I have a universal 5511 diesel engine with a bad head

[greg17887]

Hi all. I have a universal 5511 diesel engine. This was a fresh cooled engine out of a Erickson. I do my own maintenance when starting the engine (start it every to weeks) one valve stuck and bent. I pulled the head and had it checked at the shop it had 2 cracks sent it to another shop to have it welded. This is costing $600 not counting parts. As they were pressing in the seats the head cracked again. Now the head is no good.

My question is has anyone here had experience with this engine and do you know were a good suppler for this might be.

Things I do know this is Z500 engine out of a b5100 Kubota tractor.
The marine suppler may be able to get one for $1500 - $2000.
The Kubota dealer may be able to get one for $1000.

I’ve been looking at rebuilt heads on line the z400 and the z600 are available for about $500 rebuilt. I don’t get it. Is it because it’s for a boat?
Any way you have a great day I look forward to hearing from you.
Greg

 

[Steve Dion]

The price for the rebuilt ones does not seem out of line considering that you DO NOT have a core t exchange.

Normally anything under $1,000 (one boat unit) does not even raise a flag. The prices in the $1500-2000 seem high but it is a boat.

If this would be a head for a Chevy or Ford V8 there would be thousands of them out there. By comparison how many 5511 Kubota engines were ever produced. I don't know about this engine, but you may check around with some salvage yards and see if there would be something cheaper, but then you need to go through the rebuild route and you have no one to stand behind the part if it fails.

 

[greg17887]

I have another head I'm taking in today we will see if it works. The bellhouseing off the 5511 fits the M18 does anyone know if the exhaust manafold fits

 

[greg17887]

I don't have a 5511 I have a 5411 sorry about the typo

 

[Stu Jackson]

www.marinedieseldirect.com

Check the engines to see if they match with what you have.

 

[sidney777]

Torresen marine has been helpful for my sailboat diesels. You can call and they will help and they have parts. Also their web site has a Diesel forum that has some info and answer questions. They also have diagrams of each Universal diesel. (and for many parts you can see prices online).

 

[greg17887]

I tought I would let you know how it all went. The machine shop finally finshed the head. I put it on this week and she runs and starts like new. the machine shop didn't replace the freeze plugs so one blew out as soon as I started it up. Once I found the right size it was a easy job to replace. I added this note to let you know that the shops dont always replace these when they do the work. If I had known that I would have had that done. So 3 months later and a lot of foot work the old engine runs like new. The machine shop did say that thay don't get to work on these antique engines much.