing like before because it was a year ago almost

 

[willie59]

Ok, yes, that's more info for sure, but with the amount of work that's been done it's still going to be tough to pinpoint what the problem is over an internet chat. From what you've stated, fired right off after the initial rebuild and install, then discovered the head was cracked, replaced head with new head, but even with this done, as time went by, took longer to crank and start engine. Curious problem indeed. A very typical problem with Bobcat machines is fuel supply restriction, mentioned previously by crewchief888, but given the timeline of events you describe that doesn't sound like the problem. Fuel restriction typically shows up under hard load, not so much causing having to crank engine for 10 seconds for cold start up. Still not sure what's going on with this one. :beatsme

 

[Delmer]

Did you check the injectors?

 

[Tillys26]

I have not pulled the injectors out yet , I'm trying to see what the general consensus I should do first before tearing stuff apart.... One more thing , when I tried adjusting that main drive belt tensioner I loosened the nut up and pried with a pry bar down but the spring stayed at the 1 postion instead of the 3 like its suppose to , I took the tensioner off and it spins etc fine and I can grip it and turn it where the doing turns to the 3 postion but not with it bolted loosely onto the motor ....? I just made sure the belt was tight.... I'm going to order a new belt as that one looks worn n cracked

 

[willie59]

Just to clarify, when you say the machine is losing power under a hard load (like going up a steep hill), is the engine RPM actually going down like the engine is stalling, or is the engine holding its RPM and instead it's just the machine starts slowing down and losing power to pull the grade?

 

[Tillys26]

Just to clarify, when you say the machine is losing power under a hard load (like going up a steep hill), is the engine RPM actually going down like the engine is stalling, or is the engine holding its RPM and instead it's just the machine starts slowing down and losing power to pull the grade?

Just got out today to look at a few
Things , we checked the glow plugs thinking maybe that's why it was having hard time starting but they checked out ... I also checked and made sure the tensioner on main drive belt is at 3 and it is .... Seems like it must be a fuel
Issue to me since the glow plugs are good .... And I'm not sure if it's the engine stalling out or if it's pulling down the Rpm .... Hard to tell ... I do know that if I pull
The sticks back some that the rpms pick back up and it will
Slowly go up The hill but powers still
Down ... Any ideas what to do next ???

 

[mountainlake]

Most likely not but check both the intake and exhaust for a mouse nest, could happen after sitting a long time. Steve

 

[Tillys26]

Most likely not but check both the intake and exhaust for a mouse nest, could happen after sitting a long time. Steve

I checked both when I was checking to make sure the turbo was ok ...

 

[bobcan]

I have been reading updates, and sorry to hear that you have not found the issue yet _ I just thought I'd ask if you had 'dumped the fuel tank' and started with known/new good fuel _ and are other machines are using the same Diesel supply, and if so, are they all running properly accordingly..??

Hope it gets better there soon!!

 

[Simon C]

Yes as Bobcan stated have you gotten rid of the old fuel. I have seen a generator with a large fuel tank stalling out with 2 year old fuel and it never did it again once we used new fuel. It is worth a try. simon

 

[Tillys26]

Yes as Bobcan stated have you gotten rid of the old fuel. I have seen a generator with a large fuel tank stalling out with 2 year old fuel and it never did it again once we used new fuel. It is worth a try. simon

I will try and drain it tomorrow and see if that changes anything

 

[Simon C]

Just a little test you can do to test for air leaks in the fuel system is to put a rag over the fuel filler and put a air blower pipe into the tank neck 6 inches and have someone put about 1 psi of air into the tank contiuously. The excess air will leak out past the rag so as not to rupture the tank. If there is any air sucking into the fuel system before the fuel pump, it will leak at that spot in no time flat with light pressure pushing from the tank. I have used this trick many a times. Simon

 

[Tillys26]

I checked the elbow and the filter on the fasts I and that all seems to be fine, I will do more checks when I get back in a week , thanks everyone for trying to help out its much appreciated

 

[Tillys26]

I checked the elbow and the filter on the fasts I and that all seems to be fine, I will do more checks when I get back in a week , thanks everyone for trying to help out its much appreciated

Ok still trying to figure out what the problem is , its all brand new fresh diesel , new fuel and air filter, i pulled the fuel line and checked the filter in the gas tank, we have tested the glow plugs and they seem to be fine, next thing we will try is putting the air hose in the fuel filler and see what that does if anyting.... im wondering if the timing is maybe off ??? like i said it starts easier if i pump the fuel bulb up before trying to start, but still takes 5-10 seconds ....and when its warm it starts right back up no problem..... almost like it loses prime over time and thats why i have to pump the bulb. Should i take those injectors out and have them tested ? wouldnt they have tested them when they rebuilt the motor ? Ughhhh so frustrating