ZD331 Exhaust Manifold

[stil190]

Finished mowing last night. Went to blow off my mower before putting it away. I notice some arcing under the hood. So quickly put the mower in the shop and realize that the exhaust manifold had broken. All 3 ports. Muffler was down on the top of the starter. Went thru the rubber boot and was arcing from the starter wire.

Went to my dealer, realize there is a Kubota kit that replaces manifold and muffler with new parts that add a bracket to support the weight of the muffler. $346. ouch.

My question, has others seen this issue? Second, bracket appears to mount on a head bolt. Would require removing an existing bolt and replacing with a bolt with extra threads above the head to attach the bracket. I am worried about replacing a head bolt and messing up the integrity of the head fastening.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[rentthis]

Considering Kubota offers an updated kit tells me that this is a "known issue". You are well within your rights to insist that Kubota repair your machine. I know that I buy much more Kubota equipment than most but my dealer would have suggested that without my asking. I'm not saying Kubota would have paid but that my dealer would have gone to the mats to get it done.

 

[1970cs]

I have only seen BX and RTV muffler failures. I don't recall anything on ZD series, especially the manifold.

Pat

 

[jmz]

This just happened to me . Well my wife uses the mower and it happened on her watch. LOL
I have all the parts to fix it but I to am wondering about pulling the two head bolts .

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

This just happened to me . Well my wife uses the mower and it happened on her watch. LOL
I have all the parts to fix it but I to am wondering about pulling the two head bolts .

You should be fine pulling them and putting them right back in!

 

[jmz]

You should be fine pulling them and putting them right back in!

I noticed on the parts diagram that the two head bolts that hold the bracket are different than the rest. I feel better replacing one at a time . A buddy of mine suggested checking the e torque on all the head bolts at this time . My mower has a little over 2k hours on it.