Oil & Fuel No fuel from Injector Rail

[steelmountain]

OK, so I thought I had run out of fuel. My CK30 fuel guage was showing 3/4 of a tank when she stopped. But I was looking at the bottom of the tank when I opened her up. I decided to change the fuel filter at the same time(99 hours just seemed like a good time). I changed the filter, re-filled the fuel bowl, and have been cranking and cranking for over a week with no sign of firing.

So far I have found:
1. No fuel in the injector lines from the fuel rail to the injectors.
2. When opening the lines at the rail, no fuel comes out of the rail.
3. The fuel shut off solenoid is working, but with the solenoid removed, the little plug inside the rail does not move into the open position on its own.
4. The fuel pump on the side of the motor does not pump much fuel, barely a trickle comes out while cranking.
5. I used a vaccuum pump to fill the fuel lines all the way to the banjo bolt on the side of the fuel rail. I have a steady flow of fuel using the vaccuum pump, but when I turn the tractor over, barely a trickle comes out.

My questions are:

1. What moves the fuel shut off inside the rail? Is it fuel pressure? or is there a broken spring in there somewhere?
2. If fuel pressure moves the rail, then the problem must be the diaphragm pump on the side of the motor. Is this common?

My CK30 was bought in 08/05, mostly used for mowing, she has 99 hours.

Is there anywhere to find on-line diagrams of these assemblies? I hate to pay for a haul-in when its just something stuck that I can fixmyself.

I also wanted to say thanks for all the information and troubleshooting ideas I have read on here over the last few days.

 

[texasjohn]

you simply need to worry with it until you figure out how to get diesel back flowing properly... here was my experience... frustrating, as is yours....

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/122436-l5030-ran-out-diesel-how.html

 

[Barrettseq]

In the front of the injection pump by the fan area you have a couple of 12mm bolts on a cover plate. You should be able to remove the screws and use a magnet to pull or push the rail in or out because it is stuck right now. This will get the tractor to start. It might last a couple of days untill it shuts down again. Before you start the tractor make sure you know which is off and full throttle on the rack because it may race the engine. Before starting I would remove the air intake hose so you can cover it to shut the engine down if needed. The last time I did this the engine raced so high It sounded like it was going to blow up. More than likely you will need to buy a new injection pump. Good luck.

 

[virgil]

You mentioned that there is very little fuel getting TO the injection pump.
The round fuel lift pump on the side of the engine should pump a lot of fuel while cranking. Please remove the line going TO the lift pump. (This line comes FROM the filter). I have found large pieces of trash there at the lift pump. How it got there I haven't a clue. You can dissassemble the lift pump with about 6 screws to see if there is any trash in there.
If you are NOT getting plenty of fuel at the lift pump. then start working backwards... hoses, filter, more hoses, tank. I have retrieved several frogs, bugs, and rocks from the fuel tank. (deposited there by grandsons who were helping grandpa).
If you are getting plenty of fuel TO the injection pump, but not THREW the injection pump...then the problem is most likely the "rail" on the injection pump.
hope this helps.

 

[steelmountain]

OK, this is wierd, but the hose supplying fuel to the lift pump comes from the fuel tank. The output of the lift pump supplies the filter assembly, and then it goes to the fuel rail.

I have removed the line from the supply side of the pump, it flows freely coming from the fuel tank.

When the hose is replaced, the fuel flows pretty well through the pump on its own. Then, when I start to crank the engine the amount of fuel coming out of the pump SLOWS DOWN ! ! !

Maybe a bad "lift pump" Or is the engine plumbed wrong? I was wondering why the unfiltered fuel would go to the pump before going to the filter assembly. I will try reversing the system when I get home this evening. I am also going to try the magnet on the fuel shutoff. I will let y'all know which one works, if I am successful.

If only we could find some drawings of these assemblies and hoses on-line, working on my tractor would be much easier.

 

[Highbeam]

I wouldn't mess with that expensive and complicated injection pump unless as a last resort. You've got good fuel flow to the little lift pump and then almost nothing coming out of it. Your lift pump is the first thing in line after the fuel tank which you just ran dry. If it were me I would open up that little lift pump and take the frog out. The junk on the bottom of your tank just got ingested. Frequently the lift pump will be upstream of a filter since you want to be pushing fuel through a filter.

99 hours in 3 years? You might find a big slug of black algae from the old fuel.

 

[steelmountain]

The fuel shut off is stuck inside the injector pump. I have been looking throughthe manuel, is there supposed to be some type of oil on these gears?

I have been taking pictures of each step along the way so if I can figure out how, I will post what I found. I can get the shut off to move, but it is still sticking.

 

[steelmountain]

Well, I got her started. The throttle is stuck at about 3/4. I guess its off to the local dealerto get the injector pump rebuilt. I can definately feel the fuel shutoff sticking at different spots as I manually tried to slide it back and forth.

Thanks toall for the suggestions. Pardon my typing the space bar on my keyboard works only sometimes.

I may actually try to crack open this pump ifI had a shop drawing.

If this happens toyour tractor, The big knob on the left side of the pump is the spring mechanism that pushes the shut off towards the solenoid. If you remove it, you can use one of the hood pins to push the shut off manually. I was hoping that once mine was freed up, it would move normally.

Guess not

Also, the solenoid rod fits inside a plastic slider. The bushing will come out of the solenoid holeafter the solenoid is removed.

 

[texasjohn]

Glad it's running again..... and, you have learned more than you ever wanted to know about the fuel system!!

Hope things smooth out soon and you are back in the seat again!

 

[RobJ]

Instead of taking it to the dealer, look up a diesel fuel pump specialty store. A dealer will ususally send it out anyway and mark it up. There is special testing equipment to test these pumps.

If you want to dig into it. Remove the barrels at the top of the pump, where the injector lines attach. This holds the check valves. Flush it out real good. Might be some dirt in there. Otherwise I'd take it in. The rack could be bent. You can replace it, and might get lucky on getting it set up correct.

Good Luck!

Rob