Turns over but will not start

[NewClimber]

I went to get on the tractor today to move some rock I had delivered and she turns over but doesn't want to start. First it seemed like I had a dead, or dieing battery as it was very difficult to get it to turn over. I pulled the battery from my truck and using jumper cables I though I could the tractor started, it would then charge the battery.

With the battery from my truck it would turn over OK, but just didn't want to start.... I had the glow plugs on for about 30sec, I get black smoke out the exhaust, but no go....

I am kind of new to the diesel world, doing any automotive repair work on gas engines..

Any ideas anyone could give me to check. It started to get dark and I didn't do really much of anything. The glow plug controller is glowing, and I have fuel up to the filter... didn't check past that....

Maybe water in the fuel??? Being these don't have any spark plugs...at least I don't think they do....is there anything else electric wise that needs to be check??

The last time I used her about 6 weeks ago, she ran great....now nothing. It has been keep outside but undercover of a lean-to. Any help would be greatly appreciated...


Oh, I guess the important information.....1977 B7100 Kubota. Manually tranny....not sure what else you might need to know...please let me know if you need more information.

 

[taborekle]

Fuel, air and compression is all you need with a diesel. If you can crank the engine, then you have the compression. That just leaves fuel and air. I'd look at air next as you can check it in just a few minutes. Check the air filter and make sure that it's not clogged and is clean.

Then you can turn you're attention to the fuel, which is the likely candidate.

 

[ackerrj]

Consider air in the fuel line -- fix is bleeding the line. Some kubotas have a bleed port (bolt) for this. Your dealer can tell you where this and what the procedure is.

 

[brain55]

Usually smoke would indicate that you are at least getting fuel in the cylinder, black smoke usually indicates an over-fueled or under-aired condition. Here is what I would try since you indicated that the battery seemed low on charge. I would pre-heat the glowplugs for 30 seconds like you did, then I would pull out the decompression wire and crank it for a few seconds until it is cranking at a pretty good speed and quickly let go of the decomp wire while you are still cranking. Most of the time this will get it to start if there is not another problem. After trying that method a couple of times if it still won't start I would go ahead and check the air filter and then crack the injector lines at the injectors to make sure they are getting fuel. Then let us know what you find.

Brian

 

[Transit]

Six weeks without starting? Check for a mouse nest in the air intake system, filter, and hose.

Bleeding air from the high pressure side of the fuel system is easy.
Loosen each of the injector lines one at a time at the fuel injector in the cylinder so it leaks, spinning the engine till you see fuel, than tighten the line.

Bad move using your truck battery to start the tractor the way you did. What would you have done if you had run down the truck battery? No start for the tractor, no start for the truck and a very, very L-O-N-G W-A-L-K H-O-M-E for you?

Recharge the tractor battery and park the tractor so you can pull the truck up to it and use jumper cables if need be.

Plan B, I have a Jumper Battery pack with a built in air compressor. No danger of running the vehicle battery down and being stranded.

I have never needed it to start my rids. I have used it to start others in a parking lot, pump up a flat or light to work by.

 

[NewClimber]

Thanks everyone...I will check these things tomorrow and post back. I am thinking it is something wrong with the fuel being I did pull the air filter and did check it. It did look a bit dirty but I wouldn't think it would stop it from starting....

As far as the battery....the tractor is next to my shop, which is next to my house, so no fear of a long walk. The only caught here is that the pill of rock I was going to move, is in-between my truck and tractor...so I can't get my truck next to my tractor and jump it that way.

One question before I check what has been suggested...if I had "bad" fuel or maybe some water in my fuel, how would it act....like it is, or something differently??

 

[brain55]

You typically don't see black smoke from fuel with water in it, usually you get no smoke because the injection pump and injectors won't inject water. The water and fuel don't mix so you would have seen that when you checked for fuel up to the fuel filter. Water beads up diesel fuel does not.

Brian

 

[NewClimber]

Well check the items mentioned this morning and all looked good. Decided to connect my truck battery directly to the tractor, instead of though the jumper cables. With the old battery (tractor battery) out of the equation, she started right up with no problems..

So, my battery is dead as a door nail. I after working for about 2hrs, I shut the tractor off, and attempted to start it right away, and it would barely turn over.

Off to the store to get a battery.....thx for the help and suggestions..

 

[Transit]

Great that you found the problem. I would check that the alternator is charging the battery.

 

[NewClimber]

Any suggestion you could give on how to check that it is charging??

Once it is running, can I just pull the battery wires off and see if there is voltage there??