JX85 Hard starting

[oliver28472]

My brother just bought a lightly used JX85 with 384 hours. It sat in a building without being started for a year or so. It has a new battery and spins the motor over seemingly fast enough but it takes 45 seconds or so to start it.


Even when the engine is warm it is slow to catch. I'm going to use it to bush hog today and have it parked on a hill to roll it off. Any suggestions?

 

[slowzuki]

Have all the fuel filters been changed? It sounds like water in fuel or an air leak. Too low of hours to be low compression.

 

[oliver28472]

I'll have to ask about the filters. I put six hours on it yesterday and it runs fine.

 

[slowzuki]

Often a small air leak in the lift pump line lets it lose prime and make for hard starts due to the air trapped. Seems to me the fuel line on the JX runs in a pretty vulnerable spot near the step. Make have been hit by stick coming off the front tire or similar.

 

[oliver28472]

Thanks, will take a look this afternoon when I get home.

 

[oliver28472]

No filters were changed, just fuel and a battery. Going to see what I can see on the lift pump line.

 

[slowzuki]

If you start it within seconds, does it start well? A small air leak or a leaking foot valve in the lift pump line depending how the JX is setup will cause it to be proportionately hard to start depending on how long it was shut off, up to the point the line is completely dry.

 

[oliver28472]

I've now driven it four times. The first was a seven mile drive to my house where I parked it because it was Sunday and low on fuel, not worth bush hogging for just a few minutes. The second time was yesterday morning for several hours after filling with fuel. Again in the afternoon and then this evening. All four times it was rolled off. Now the plot thickens. I was finishing up in one pasture and it just shut down like it was out of fuel. I was using the lights and fan in the cab and had no warning at all. Tried to start with the starter but not even a sound. Still had good strong lights. There must be a glitch somewhere, maybe just a fuse?

 

[slowzuki]

Your fuel shut off solenoid must be sticking or have a loose wire? Any damage to the wiring?

 

[oliver28472]

I don't think so unless it got chewed on while in storage. I'm not too worried about it now, I pretty much finished what I needed to do. It's my brother's tractor, I'm bush hogging for him, he's gone out of town so he can jump on it when he gets back but I'll post the results.