Oil & Fuel L4400 WATER IN FUEL AND INJECTION PUMP

[Johnny Burke]

Somehow got a ton of water in fuel tank which then completely filled the fuel filter and injector pump and now tractor is just pumping water in cylinders. Drained tank and fuel filter housing, but not sure how to drain injector pump properly and lines and then bleed it out without hurting it. There is a plug on side of injector pump towards bottom with square 10mm head, does anyone know if it is for oil or fuel draining? Thanks for any advice on this fantastic situation!!

 

[Tnbilly]

Probably be better to just crack loose the lines off the pump and crank it long enough to purge. You may want to either remove the lines all together to blow them out. when you purge the pump (by cranking) you may want to take a sample of the output into a clear jar or the like to test for water. It'll settle to the bottom and show up as a different layer even in smaller quantities. My biggest hope for you is that you didn't have enough water in the fuel to blow the end of an injector off. You'll know should that be the case. Another thing that helps is to remove the injectors while you're cranking the engine to purge the pump. That way the starter wont have to turn it over with compression.

 

[leonz]

OK before you kill yourself by accident;

The Indirect Injection Fuel Pump is lubricated with the system motor oil.

dont touch the plug on the injection pump!!!

pour some Sea Foam in the fuel tank to aid in removing the water remaining in the fuel.


Crack the fittings at the injection pump first then crack the injection nozzle flare fittings on the top of the engine second. editnly if you really need to with flare nut spanners.

Assuming the new fuel is fine simply crank the engine over to a ten count with rags around the injection pump to absorb any water or fuel.

Then crank the engine over to a ten count and then turn it off. Tighten the flare fittings above the injection nozzles.

You should buy the 2 filters to replace the ones filled with water on your machine if you have not done so already.


You should invest in a Racor water separator fuel funnel to eliminate any water from now one and or buy a Racor diesel fuel filter water separator at some point.

 

[jonyyuma]

I second the racor Turbine fuel-water filter idea. They will not let water past the element.Jy.

 

[Johnny Burke]

ok, im going to try all that on sunday afternoon. as far as cracking the lines on the pump, it seems that i could only get to the two outer lines with my wrenches because they are all so close together. Is there a trick to this? where does this water separator dealybop go on the tractor and where do y'all buy them at? if i crack fuel lines at engine, will i need new gaskets? thanks fellas and ladies for your help!

 

[leonz]

Johnny there is no trick, the engines are very compact for a reason as they are used in many many other machines and in fishing boats with tight spaces,

I would not mess with flare nuts on top of the injection nozzles unless you have a broken fuel line and flare nut wrenches candidly john.

Heat the little varmint up with a salamander(if you own one) for an hour or so and you will be fine.


About the Racor filter water separators with the heater elements;

You can buy them directly from

www.maesco.com

And they ship directly to you


You will have to decide whether you want a spin on cartridge unit with a heater element or the larger 500 series with the poly carbonate bowl which has the heater element or the
500 without the heater.

The 500 will remove more water all the time and you will want to drain it every day with the engine running then shut the drain valve by hand and its easy to do.


Some of the members have mounted them(the small units) in the engine compartment adding a mounting bracket.

If you dont feel confident about mounting it perhaps you could ask a local car repair shop to do it for you if your dealer is not nearby.

Your Kubota dealer should not have any issues in mounting the filter housing and wiring the heater element wire to the fuse block for you in any case as the winter fuel issues will nver go away.

You spent a lot of money in good faith to buy your kubota and the dealer should not give you any grief because the racor filter system comes standard on a lot of OEM diesel machines in many uses.

You can purchase the additional reinforced racor fuel hose and barbed fittings for the filter housing from the maesco folks and you will not go wrong.


The filters are cheap compared to your sanity with fuel problems.




The other option is the Racor Fuel funnel water separator which is 30 dollars+frieght from maesco

 

[PILOON]

ok, im going to try all that on sunday afternoon. as far as cracking the lines on the pump, it seems that i could only get to the two outer lines with my wrenches because they are all so close together. Is there a trick to this? where does this water separator dealybop go on the tractor and where do y'all buy them at? if i crack fuel lines at engine, will i need new gaskets? thanks fellas and ladies for your help!

No, you don't need 'gaskets' as those lines will be flared fittings.
You simply get them nice and snug.
In some cases a banjo fitting might be present but those fittings generally have 2 copper washers present that I find can withstand a couple or so bleedings without any problem as long as you don't change them around, i.e.- just loosen them enough to bleed.

Any other fuel lines will be low pressure with simple wire clamps of some sort and don't pose problems.

Good luck1

 

[jonyyuma]

The water sep filter should be the first out of the fueltank. this protects your original fuel filters. If no space then some where on the fuel line before the fuel pump.Jy.

 

[Chilly807]

If you can do it before Sunday, you're going to be better off. The longer the water sits in the pump and injectors the higher the risk of damage.

You can also open the bleed screw located on the top of the pump, and remove the hose to a bucket until you get pure fuel. If your pump has that, my 3400 does.

Sean

 

[Johnny Burke]

***UPDATE*** STILL NOT RUNNING!! Got all water out of tank and fuel bowl. Cracked lines to injectors on top of pump and cranked engine a ton- only had water(and then diesel) come out of the injector closest to firewall. Nothing out of other lines. Now i have nothing out of any of the four lines. When i spray starting fluid in the intake it will run till the fluid runs out. I do have power to glow plugs and no air obstructions so its clearly a fuel problem. There is some sort of solenoid on the injection pump which i think is the key off solenoid and i am wondering if this is engaging and preventing pump from pulling fuel through. Our seat switch is jacked up and the springiness of it is gone. I originally thought that the switch was just a safety switch for starting but i know it controls fuel kill too(when you get out of seat it cuts fuel). Im wondering if any of you have ever had a switch that would allow starting but would not allow fuel? Or could it be that the injections pump is now dead and can't build pressure? Any thougts would help. my injection pump did not appear to have the top bleed the gentleman earlier was talking about but it does have the regular air bleed. should this be open or closed when i am cranking? Giant air pocket? help!!!!