Diesel Not Running Right - Was it Sabotaged by Employee??

RTR

Well-known Member
Having some problems out of the Kubota Zero Turn Mowers at work. I work for the State DOT and for some reason, BOTH diesel mowers are having the same problems. From the sound of it and aixnnethe both have the same problem I am thinking the employees are sabotaging them to get out of having to work. I can imagine what would cause them to run poorly like this. What do you all think it could be ?? Do you think they are pouring gasoline into the diesel tank ? Would it make it run rough like this? Video at link below.

https://youtu.be/JxNslii7TA8
 
(quoted from post at 01:22:33 07/12/18) first thing i would think of, is bad diesel fuel.

Bad meaning Diesel with water in it ? Or diesel and gas mixed ?
 
drain the fuel and put in fresh, should eliminate the fuel problem. If it does not may be your barking up the wrong tree. gobble
 
Pull the fuel filters on the mowers to see what is inside them. Check the fuel storage tank for water/contamination problems and re-check the identification labeling on the tanks. More likely an error than intentional sabotage.
 
(quoted from post at 01:53:59 07/12/18) Pull the fuel filters on the mowers to see what is inside them. Check the fuel storage tank for water/contamination problems and re-check the identification labeling on the tanks. More likely an error than intentional sabotage.

How would I check them ? Is there a test to see what it actually is in there?
 
(quoted from post at 16:04:46 07/11/18)
(quoted from post at 01:53:59 07/12/18) Pull the fuel filters on the mowers to see what is inside them. Check the fuel storage tank for water/contamination problems and re-check the identification labeling on the tanks. More likely an error than intentional sabotage.

How would I check them ? Is there a test to see what it actually is in there?

If you run some into another container you may be able to inspect it more thoroughly and see what you have.
 
contaminated fuel or just poor maintenance. Diesels require clean filters, both air and fuel. I'd change out the filters unless recently done as well as drain the fuel and refill.
 
I got a poor batch of fuel last year and it meant changing filters until it was gone. If the supplier is drawing off of the bottom of the storage tank at the depot then there
is a good chance of crud in the fuel. Some systems/filters are more sensitive to dirty fuel than others. I agree with those saying change filters and put different fuel in
then see what happens.
 
Change BOTH (Like tow on each unit) fuel and replace with clean fuel then add some fuel treatment. Sounds more like stopped up fuel filter to me. Note those filters can look perfect but be water logged and still not pass proper amounts of fuel .
 
(quoted from post at 03:00:14 07/12/18) Change BOTH (Like tow on each unit) fuel and replace with clean fuel then add some fuel treatment. Sounds more like stopped up fuel filter to me. Note those filters can look perfect but be water logged and still not pass proper amounts of fuel .

10-4. Thanks guys. The Kubota place services all our stuff and recently replaced the injectors. They should have replaced filters but they didn't. Our shop is starting there and see what happens. Thank you.
 
Sorry, I just have to ask, Just what kind of outfit is this that your first thought would be employee sabotage. I've worked for a couple of guys like that, first time their un maintained band aided equipment broke they started pointing fingers.
 
Start by draining fuel and replace with known good Diesel fuel. You can get bad Diesel fuel either by sabotage, or mistake, or bad from the supplier.
What happens to a Diesel engine when there is gasoline mixed in with the Diesel? In my 1981 VW Diesel car (a long time ago), the engine would run but would not develop enough power (probably due to detonation)to get the car up to speed. Did not seem to cause any damage and went back to normal once the tank had good fuel in it.
Putting gasoline in a modern Diesel engine can cause serious (and expensive) damage to the fuel injection system.
Maybe call your Kubota supplier and ask what they recommend.
 
(quoted from post at 03:21:36 07/12/18) Sorry, I just have to ask, Just what kind of outfit is this that your first thought would be employee sabotage. I've worked for a couple of guys like that, first time their un maintained band aided equipment broke they started pointing fingers.

The interstate rest area is managed by the department of transportations roadway maintenance office. The people that work there are $10/hr. Employees off the street that cut grass and clean bathrooms. There is a supervisor onsite but we don't know what they are doing and have reason to believe it could be Sabotoge so they don't have to do the job. We would have to prove that of course. You're just dealing with a different type of people and anything is possible.
 
ss55 had a good point. Where does the fuel come from that goes into the mower? If a storage tank, does the storage tank have a filter and some form of water separation? The bottom of those tanks are contaminated with dirt and water.


I friend bought a JD 4055 at an auction. Good intentioned people dumped everything they could from the on-site storage tank into the tractor. Well, the filters plugged quickly.


Paul
 
So RTR ..... if they are sabotaging the equipment so they can't do the job, then it only makes sense that they lose their job if there is nothing to do. So why
not just quit and move on down the road? Doesn't make much sense no matter which way you look at it. Sometimes being too suspicious ends up being a bit of a
witch hunt. I think most of the replies regarding fuel contamination elsewhere should have you pointed in the right direction.
 
