Hi Friends, I am new to the site and wanted to kind of introduce myself. I know that similar sites have an introduction page for this kind of stuff but I don't see that on here. So if I am missing it don't be too hard on me while I am trying to learn to navigate the site. I started my Bobcat/Skid Steer adventure a couple of years ago when I bought a Bobcat 630 ( the older 630 not the S630) which had been on fire and burned the wiring harness. I purchased it knowing about the burned wiring harness but I was up for the challenge, (sometimes I am not as smart as I think that I am, and I may be too slow to realize it ). Well it would turn out that the wiring on the old machine would not be too bad to fix but it consumed a lot of time. However the hole in the engine block (that I didn't know about when I purchased it), (that caused the fire) was even more time consuming and a lot more expensive ! But I finally got it all put back together and running. The hydraulics were all good (except for the 21 hoses that I had to replace ). So lets just say that this was a LOOOOONG labor of love, much longer than I had expected. But once I finally accomplished that it worked pretty good for the year and a half after the project was completed other than a muffler issue and repacking the cylinders, but that is normal stuff that happens to all heavy equipment. So with all of that being said I think that I have been baptized by fire in getting my first Bobcat running, and maybe I didn't make the best choice when I purchased it. So with all of that behind me I assume that you all would understand that I have some mechanical experience and abilities, and that it is just my thought process that is a little flawed, not my abilities . Anyway two weeks ago I found a Bobcat s185 (much newer, bigger and stronger than my old 630) with a locked up engine. The person selling it told me that they last ran it about a year ago, the parked it and didn't try to start it for about a year, and when they went back to it that the engine was stuck. (Which from all evidence that I have found I believe his story to be true). So to date on the s185 I have removed the engine, found the cause of the lockup was a stuck piston in the number 4 cylinder that had not been firing when it was parked, thus the cylinder had moisture in it from condensation and heat differential which caused corrosion which in turn caused the stuck piston. When I disconnected the rod to the stuck piston I could turn the engine by hand. Oh what a relief !!!! I had to drive out the piston with a coal chisel and a two pound hammer, I never thought that one little piston could be stuck that tight. NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS!! The cylinder wall is in pretty good shape needed some extra honing, the new parts are ordered and the head is in the machine shop but they said that it looked good and I should have it back tomorrow. I am hoping that the cause of it not firing was a bad injector but I haven't had that checked out yet but to this point everything is looking good. MUCH better that things did with the 630 when I got in to it. I may need some electronic when I get it back together because that is my weak point. (Other than my thought process ). I hope that you enjoyed my intro. Thanks All! B-Crazy
Well I did leave out the word Hope in the title. Is what it is now. B-Crazy
It's all good. I misspelled my own name in my work thread! The mind fills in the gaps. Welcome aboard.
Thanks Junkyard, I forgot to say that I sold my old 630 today. The 2nd person that came to look at it bought it, so I guess I can close out that chapter that started out so bad but ended pretty good.
Welcome bobcat
Welcome:: I might be a bit of help on the electronics
Welcome bobcat Crazy! One minor thing about your post, when you have a long post like that try breaking it up into paragraphs, makes for easier reading. Now I'm no grammar or writing expert just makes it read better. By the way what kind of engine does the S185 have in it? I'm guessing it does not have sleeves?
Just as an idea you may want to go ahead and throw some new rod and main bearings in the engine while you have it apart. If you're doing a head job there will be more compression and more force on the bottom end which worn bearings may not be able to handle. Sounds like you got a good deal with this machine.
Thanks for the welcome
That would be great, and I would much appreciate it. I am hoping to get to that point within a couple of weeks.
I understand about breaking up the long post, advice appreciated. I thought that it would be a simple intro post but it got longer and longer, sorry if it was a little hard to read. The engine is the Kubota V2003-M-DI-T and you are correct it does not have sleeves. Much to my disappointment.
That is good advice, I have already ordered them. The old ones look great but just as you are saying I didn't want to chance it with the new head work. Thanks
Update on the head from the machine shop. It checked out good and they have it ready to go. They will open back up on the 1/2/2018 so I will get it back then. The Bobcat place says the parts will be in on Wednesday or Thursday, (Wow our local Bobcat place is proud of their parts sticker shock), so hopefully I can start the reassembly next week. HAPPY NEW YEAR All!!!! I will see you in 2018.
I know how that goes, start to write a short reply and one thought leads to another and away you go1 Does this Kubota have glow plugs? I worked on one in the Bobcat where I worked, but that was a non-turbo pre-chamber engine and that thing needed the glow plugs even on a warm day if it had not been run within a few hours. Just had to go look. That was a V1702-B. It had a cracked head and I ended up getting a new head and having the block bored and over sized pistons fitted. Also replaced the rod in the cylinder where the crack was as I was worried about it being tweaked from hydro-static lock. See what I mean about starting with a short answer and getting carried away? I'll stop now!
Yes it does happen pretty easy. And yes it does have GPs. Thankfully the head on mine was not cracked. The engine looks brand new inside, everything is clean, no deposits of any kind other than a very small amount of carbon on the head in the 3 firing cylinders. More gunk on the head in the non-firing cylinder. Original paint on all of the engine fasteners so I think the seller was truthful about the machine. The guy at the Bobcat place told me that this could not be the original engine because he said, the S185 came only with the bigger 2203 engine and not the 2003 engine that I have. A quick web search proved that he didn't know what he was talking about, so I felt better about what the seller me after I found out that the Bobcat parts guy was giving me bad info.