3 cyl diesel (kubota GR2110) stalls after 10 seconds: wont run !

[donovjim]

I have this GR2110 Kubota. Its a 3 cyl diesel with 148 hours. Its new to n=me 10 hrs ago.... I cant keep it running... its got to the point where I cant even start it this morning.. It had blown the water pump and I replaced that. It ran for 5 minutes then progressively got worse. If it was gas Id say it was fuel supply and fuel pump as it feels like that but dont know this diesel thijng well enough. Is it likely fuel supply/filter pump/ or is there an obvious internal issue. Just tried again. Now its not starting.. feels like it wants to but wont catch. (lots of fuel in the tank). J

 

[DLTTrekkers]

Did it start missing ? Bad headgasket ?

 

[donovjim]

Thanks for the reply....no it didn't seem to. It lost power while mowing and I lost coolant. Weep hole in water pump was obvious source so I replaced it and thermostat. Started great and ran well for 5 minutes then stalled and no start since. I will replace both fuel filters but don't know what else it could be (do you suppose fuel pump?). Jim

 

[Baby Grand]

Replacing both fuel filters is a good first step.
Water in the fuel?
Maybe air in the fuel?
A pin hole in a fuel line or a loose hose clamp can allow air to get sucked into the fuel.
Something in the fuel tank that moves & plugs the fuel outlet, temporarily?

 

[donovjim]

Thanks. Is there a way to "bleed air" when I replace the filters or will the fuel pump do that? Also should I be thinking (read worry) about another type of issue within the cylinders regarding firing?

 

[tc40da-rg]

I have an old (1974, I believe) Massey Ferguson 3-cylinder Perkins diesel that is doing pretty much the same thing. It began losing power while bush hogging. It would "rev up" a little, then lose rpm. It would repeat this with an added "knock"/ping before slowing down every few minutes; then repeating at closer intervals before finally going dead. The fuel pump was rebuilt about 2 years ago. I removed the tank and cleaned it (there was NO trash, "gunk", etc. in the tank at all! A major miracle considering it has never been cleaned in its lifetime!). Blew out all lines, replaced filter and made sure there was good fuel flow from the tank all the way to injectors. It ran/idled smoothly for 20 minutes or so; then began the old process all over again! It almost seems as if there is something (in the injector pump???) that is binding once it gets hot. But if it is a "heat" problem, why does it not want to start (without use of ether) after cooling off? Or, maybe it is sucking air from "somewhere"? I have taken the fuel system down and back three times now, with no change in results. I'm no diesel mechanic anyway, but this sure has me stumped. Has anyone run across the same symptoms?

 

[GManBart]

I have an old (1974, I believe) Massey Ferguson 3-cylinder Perkins diesel that is doing pretty much the same thing. It began losing power while bush hogging. It would "rev up" a little, then lose rpm. It would repeat this with an added "knock"/ping before slowing down every few minutes; then repeating at closer intervals before finally going dead. The fuel pump was rebuilt about 2 years ago. I removed the tank and cleaned it (there was NO trash, "gunk", etc. in the tank at all! A major miracle considering it has never been cleaned in its lifetime!). Blew out all lines, replaced filter and made sure there was good fuel flow from the tank all the way to injectors. It ran/idled smoothly for 20 minutes or so; then began the old process all over again! It almost seems as if there is something (in the injector pump???) that is binding once it gets hot. But if it is a "heat" problem, why does it not want to start (without use of ether) after cooling off? Or, maybe it is sucking air from "somewhere"? I have taken the fuel system down and back three times now, with no change in results. I'm no diesel mechanic anyway, but this sure has me stumped. Has anyone run across the same symptoms?

The fuel lift pump on the Perkins engines like yours (and mine) is a weak spot in the system. Sometimes they last 1800 hours, sometimes they don't last 100 hours. If you get all the lines bled, and the fuel filter full, they'll run for 15-20 minutes and then die....and you start the process over. A new pump from an MF dealer runs under $40 (I just put a new one on my 241 a few months ago) and they seem to be better quality than the aftermarket versions most places sell.

 

[GManBart]

Thanks. Is there a way to "bleed air" when I replace the filters or will the fuel pump do that? Also should I be thinking (read worry) about another type of issue within the cylinders regarding firing?

Any time an engine loses power because it's overheated and lost the coolant, you have to consider bigger problems than fuel delivery.

If replacing the fuel filter doesn't solve the problem you have a number of things to check. First, check the oil to see if there's any coolant in it. Also, check the new coolant to see if there's any oil in it. After that I'd do a compression check before I got too crazy with anything else.

 

[tc40da-rg]

Thank you, GManBart. You guys can get you chuckles on me now, but, I think I'm missing something here (and, remember, I said I'm not a diesel mechanic)... what/where is the "fuel lift pump"? Is that the thing I'm manually pumping 999 times to prime this sucker after each time I break a connection loose?

 

[GManBart]

Thank you, GManBart. You guys can get you chuckles on me now, but, I think I'm missing something here (and, remember, I said I'm not a diesel mechanic)... what/where is the "fuel lift pump"? Is that the thing I'm manually pumping 999 times to prime this sucker after each time I break a connection loose?

It sounds like you have the right part...it looks like this (except you won't see the lever on the left because that's inside the engine), and is on the right side of the engine.

When mine failed it took many, many pumps to get the engine to restart (and quickly die), and it sounds like that's what you're dealing with. If the pump is working properly, it should bleed the air out pretty quickly to get the system primed.