Rough Running BX

dodge man · Feb 4, 2014

Glad you got it sorted out. We are expecting a pretty good storm here today, my BX will get a couple of hours or more put on it. They are calling for more snow on Saturday also.

chanceihs · Feb 5, 2014

Re: Rough Running BX *SOLVED*

Thank you for putting this information up. I seem to have the same problem, my BX23 will run fine then bog down, stall, barely run for a while. Then all of the sudden it will be fine which seems to coincide with filling it with fuel. I thought it might be a fuel filter or pump, but being intermittent, this would make more sense.

dodge man · Feb 5, 2014

I would still replace the rear fuel filter first, that's the most common problem.

torrin · Feb 15, 2014

This is going to sound odd. Is the tank at the station where you get your fuel above ground? I had the problem with my BX1500 the first year I got it and so I switched fuel dealers to one with an underground tank.

I talked to some local farmers and they told me the above ground tanks get water in them from condensation and temp changes. Underground tanks have a much more consistent temp and condensation does not seem to be a problem.

i hope that someone or I have helped.

ericher69 · Feb 15, 2014

platimer said:
We seem to have the BX running good again (Yay!). Was advised that pouring new fuel into a cold tank was a bad idea immediately preceding the start of this trouble. The tank has been near empty and the air temp had been running negative zero for the better part of two or three weeks, so it was a very cold tank. Anyway, for the fix to this problem he put a small heater up behind the tractor in the barn and warmed up the tank. Then poured Kerosene (# 2 Fuel) into the tank. It has been working like a champ for the past three hours and we have most of the snow cleared again, just in time for a new storm to come in tomorrow or Wednesday. So, to recap what we did, we changed both fuel filters, put fuel stabilizer in, heated the fuel tank before starting the engine, and when warm, added Kerosene. Hoping that it will work for us now for a good long time. I will be sure to ask the guy to fill the tank when he puts it back up in the shed tonight.

Why are you running Kerosene in a bx?

Sent from my iPhone 5s 64Gb using TractorByNet

danfromsyr · Feb 18, 2014

Thanks OP for posting this, as I've had this same recurring issue for longer than I'll care to admit.
always at a pain in the moment and I'd have to crawl under and blowgun the fuel line..
coincidentally it's at the lower portion of the fuel tank and I attributed it to either algae slime or a spiderweb of some sort.. not sure I'm happy to find out it'll be a $50 fuel gauge.
to get me back running (clearing snow midwinter) I spliced in a 1.5gal lawn tractor tank mounted on the safety triangle bracket..
this'll get me by till warmer weather and I'll have to disassemble the tank before grass starts growing.

quarencia · Feb 21, 2014

I'm having the same problem with a bx2230, but with a complication. The BX22, 2200, 2230 & 23 all have a small second fuel tank mounted on the frame below the main tank. This small tank is fed from the main tank, feeds the fuel filter and pump, and has the return line from the engine. It also has two vent lines back up to the top of the tank. If the sender has rusted, then both tanks will need to be cleaned. And if you're trying to blow rust out on one of these models, you may have to blow back from fuel filter and also blow back in the line between the main and second tank. Just blowing from filter back to second tank may not clear main tank as some or all air would probably go back up the two vent lines rather than into the bottom of the main tank. You can see what I'm talking about on attached parts diagram of 2230.

RaydaKub · Feb 22, 2014

quarencia said:
I'm having the same problem with a bx2230, but with a complication. The BX22, 2200, 2230 & 23 all have a small second fuel tank mounted on the frame below the main tank.

Are you referring to Fig. No. 101????
I don't know what it is called. It just seemed like a pass-through / Y in the line. I would never have called it a fuel tank, though. I was looking at mine during my mower height control thread. It was a real pain the rear to get in there and I debated pulling this thing out, but was afraid to do it because there were so many lines onto it I was sure I'd screw it up.

quarencia · Feb 24, 2014

RaydaKub said:
Are you referring to Fig. No. 101???? ... I would never have called it a fuel tank, though.

Yes, A101 on the diagram. I would never have called it a fuel tank either, but that's what it's called on the Kubota parts list. It is a PITA to get at and is an octopus of fuel/vent lines (five total). I've never figured out why it's even there. The first time I saw it under the tractor, I went to the parts breakout to see what it was. Couldn't figure out why anyone would ever add that much complexity to the fuel system. Later models did away with it and just plumbed the main tank dierctly to the filter and the return line back to the main tank.

Regardless of what its called or its usefulness, it's a small container (~1/2 cup) between the fuel tank and the filter that can also get clogged with rust particles.