Pitch, I get it. And you are right, anything goes wrong, blame it on the government or their staff. But when you need help or support, you know who's always first in line for a government handout? The guy who complains about the government. Human nature they call it.
 
(quoted from post at 19:40:33 07/11/18) So RTR ..... if they are sabotaging the equipment so they can't do the job, then it only makes sense that they lose their job if there is nothing to do. So why not just quit and move on down the road? Doesn't make much sense no matter which way you look at it.

Get real, if it is a government contractor job. They are likely actually paid by a day slave trader (like Manpower).
No doubt the contract says they get paid for the day or until the equipment is up and running again. Or until the Super informs the slave trader that they will not be needing the workers the next day.
So if the worker does not like the job, they won't complain to the slave trader. They will make it so (laziness, stupidity, etc.) that the current Super tells the slave trader to send different people.
 
I get what you are saying as we have a lot of minimum wage and not very ambitious people in our plant. While they have lots of issues in life we haven't had a sabotage incident and ours is a food facility.
What I'm saying anything is possible in todays world but if it were me I would look at the fuel storage first like the other guys are saying.
 
(quoted from post at 03:21:36 07/12/18) Sorry, I just have to ask, Just what kind of outfit is this that your first thought would be employee sabotage. I've worked for a couple of guys like that, first time their un maintained band aided equipment broke they started pointing fingers.

The interstate rest area is managed by the department of transportations roadway maintenance office. The people that work there are $10/hr. Employees off the street that cut grass and clean bathrooms. There is a supervisor onsite but we don't know what they are doing and have reason to believe it could be Sabotoge so they don't have to do the job. We would have to prove that of course. You're just dealing with a different type of people and anything is possible.
 
(quoted from post at 17:09:19 07/11/18)
(quoted from post at 19:40:33 07/11/18) So RTR ..... if they are sabotaging the equipment so they can't do the job, then it only makes sense that they lose their job if there is nothing to do. So why not just quit and move on down the road? Doesn't make much sense no matter which way you look at it.

Get real, if it is a government contractor job. They are likely actually paid by a day slave trader (like Manpower).
No doubt the contract says they get paid for the day or until the equipment is up and running again. Or until the Super informs the slave trader that they will not be needing the workers the next day.
So if the worker does not like the job, they won't complain to the slave trader. They will make it so (laziness, stupidity, etc.) that the current Super tells the slave trader to send different people.

Well, Double07, your statement indicates a lot of imagination to get there from what the OP has told us.
 
Before I retired from the Army I held the average American worker in high regard. After I retired and I entered the work force I was quickly debased of that notion. Several different places I worked at employees in general were lazy and determined to do as little as possible. Some of these people were in their 50's and 60's in the mid to late 90's. So not just young people. One place I worked at a machine operator was caught sabotaging equipment because if his machine was down he got to sit and do nothing while being paid until it was up and running. The big reason he got caught was because he got to the point of doing it daily.

Rick
 
If they are new diesel machines, the anti pollution units are clogging up because they are not being worked hard enough to activate the DEV? system. A good friend of mine, a Kubota dealer sold 6 front control compact tractors with cabs to a federal government agency to mow the grounds and take care of snow removal in the winter. Kubota took all 6 units back, and replaced the diesels with gas powered units because they never worked them hard enough to activate the pollution system.
Loren
 
I think you are giving them to much credit or brains if you think its gas in the diesel open the cap and smell you will clearly smell gas in the tank over the diesel
 
Slave trader is a new term I had never heard before for contract labor suppliers, we used to call them pimps (they collected 40 percent over the workers pay).
 
Agree, grab the roll bar and shake it hard then remove the fuel cap, if there's gas in it the fumes should hit you quick. Quit trying to crank and or run them until you know. Sure sounds like a gas knock to me in the video
 
From the job description I would have broken all of the mops
and toilet brushes before I would have thought about touching
the mowers. Sounds like mowing was the brightest part of the
job
 
Actually I worked with a few people like that. They have to get a job and keep it for so long just to pretend they are trying. Otherwise they'll lose their welfare. It's sad but true and they fully admit it and thought it was funny. We had one that would run in front of power equipment at the last minute to get run over on purpose. He was trying to get on disability.
 
(quoted from post at 05:01:22 07/12/18) Actually I worked with a few people like that. They have to get a job and keep it for so long just to pretend they are trying. Otherwise they'll lose their welfare. It's sad but true and they fully admit it and thought it was funny. We had one that would run in front of power equipment at the last minute to get run over on purpose. He was trying to get on disability.

LOL we caught a guy in the Army doing that. Trying to injure himself enough to get medical retirement.

Rick
 

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