Kubota 35hp v1505 sump plug!?

[Daythe trees]

Hi all, just changed the oil on my new tr6. Like a good boy I read the manual thoroughly, bought an oil filter and a high quality oil of a grade stated in the manual. When I took out the sump plug their wasn't a washer on it, does any one know if it should have one? Because it now has an oil leak and the sump plug is not cross threaded and is in firmly.

 

I did sieve the oil when I poured it into the waste oil can and I hadn't dropped it in their, checked the area as the oil drained I hadn't dropped and it wasn't still seated on the sump. So there wasn't one in the first place and I'm not tightening that plug anymore because I am yorkshires champion thread stripper!

 

I know the solution just drop the oil soon and put a copper crush washer in there, just intrigued whether others with the same engine have washers on the sump plug.

 

Cheers

[Mick Dempsey]

Funny you mention this.

I have a couple of these engines, one in a TW and one in an ST8.

Now I'm sure I used to get a copper washer with the TW oil filter up to a few years ago.

Then they stopped....I think!

The Forst didn't have one...I think! but neither leak.

Take out the plug, save the oil, clean it up, and the thread in the sump and try again.

I am a thread stripper of some repute, so I understand your angst.

[Daythe trees]

Cheers Mick, I'm clearly just being paranoid about that thread given my ability to trash threads! Maybe there is a competition we could enter or start for pro thread strippers like ourselves? Kind of like the bad mechanics wooden spoon comp?

 

I think you're right drop it, pop washer on and re-fill. Bizarre that they don't fit as standard as the plug is marked with those little angled machine marks clearly intended to bite into a copper washer. Tight bloody manufacturers! What do they cost in bulk 10p each?

[wrsni]

Some possible scenarios all of which I've seen at some time.

 

Firstly, the washer clings on to the bottom of the sump for a while but falls off after the drain container is removed. No washer on plug or bottom of the sump to be seen!

 

Secondly, the washer can occasionally stay stuck to the bottom of the sump the whole time. This is the least common but it can happen.

 

Third, and most common. the washer comes off with the sump plug but is so tightly compressed that you think it's just the flange of the bolt. I probably remove more drain bolts some months than most people remove in their lifetime and I still frequently have to take the drain bolt, put it in a vice and work at it with a sharp flat blade screwdriver to ascertain whether it has a washer on it or just the flange of the bolt itself. Bear in mind also that copper washers are seldom used by manufacturers on sump plugs, they use aluminium, so if you were looking for copper you're unlikely to have found it.

 

So you may have lost the washer, or very possibly it's still there and your leak is just due to under-tightening due to concern about thread stripping. They do need to be pretty tight in some cases to prevent leaks.

[Daythe trees]

Thanks wrsni, that's some solid advice. So that's Tuesday evening sorted, oil change take two!

[pycoed]

Use a Dowty seal instead of a copper or ally washer if you are worried about your wristwork (ooohh err matron!). If you haven't seen these, they are also called bonded seals - they are aluminium with a neoprene/viton face bonded to the ally & will seal a sump plug with just a nip up. Great if the sump plug WAS previously stripped & you've re-made the same thread.

[wrsni]

Use a Dowty seal instead of a copper or ally washer if you are worried about your wristwork (ooohh err matron!). If you haven't seen these, they are also called bonded seals - they are aluminium with a neoprene/viton face bonded to the ally & will seal a sump plug with just a nip up. Great if the sump plug WAS previously stripped & you've re-made the same thread.

 

Even better product on the market now which also has a seal on the threads of the plug which expands on contact with oil and seals the hole that way. Claimed to work as long as there are enough threads in the hole to physically hold the plug in, but no tightening required to stop leaks. Can also be used as a replacement bung for people who worry about destroying threads.

 

Can't remember the name of the product even though I have them in the shop!