Losing power

[RedDawg]

Have a 2012 (no emissions) Mahindra 5010 gear drive tractor with @685 hours on it. Changed the oil, oil filter, fuel filter and air filter about 20 hours ago. Recently, after the tractor has run for about an hour the tractor will generally run fine but I lose power. To climb a hill, I have to down shift which I didn’t have to do before, especially if I have anything on the 3 point hitch. Any load on the tractor like thick weeds while bush hogging or an incline while discing drags the RPM’s down considerably. Once that happens, I can start to smell more diesel but I don’t see any leaks around the engine. You have to move the selector from high PTO idle speed to low idle slowly or the engine will die. However, if it dies, it will start right back up again. If you do decrease RPM’s to low idle without killing it, it will surge and porpoise for a while before smoothing out. The tractor is not running warm, and it is not using additional fuel. There is no smoke coming from the engine. There are no unusual sounds – just a decrease in power after an hour or so.

I think I may change fuel filter and air filter again. I have a few acres to mow with the 8’ Woods mower that hasn’t been cut since May when I did it last so it’s fairly thick. It will be interesting to see if it is normal power for the first hour and then loses power and bogs down.

Any ideas on what’s happening? Open to ideas and suggestions.

 

[Tinhack]

It could be a number of things causing low power. In your case, I'd tool up to check compression. If you're smelling diesel or seeing white smoke from the exhaust when it's losing power, the injector pump/governor may be trying to feed more fuel. Were the valves adjusted during break-in? Are you using the correct engine oil? Have you tried using injector cleaner? Do you use treated diesel? There're so many things to consider, you may want to contact a dealer for service.

 

[RedDawg]

It could be a number of things causing low power. In your case, I'd tool up to check compression. If you're smelling diesel or seeing white smoke from the exhaust when it's losing power, the injector pump/governor may be trying to feed more fuel. Were the valves adjusted during break-in? Are you using the correct engine oil? Have you tried using injector cleaner? Do you use treated diesel? There're so many things to consider, you may want to contact a dealer for service.

Tinhack, thanks for the reply. As stated, there is no smoke but there is a smell of diesel. I'm the second owner so I don't know about the break-in period however the guy I got it from strikes me as a conscientious fellow that probably followed the maintenance schedule. Correct oil? Yes. Injector cleaner? Yes.

I plan on talking to the dealer when I do in and pick up some new filters. Thanks for input.

 

[Tinhack]

Smelling diesel and not seeing smoke is a sure sign you may have a diesel leak. Depending on where it is, that would cause loss of power. Check your engine for obvious fuel leaks. Especially the injector lines and supply to the injector pump. Check the oil level. If it's over full, you may have a leaking injector pump.

 

[RedDawg]

Smelling diesel and not seeing smoke is a sure sign you may have a diesel leak. Depending on where it is, that would cause loss of power. Check your engine for obvious fuel leaks. Especially the injector lines and supply to the injector pump. Check the oil level. If it's over full, you may have a leaking injector pump.

Thanks for the help. I'll check those things.