raymond donovan
Member
I have a Tb135 with About 4000 hours, a yanmar 3 cylinder diesel. About three years ago it started dripping oil from the valve cover vent hose. I was told the rings were bad by the dealership. Rather than spend $7000 at said dealership, A “friend”of mine suggested I take it to the local tech college and let the diesel mechanic class go through the engine. Since all of the students but one had projects going and it was nearing the end of the semester, the instructor called over the kid sitting in the corner playing games on his phone that nobody seem to want to talk to. He put him in charge of my engine rebuild. The way this works is you buy parts, shop rags oil etc. They do the labor for free. The day before The end of the semester I got a call from “jimmy” Telling me my excavator was all finished ready to be picked up. When I arrived at the shop, my hoe was sitting outside and no one was to be found. Much oil had leaked onto the parking lot from my machine. I figured I’d go ahead and load it, Cut my losses. unfortunately when I got on the machine none of the hydraulics worked. There was oil leaking from at least four different spots. I tracked “Jimmy” down. He told me I had a bad joystick controller, that I needed a new one in order to make the hydraulics work. Since the semester was over, I’d have to fix that part on my own. I knew for a fact this was definitely a bad sign. New joystick controller, $150. No that didn’t fix the problem LOL unfortunately Jimmy was done with the semester and his phone apparently disconnected The instructor at the tech college told me that my Takeuchi was not like anything he’s ever seen before, never worked on such a machine. Too complicated like the rest of those “jap machines”. He told me there’s nothing he can do at that point. He told me he signed off on everything, it all looked good to him. So I end up taking it to the local dealership, paid them $2000 to make my hydraulics work. Seems Jimmy had some hoses switched around at the valve bank. Must’ve been the last thing they checked?? I’m going to make this short. Since I got it back from the tech college I found.
The crank pulley dowel pin was not lined up, he bolted the crank pulley on and the crank pulley wobbled until it took the seal out, one of the many oil leaks I found. The muffler fell off shortly after I got home, he forgot to tighten bolts... the travel pedals were in a grocery bag tied to the armrest. Somehow the bolts on both sides were broken off. The hydraulic safety lever next to the armrest was hot wired for some reason?? The hood wouldn’t close, hinges bent. The engine still dripped oil out of The valve cover vent hose. Update on that oil leak, now it’s a constant drip. Like a really bad oil leak. I will be taking my machine in to have it rebuilt a second time in two years. If I could find jimmy or that shop teacher, I would ring both of their necks. I paid $2000 in parts and a $50 Shop fee. I paid the dealership $2000 to track down the problem with no hydraulics, another $750 for a Fuel shut off solenoid that apparently went out while it was parked outside the shop at the dealership. Tomorrow I’m taking it to a different shop to have the engine rebuilt a second time in three years. + $3500
The crank pulley dowel pin was not lined up, he bolted the crank pulley on and the crank pulley wobbled until it took the seal out, one of the many oil leaks I found. The muffler fell off shortly after I got home, he forgot to tighten bolts... the travel pedals were in a grocery bag tied to the armrest. Somehow the bolts on both sides were broken off. The hydraulic safety lever next to the armrest was hot wired for some reason?? The hood wouldn’t close, hinges bent. The engine still dripped oil out of The valve cover vent hose. Update on that oil leak, now it’s a constant drip. Like a really bad oil leak. I will be taking my machine in to have it rebuilt a second time in two years. If I could find jimmy or that shop teacher, I would ring both of their necks. I paid $2000 in parts and a $50 Shop fee. I paid the dealership $2000 to track down the problem with no hydraulics, another $750 for a Fuel shut off solenoid that apparently went out while it was parked outside the shop at the dealership. Tomorrow I’m taking it to a different shop to have the engine rebuilt a second time in three years. + $3500