lomardini engine Lombardini Engine Worn Out In Less Then Two Years

[Gardenequipment]

21 hours ago, Khriss said:

600 Hrs is  nothing. Definately need to look at either a new filter system or different engine. K

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I agree with you, apparently, the engineers regularly see Lombardini's with 10,000 hours on the clock and still running strong. I believe that the oil bath filter is quite an old-fashioned design and I definitely feel I need to look into a better filter system.

Roy

[Gardenequipment]

19 hours ago, doobin said:

There's definately something wrong with the air intake system somewhere. I'd get an independant report. A machine should stop running (first at high revs) due to lack of air when an air filter cloggs. There has to have been another route in for the dirty air.

 

My money would be upon a bad union in the pipework. If the same company who fitted the new engine are the ones telling you you have to pay for a third, it's likely they discovered the cause of the problem whilst investigating, and fixed the leak to avoid liability for not fitting it correctly 600 hours ago, sorry to say.

 

How long did it take for you to rack up 600 hours?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. It's interesting that I've never had this sort of problem before, I have owned many different machines over the years. There was actually no lack of performance with the engine, just a lot of smoke! When the engine was taken apart you can see dirt in the manifold, so it does appear that the dirt entered in through the air intake. This summer was particularly dry, however, I regularly clean the air filter and in general, the oil doesn't look particularly dirty in the air cleaner.

I have to say that I don't think Lombardini engines are the strongest when I think about an agricultural tractor and the dust they go through, it's far worse than a stump grinder I would have thought? I guess they need lots of care compared to maybe something like a German or US engine.

The machine is two years old, so 600 hours in two years.

Roy

 

[Khriss]

I have a 52 yr old Landrover - with an oil bath air cleaner - yup, still going strong . Challanger tanks in Gulf war II , paper air filters, blocked in 24 hours use. Lombardini deisel are pretty good, maybe not as good as kubota but you should Definately get 3000 to 4000 hours out of it, before overhaul. Is yr oil change up to scratch?  K

[monkeybusiness]

What is Predator’s servicing intervals/schedule for the air filter, and have you followed it? And did they fit the new engines? If so I’d try speaking to them personally. 

[Gardenequipment]

On 19/12/2018 at 10:07, Khriss said:

600 Hrs is  nothing. Definately need to look at either a new filter system or different engine. K

I hear you Khriss, 600 hours is nothing at all, apparently, the engineers tell me that they regularly see Lombardini engines with 10,000 hours plus, which is a huge improvement on 600 hours! I will definitely be checking the filter even more regularly! The problem with changing to a different engine is the fact that the machine fits through narrow areas, so realistically this is the only engine that fits in a practical way.

Enjoy the rest of the Christmas holiday and thank you for commenting. 

[Gardenequipment]

On 19/12/2018 at 13:22, openspaceman said:

The problem with an oil bath filter is that it fails unsafe, once overloaded with dust it allows more through, which is why most modern engines have  paper element filters which gradually block as they become contaminated. Ideally you should place a paper element filter after the oil bath but this of course hinders the air intake somewhat.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question, I do appreciate it.

I probably don't really know enough to comment about air filters, but I know on this particular air filter, there is an oil bath at the bottom, which I regularly clean. And then above the oil bath,  a wire mesh gauze and then above that a foam filter, so in theory, it appears that there are several ways to stop the dust entering the engine, however in my experience, not enough! I will be cleaning daily now, however many hours machine has done as a precaution.

Enjoy the rest of the Christmas holidays

[Gardenequipment]

On 20/12/2018 at 09:06, monkeybusiness said:

What is Predator’s servicing intervals/schedule for the air filter, and have you followed it? And did they fit the new engines? If so I’d try speaking to them personally. 

Predator's service schedule for the air filter is every eight hours and for the oil change, every 200 hours, I have carried out these service schedules on a regular basis. I have to say when I clean the air filter, in general, it never looks particularly dirty. From what I understand, the engineers who supply the Lombardini engine quite often have machines in that are not serviced properly and end up putting a replacement engine in these particular machines. I am aware that many people aren't particularly good maintenance. However, over the past 30 years plus I have owned many different horticulture machines and never actually wore an engine out.

Thank you for taking the time to comment, I do appreciate it. 

[Gardenequipment]

On 19/12/2018 at 14:48, Con said:

I think you have had bad luck. I have a chipper runs on the same engine, and had various dealings with air cooled lombardini in the past. Always found them very reliable. I change the oil bath every 30 hrs. Not sure what the frequency should be, but it always looks like it needs doing.

Would the fact it's a grinder and the engine isn't always level have anything to do with it?

I hear you, I believe Lombardini engines are probably a bit like Briggs & Stratton engines, quite basic and simple and yet run for a long time if they are looked after. The service schedule for the oil bath is every eight hours which is quite frequent, this is why I'm surprised that dirt has got into the engine as I do clean the air filter regularly. Having said this it has been particularly dry this year, so there may be more soil dust which is probably more abrasive than wood dust has caused added wear and tear.

I understand what you're saying about the grinder not always being level, however on a previous Carlton stump grinder the engine operated at quite an angle which apparently it is designed to do.

Enjoy the rest of the Christmas holiday.

[Gardenequipment]

On 20/12/2018 at 09:05, Khriss said:

I have a 52 yr old Landrover - with an oil bath air cleaner - yup, still going strong . Challanger tanks in Gulf war II , paper air filters, blocked in 24 hours use. Lombardini deisel are pretty good, maybe not as good as kubota but you should Definately get 3000 to 4000 hours out of it, before overhaul. Is yr oil change up to scratch?  K

That's interesting Khriss, apparently, the engineers tell me that they regularly see 10,000 hours plus on Lombardini engines, which is good. 

[openspaceman]

5 hours ago, Gardenequipment said:

probably don't really know enough to comment about air filters, but I know on this particular air filter, there is an oil bath at the bottom, which I regularly clean. And then above the oil bath,  a wire mesh gauze and then above that a foam filter, so in theory, it appears that there are several ways to stop the dust entering the engine, however in my experience, not enough!

The wire wool above the oil is part of the oil bath, it works on the principle that any dust bubbles up with the air and is attracted to the side of the bubble which bursts onto the wire, the dust then falls back with the oil and settles  on the bottom. Paper air filters work on the principle that much of the dust cannot get through the pores size of the filter, plus smaller particles impinge on a fibre and get held there by weak atomic forces.

 

Maybe you are jumping to conclusions that it is dust from air that is getting in  and causing the damage. It could be simple overheating.

Edited December 26, 2018 by openspaceman
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