Bobcat 743 rain in exhaust

Longbeards · Feb 13, 2021

Today I picked up a bobcat 743 with a kubota v1702 motor. It was cheap (3k) as a result of someones divorce but had been sitting with a dead battery for about 7 months. It is now Feb and 20 degrees. I put a new battery in and had to put a torch in the intake to get it to fire. It blew lots of water out the exhaust and the breather tube steamed like mad dripping water. I let it run thinking it was just a little and would steam off. Used it a bit to test it out and loaded it and brought it home. It didn't seam to have any water in the oil, just exhaust and out the breather. I don't have an enclosed area to work on it or store it. I'm afraid to cause damage by starting and afraid of water freezing in there. We have forecast snow every other day and and overnights in teens for next week or so.. What's my best course of action? How do I get water out safely? I did just buy a torpedo heater to try.

jd man wis · Feb 13, 2021

I'm think that if it had any damage that
you would of had some motor trouble right
away. You might have got lucky and I
would run it and check the coolent and
oil for any in each other just to be
sure. If it bent a valve or something it
would of mist and run bad.

Longbeards · Feb 13, 2021

When I ran it there it ran good once warmed up. When I got it home (1.5 hour ride in 20 degrees). I tried to start it to unload and it ran but quit after 30 seconds. Did same 3 times so I stopped afraid to break something. I'm going to at a minimum heat it up good with the torpedo and change the oil and coolant. Just wastnt sure if I dare run it then to steam off any water in there or take off exhaust manifold and blow a heat gun in or something? Water in there at these Temps makes me nervous.

tractorsam · Feb 13, 2021

I would change the oil, don’t forget the fuel filters. If it’s been
parked since last summer it may have summer fuel in it and it
may have quit after you got home because the fuel gelled. I
would put some treatment in it, warm it up with the torpedo
heater, fill it with fresh fuel and run it.

David G · Feb 13, 2021

I would bet the fuel is gelled, no harm from water.

mtf · Feb 13, 2021

Not sure about the 43's but the 53 series has a small filter on
the intake hose in the tank that is very easy to clog with dirt
or ice. Could be canister filter. While it is running see if it
sucks the primer bulb and collapses it. If so then the filter
in the tank is clogged.

Put a jar or can over the exhaust pipe.

Longbeards · Feb 13, 2021

Yeah, I didn't try adding any winter additive and didn't even think about the fuel gelling up for some reason. Too worried about the water I guess. I'll do that and fill it up with treated fresh fuel. It's pretty close to empty so a full tank should do it some good. I'll change all filters etc. Thanks for giving me some confidence. Sometimes you don't know true condition of things until you get them home to use them. Couldn't beat the price when they go from 10-11k here with twice the hours. Even a rebuild is worth it.

Longbeards · Feb 13, 2021

There's no bulb on this one. It was replaced with an electronic pump. But it seems to flow from the tank ok. We had to purge the air because the clamps were loose and the line was empty from the pump to the injectors. It seemed to flow up ok though. I dislike in-tank filters, I will look though, thanks for that tip.

wingnuttx · Feb 13, 2021

Surely you have a relative or friend or friend of a friend that you could store in a garage or cow/horse barn or work shop. I mean at least until the worst
of the bad weather is over and you keep it in a place above frezing temps. Now....wasn't an easy one? Wingnut

jm. · Feb 13, 2021

The breather tube blowing water/steam is either one of two things. Cracked head or water has wen
down the exhaust into the engine. Hope it was the latter. The sooner you can get it in the warm the
better off you are going to be.

Longbeards · Feb 13, 2021

I'm from out of the area so it will have to sit outside.

Longbeards · Feb 13, 2021

I guess that's my fear with how much was coming out the tube but it didn't have any color or smell like antifreeze so I'm hopeful just rain and snow water. When it finally fired off it blew a lot of water out the exhaust and the exhaust looked like a nuclear cooling tower. That died down to almost nothing but the breather then started spewing the stream with a steady drip. When I got it home that breather had frozen up (I'm assuming) and nothing came out when it fired but I didn't push it either.

Longbeards · Feb 15, 2021

I got a combustion tester and turns out I've got a gasket leak or cracked head possibly due to ice or the wife not knowing why he parked it... now for a rebuild or swap. The place in Ohio I hoping to buy from no longer retrofits the v2203 for the v1702 swap so now I'm searching. Would love to upgrade for better starts etc but not sure where to look now for a drop in fit at a reasonable cost. (under 3.5k). I'm in PA.

Bobcat 743 rain in exhaust

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