L3901 HST 4WD making a rattling/roaring noise

D2Cat

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Be honest in dealing with them and if you're doubting or not understanding anything they say, ask again. For anything that may cost you out of pocket insist they call you before any work is started. Might repeat that, and get it in writing.
 

Fido Farms

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May 27, 2018
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Does the noise go away after you engage the PTO And run it?
 

Bulldog

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Mar 30, 2010
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Before you get to worried look it over for something loose. For example my L3000 about drove me crazy with a rattle that sounded just like it was in the clutch area. Worked perfect and the dealer said to keep working it and they would come get it when they got a open spot in the shop. This dealer sucked by the way. Long story short I took the loader off and noticed the noise went away. When I put the loaded back on the noise was back. Mine has rear support legs that hang on the left inside rail of the loader. Wrapped a bungee cord around them problem solved.

My M9000 has a rattle to this day at times coming from the rearend. It's the drawbar. You can't see it move but when a implement is hooked up or put your foot on it the sound is gone.
 

SidecarFlip

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Before you get to worried look it over for something loose. For example my L3000 about drove me crazy with a rattle that sounded just like it was in the clutch area. Worked perfect and the dealer said to keep working it and they would come get it when they got a open spot in the shop. This dealer sucked by the way. Long story short I took the loader off and noticed the noise went away. When I put the loaded back on the noise was back. Mine has rear support legs that hang on the left inside rail of the loader. Wrapped a bungee cord around them problem solved.

My M9000 has a rattle to this day at times coming from the rearend. It's the drawbar. You can't see it move but when a implement is hooked up or put your foot on it the sound is gone.
Mine did that too, until I slipped a fender washer between the drawbar and the mounting plates. Just enough room to slide a washer in there.
 

lugbolt

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I couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary in the video posted. That said, a lot of times the videos don't pick up sounds quite right.

Does the sound/rattle/roar go away if you increase the RPM to above 1200 RPM?
 

jt040900

Member

Equipment
L3901 4 WD
Feb 10, 2020
34
1
8
Bishopville
The noise is still there after replacing filters engaging PTO moving rpms up o ly time it goes away is when I press the clutch in. I will take a pic of metal fragment that was sticking out of filter and post later today. Thanks for your replies.
 

SidecarFlip

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Could be anything from a left over machining chip to something that got dropped in the case during assembly. They (Kubota) don't assemble the tractors in a clean room enviroment. They are assembled in a factory, on a production line.

I'd say if it operates fine, next time you do a filter change, cut open the filter and inspect it (and hang on to the piece of metal just in case).

I'd be doing another filter change in about 10 hours of actual use. Filters are cheap, even Kubota branded filters.
 

jt040900

Member

Equipment
L3901 4 WD
Feb 10, 2020
34
1
8
Bishopville
This is pic is deceiving, it was almost 2 inches long. I am still hearing the noise coming from the area where the HST dip stick area is so plan on calling the dealer Monday. Thanks for the advice.
 

jt040900

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Equipment
L3901 4 WD
Feb 10, 2020
34
1
8
Bishopville
Shop called me yesterday and said they think its the release bearing in the clutch. They will have to separate tractor to see for sure. After sending the tech a picture of the piece of metal i pulled from hST filter he said it could be transmission related or not... but time will tell will update when i have the actual result.
 

whitetiger

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You have stated that the noise goes away when you depress the clutch pedal and now your dealer is telling you they think the problem is with the clutch release bearing? The release or throw out bearing only spins with the pedal depressed. When the pedal is not being pushed, the bearing is not turning and has very little potential to make any kind of noise.

A failed release bearing only makes noise when the clutch pedal is depressed enough for the bearing to contact the fingers in the pressure plate and start it spinning.
 

jt040900

Member

Equipment
L3901 4 WD
Feb 10, 2020
34
1
8
Bishopville
Shop called yesterday says the clutch release bearing was fine but the clutch release plate is bad. Estimate is $1500 could be more or less plus delivery charges. They explained that when the tractor sits some time that the clutch plate doesn't get enough lubrication and causes friction. I am not really 100% following this he also said there is a lever that should be activated when parking the tractor in the shed that locks the clutch pedal in the pressed down position.
They also say this is not covered by the drive train warranty since my tractor is over 2 years old. The tractor is actually 2.5 years old now with 157 hours on it. The service guy was really nice and helpful. I plan to call the shop manager or general manager to voice my displeasure.
The only other thing is the metal I found in my HST filter looks like the outer ring of a bearing housing. I am definitely no expert but this just doesn't seem right.
 

D2Cat

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In post #33 Whitetiger explained how the diagnoses of throw out bearing being wore out did not make sense because of your description of when the noise occurred.

