Engine died. Your ideas please.

[EddieWalker]

My dad was driving my 1998 Ford/New Holland 555E Loader Backhoe today when it died on him all of a sudden. He thought that maybe the fuel was lower then the gauge showed adn he tried adding five gallons of diesel to the tank. That didn't do anything.

When I got home, I looked at it and saw that the sediment bowl was very dark. I'm guilty of not paying attention to it and I didn't realize that it was so nasty. I took it off and scooped out the sludge. It was very thick, and pretty bad. I put it back to gether and the backhoe fired right up. It ran for awhile, then died. It started up, ran then died. Then started up again and ran for quite a while in idle. Dad tried to drive it back to the shop, but didn't get 20 feet before it died for good.

The sediment bowl did not fill up, but did haf fuel in it. I figured it ran out of fuel because the sediment bowl didn't fill up. I cracked the injector lines and cranked it over for awhile and got some air bubbles, but then nothing. No fuel ever came out of the lines.

I went back to the fuel filter to make sure it was pumping fuel and found out that the bolts on it were loose to the block. It moved around easily to my touch. I tightened it up and took off the line coming out of the pump. I got a shot of fuel on every pump, but it wasn't very much and it wasn't under any real pressure when turning it over with the starter. Using the hand pump feature, it seemed like I got more pressure.

How much pressure should the fuel pump have? Should the fuel shoot out, or just sort of come out as blob. Kind of like when you spit, but it doesn't go anywhere, if that helps.

The fuel filter isn't puged up and none of the fuel lines have any restrictions. It goes from the pump to the filter to the injector pump. That's where it seems to end. I have the lines off the injector pump, and nothing comes out.

Should fuel come out of the injector pump under pressure from the fuel pump? Absolutely nothing comes out of there, and I have three out of four lines disconnected.

The engine is a Perkins four cylinder that puts out about 80 hp. It's been running great with plenty of power until it just stoped. The loose fuel pump has me nervous. I don't know how, but I think that's the source of all the dust that built up in my sediment bowl. I'm also afraid that the dust might have destroyed my injector pump.

Any thoughts? Tests? suggestions?

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[Bob Rooks]

You have a bad case of diesel bugs. This is a very serious situation.

http://www.howcleanisyouroil.com/DIESEL-FUEL-BUG

 

[tcartwri]

The hand pump is just a low pressure priming pump. It sounds like you still have air to chase out of the system. After you change all the filters...

 

[tlbuser]

If I'm reading your post correctly, the sediment bowl is not full. Since the sediment bowl is between the tank and everything else, you need to start there. remove the line between the tank and bowl and check flow. Is there a tank strainer on that model? Manual shutoff valve? electric fuel shutoff valve working?

 

[EddieWalker]

There is a small screen in my fuel pump. If it gets pluged up, the fuel pressure drops and the injector pump wont operate. I took it apart, cleaned it really good and blew out the lines. Then I cracked the injector lines to get the air out of them and it fired right up.

I have to remember about that screen in the fuel pump!!!!!!

Now I'm going to clean out the tank real good, and make it a yearly thing to check that screen and clean out my sediment bowl when I change all my filters at the end of winter.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[Bob Rooks]

Cleaning out your tank isn't good enough. You will have to treat your fuel with a biocide also to keep the problem from recuring. The bugs are microscopic. If you don't believe in them do a little Google research. They can ruin your entire fuel system.

 

[ddigger]

Its an algae build up in your fuel system.

 

[jinman]

Eddie, the most common biocide additive I know is Biobor JF. It is used in many/most jet fuels and marine diesel applications. A 32 oz container is enough to treat over 2500 gallons of diesel since you use only a small amount for every tank of fuel.

 

[McCaskey]

Cleaning out your tank isn't good enough. You will have to treat your fuel with a biocide also to keep the problem from recuring. The bugs are microscopic. If you don't believe in them do a little Google research. They can ruin your entire fuel system.

Good advice, I second the opinion on algae. This week, my RC100 quit running because the transfer tube between fuel tanks was plugged with algae. Fuel was 4 months old. Mechanic told me since sulfur was eliminated from diesel, there is nothing to control bacteria from growing in the fuel system.

 

[Bob Rooks]

Mechanic told me since sulfur was eliminated from diesel, there is nothing to control bacteria from growing in the fuel system.

Wrong. "Diesel fuel "bugs" are actually micro-organisms comprised of fungi, yeasts and bacteria which live mostly in the diesel / water interface inside the diesel tank. The common diesel 礎ug is the fungus Hormoconis resinae that can produce a large biomass of mycelia (fungal matting) in a short period of time if the conditions are favourable. Hormoconis resinae is called "diesel bug" in the diesel fuel industry and "jet fuel fungus" in the aviation industry.
The mycelia of Hormoconis resinae excrete acids that can break down weaker tank material such as aluminium.
Water, nutrients and warmth are the pre-requisites for micro-organisms to rapidly grow, blocking filters and damaging engine fuel components. Water can be either free water (fresh or salt) or emulsified water. Nutrients can include the alkanes in the fuel, dead micro-organisms and even the fuel tank material. Warmth is usually from the local ambient conditions, but diesel tanks in engine rooms and non-cooled high flow return lines into small tanks will increase the diesel tank temperature.
Long storage of diesel fuel also increases the potential of microorganisms to grow."