thorsent
New member
I have a Branson 3510 with about 250 hours on it. Earlier in the week I was mowing the lawn and after about an hour or so the engine suddenly got weak. Went down to a very rough idle with no power to move or run PTO. Never quite stalled out.
Hadn't run it most of the winter so I figured most likely was bad gas, and time to change the fuel filter anyway so I drained the tank. Unfortunately I just couldn't get the fuel bowl cap off given how tight it was and the angle of installation (strongest man in Korea...) so I had to remove the fuel bowl assembly and get it into my garage vice. Ended up using a plumber's wrench to loosen the cap. Replaced the filter and noted that the top lip of the plastic fuel bowl had snapped off, so ordered a replacement Yanmar part ($20 for plastic...) and then set off to put it all back together.
I filled up the bowl with diesel, reassembled, remounted, added a few gallons of diesel back to the tank, and for good measure, before reattaching, I filled up the intake hose that connects to the fuel pump (assuming that's the fuel pump mounted to the side of the engine with the injector tubes coming out).
I opened the forward bleed screw on the fuel filter housing and cranked but nothing came out. Hmmm. Tried a few more times. Also warmed the glow plugs to see if the engine would start but it wouldn't catch. Not even a sputter.
So then I closed that screw and opened the bleed nut on top of the fuel pump. Cranked the engine expecting fuel to come out. Nothing. Took the bleed nut all the way out. It was moist in there but no sign of much gas.
Now I'm out of my element and after years of reading TBN and finding my answers I'm finally posting. Shouldn't fuel start coming out of the bleed nut above the pump? I cranked many times, probably a few minutes if you added all the attempts. Perhaps given that everything was disconnected I'm just haven't gone far enough.
I should note that after opening the bleed nut I did try starting again and there was the faintest of sputters but then after a few cranks even the sputter went away.
Advice sought. I've got the weekend coming up with sunny weather so I'm ready to tackle a bigger job if need be.
Hadn't run it most of the winter so I figured most likely was bad gas, and time to change the fuel filter anyway so I drained the tank. Unfortunately I just couldn't get the fuel bowl cap off given how tight it was and the angle of installation (strongest man in Korea...) so I had to remove the fuel bowl assembly and get it into my garage vice. Ended up using a plumber's wrench to loosen the cap. Replaced the filter and noted that the top lip of the plastic fuel bowl had snapped off, so ordered a replacement Yanmar part ($20 for plastic...) and then set off to put it all back together.
I filled up the bowl with diesel, reassembled, remounted, added a few gallons of diesel back to the tank, and for good measure, before reattaching, I filled up the intake hose that connects to the fuel pump (assuming that's the fuel pump mounted to the side of the engine with the injector tubes coming out).
I opened the forward bleed screw on the fuel filter housing and cranked but nothing came out. Hmmm. Tried a few more times. Also warmed the glow plugs to see if the engine would start but it wouldn't catch. Not even a sputter.
So then I closed that screw and opened the bleed nut on top of the fuel pump. Cranked the engine expecting fuel to come out. Nothing. Took the bleed nut all the way out. It was moist in there but no sign of much gas.
Now I'm out of my element and after years of reading TBN and finding my answers I'm finally posting. Shouldn't fuel start coming out of the bleed nut above the pump? I cranked many times, probably a few minutes if you added all the attempts. Perhaps given that everything was disconnected I'm just haven't gone far enough.
I should note that after opening the bleed nut I did try starting again and there was the faintest of sputters but then after a few cranks even the sputter went away.
Advice sought. I've got the weekend coming up with sunny weather so I'm ready to tackle a bigger job if need be.