So my guess is, the shop though (mis-diagonosed) the problem and then separated the tractor to discover the throw out bearing is fine. To cover their mistake and labor cost they have to find something to blame. You got it. A bad clutch disc. By the way, a clutch disc is a $100 item....well dealer may be $300.

Yes it is advised when parking a clutched machine for an extended time to use a block to push the clutch peddle down so the clutch disc is not up against the pressure plate and possible seized together by oxidation.

You still have the unknown of where did the metal parts come from.

I'm not familiar with the lubrication the clutch disc ever gets. It simply slides on the splined shaft and rubs against the pressure plate. When a clutch disc does get attached to the pressure plate because of this oxidation and time, most often it can be removed without separating the tractor.
 
Last edited:

North Idaho Wolfman

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Shop called yesterday says the clutch release bearing was fine but the clutch release plate is bad. Estimate is $1500 could be more or less plus delivery charges. They explained that when the tractor sits some time that the clutch plate doesn't get enough lubrication and causes friction. I am not really 100% following this he also said there is a lever that should be activated when parking the tractor in the shed that locks the clutch pedal in the pressed down position.
They also say this is not covered by the drive train warranty since my tractor is over 2 years old. The tractor is actually 2.5 years old now with 157 hours on it. The service guy was really nice and helpful. I plan to call the shop manager or general manager to voice my displeasure.
The only other thing is the metal I found in my HST filter looks like the outer ring of a bearing housing. I am definitely no expert but this just doesn't seem right.
Sorry, but I'm going to say your dealer is shooting you a line of BS just to make money.
It's a dry clutch there is no lubrication. :rolleyes:

The only reason to block the clutch pedal down in to keep the DRY clutch disk from rust setting to the flywheel, newer tractors are nowhere near as susceptible to that as the older tractors were.
They also didn't normally stick to the pressure plate they stuck to the flywheel.

The only reason you should have to replace the clutch disk or the pressure plate is if it was physically damaged (should be warranty), worn out (not warranty), heat warped (non warranty) or severely rusted, (borderline warranty or not), as the underlying cause is either the case was not properly sealed from the factory or the drain wasn't working properly.

None of that explains it making noise when you have your foot off the pedal, all of those would make noise when your foot is on the pedal!
 

jt040900

Member

Equipment
L3901 4 WD
Feb 10, 2020
34
1
8
Bishopville
Thanks for all the info. I would be lost without you guys knowledge base. Moving forward should I confront the shop manager with this info? After the shop is finished with tractor in theory I should still have the noise since the clutch plate wouldn't make that noise with the clutch pedal not pressed down?
 

North Idaho Wolfman

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Thanks for all the info. I would be lost without you guys knowledge base. Moving forward should I confront the shop manager with this info? After the shop is finished with tractor in theory I should still have the noise since the clutch plate wouldn't make that noise with the clutch pedal not pressed down?
How good are you at confrontation?

Me not so much...I just lose it when people try to pull something stupid on me.

very least, I would want to see the parts in person to see the damage, if nothing then call them out on it, if it looks like they might be onto something, get the repairs done and then if the noise is still present hammer them on their unneeded parts replacements!

One note: It's not uncommon for brand new parts to mask the original problem, only to have it return after a short amount of break in time.
 

jt040900

Member

Equipment
L3901 4 WD
Feb 10, 2020
34
1
8
Bishopville
Thanks for the advice. I did call the tech at the shop and talked to him to make sure I completely understood. He explained to me the the clutch disk was sticking to flywheel. I then asked him to transfer me to general manager. He says first thing your warranty is out of date. I said i was reading and it should not be he asked his brother (part owner) and he says yeah they made a change a while back on the drive train warranty. But couldn't confirm if mine was in that change. He says he will call me back with the info.
My question? where can I find an updated warranty info on a 2017 L3901HST 4 WD. When i go to the Kubota site it only shows a 2year warranty and a limited powertrain warranty no year amount.
 

GeoHorn

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IF/WHEN one feels disadvantaged during a confrontation, I’ve found it helpful to put my position down in WRITING and sleep on it. Then re-read my accounting of events.

I once had a controversy with a local aircraft repair shop that had damaged my airplane and then created a “cover story” as to how the damage occurred.
I wrote down a re-counting of the events timeline and wrote my point of view and my suggested solution to the disagreement. After sleeping on it and re-reading it the next day (and correcting my typo’s) I faxed it to them.

A week later I received a check from them in the amount of my suggested solution along with a comment “We understand why you will not be bringing your airplane back for future repairs.”

That worked perfectly for me, the only remaining issue was my loss of time during the disagreement. I did not purchase anything in any way from them for 10 years.

Now, 20 years later, we have a good working relationship again and they behave as if nothing untoward had ever occurred.

Works for me.