Oil & Fuel New Member who is stumped! GC2300

[jimrusk]

Hello All, New here from North West New Mexico. Purchased a GC2300 about a year ago and it had been working great! My son let his friend borrow it and now it doesn't run right. It starts just fine, but after a few minutes it starts to lose power, blow a bunch of black smoke and die. I have changed the air filter, checked the housing for blockage and all. Just stumped on what could be doing this.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[zzvyb6]

I'd start by asking his 'friend' what did he use it for, how long, what fuel might have been added and what else does he know about the symptoms. My immediate thought would be that there is a lot of water in the fuel and the filter bowl passes just enough to start and run for a short time. Or else, he added gasoline to the tank and now it's cooked. He owes you these answers.

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be."

 

[jimrusk]

I asked him those questions. He used the blade to level up his property a bit. Probably about 9 hours worth of work! He put diesel in it using my can and I checked it to make sure. I will check the filter bowl for water. You just never know with some of the fuel places how good their fuel is. He said that he didn't have any problems with it at all and it ran great for him. So I am with you in it possibly being the water.

Oh and your quote is perfect! Something I will be using from now on!!

 

[Devi8]

did he run it out of fuel or run the fuel level low? maybe need to rebleed the system

 

[2ndhalf]

I would start with emptying the tank and put in a new fuel filter. It sounds like fuel restriction or bad fuel to me. I would think if it were bad fuel that you would run bad from the start. Generally when anything runs ok and then doesn't after few minutes it is fuel filter.

 

[zzvyb6]

The thing that would bother me is the black smoke. On my diesels, black smoke means fuel injection is asking for more power but the load is to big to maintain rpm. Does this mean that your motor is seizing up or something is dragging it down? Will it crank after stalling? Running mine out of fuel usually causes white smoke to appear for a while until it gets rid of the air.

 

[2ndhalf]

Yeah, good point zz .. black smoke on my tractor generally means there is fuel but it isn't burning efficiently i.e. when it first starts.

Google..
Most common causes of black smoke are faulty injectors, a faulty injector pump, a bad air filter (causing not enough oxygen to be supplied), a bad EGR valve (causing the valves to clog) or even a bad turbocharger.

 

[HarryVanderpool]

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be."

REALLY good advice.

 

[zzvyb6]

This is a famous phrase said by Polonius in Act-I, Scene-III of William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. The character Polonius counsels his son Laertes before he embarks on his visit to Paris. He says, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend.”

 

[jimrusk]

Thank you everyone for the help. Looks like I have my work cut out for me. I will update once I have tried all of these suggestions.