Sysop
Elite Member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2013
- Messages
- 3,301
- Location
- Fairmont, WV
- Tractor
- Mahindra 4035HST purchased 2013 - Husqvarna TS348-D purchased 2019 - Craftsman 42" HST purchased 2003
Well, I'm getting ready to get into adjusting the timing on my 4035HST. My tractor has displayed all the same signs as everyone else's that has had the timing issue. I'll go through the whole story here so everything is in one place, and hopefully get folk's opinions along the way.
Bought the tractor last summer and everything was golden. I have two "issues" that seem to point to the same thing.
First, within the first 20 hours, I had noticed that after running for 20 minutes it would sputter and miss for a minute, then recover and do fine the rest of the day. I researched and learned of the KSB timer relay that advances the timing for the first 20 minutes before turning off, and the sputtering was due to the timing being slightly retarded when the timer timed out. I learned in that research that it was a common thing, and some units needed a timing advance on the pump to correct things if it became an issue. No problem, I can live with it sputtering for 30-60 seconds 20 minutes after first starting it, because I generally let it warm up and am just getting implements ready to go when it happens. Once I'm in the field, I never see the issue...
Second "issue" has became starting the tractor. When I first got it, I would turn the key to the on position, wait on the glowplug/intake air heater light to go out, the tractor would start within 5 seconds of cranking using no throttle. I didn't use the tractor any over the winter, but I did start it at least every other week and let it run about 30 minutes each time. This past winter was one of the coldest in many years. When it was especially cold in the barn, it didn't always want to start right away. So, I would wait on the glowplug light to go out and cycle the key off and back on to put it through another cycle. Then it would fire up fine. Once the weather started to warm back up, I had noticed it was still requiring two cycles of the glow plug and even then it still wasn't starting as easy. I went back to a single cycle of the glow plug and no change in the way it was starting versus two cycles of the GP, and it has since continually became increasingly difficult to start.
NOW, these issues have both progressed to a point that I need to go ahead and do something about it. When I leave the tractor run to warm up, anything less than 2000RPM and it will die when the timer kicks off. If I do not cycle the key off and simply try to start it, it will not start (cycling the key off reinitializes the timer relay and advances the timing for another 20 minutes and it is fine).
From my understanding, the initial "fix" from Mahindra is to replace the KSB timer, if that doesn't work, they advance the timing on the pump.
I think the KSB timer swap is a "shot in the dark"/"hope this fixes it" type thing as the old unit does as it is supposed to and advances the timing to make cold starts easier, it is once that timer is off that the issues really show up. In reading all I can on hard starts and sputtering after the KSB timer shuts down, the most common cure seems to be manually advancing the pump itself.
OK, so I've done the research on advancing the pump, that has led me to a new query... In visually inspecting my engine, it appears the pump is nearly rotated as far as it can go in one of the two directions. I'm sure it hasn't moved since it left the factory as there is not only a coat of paint that was applied after assembly that is flawless, there is also an alignment mark that indicates the factory position and that is perfectly aligned.
What if I make the adjustment and it helps but isn't enough? What needs done to correct the issue? Most likely it will go back to the dealer for anything more than what I'm into already, I'm mainly curious.
I wanted to try the timing adjustment on my own because sending the tractor to the dealer for an unknown amount of time for a 20 minute fix isn't appealing to me at all...
Below is an image of the timing marks and you can see how the bolts are not centered in the slots.
Bought the tractor last summer and everything was golden. I have two "issues" that seem to point to the same thing.
First, within the first 20 hours, I had noticed that after running for 20 minutes it would sputter and miss for a minute, then recover and do fine the rest of the day. I researched and learned of the KSB timer relay that advances the timing for the first 20 minutes before turning off, and the sputtering was due to the timing being slightly retarded when the timer timed out. I learned in that research that it was a common thing, and some units needed a timing advance on the pump to correct things if it became an issue. No problem, I can live with it sputtering for 30-60 seconds 20 minutes after first starting it, because I generally let it warm up and am just getting implements ready to go when it happens. Once I'm in the field, I never see the issue...
Second "issue" has became starting the tractor. When I first got it, I would turn the key to the on position, wait on the glowplug/intake air heater light to go out, the tractor would start within 5 seconds of cranking using no throttle. I didn't use the tractor any over the winter, but I did start it at least every other week and let it run about 30 minutes each time. This past winter was one of the coldest in many years. When it was especially cold in the barn, it didn't always want to start right away. So, I would wait on the glowplug light to go out and cycle the key off and back on to put it through another cycle. Then it would fire up fine. Once the weather started to warm back up, I had noticed it was still requiring two cycles of the glow plug and even then it still wasn't starting as easy. I went back to a single cycle of the glow plug and no change in the way it was starting versus two cycles of the GP, and it has since continually became increasingly difficult to start.
NOW, these issues have both progressed to a point that I need to go ahead and do something about it. When I leave the tractor run to warm up, anything less than 2000RPM and it will die when the timer kicks off. If I do not cycle the key off and simply try to start it, it will not start (cycling the key off reinitializes the timer relay and advances the timing for another 20 minutes and it is fine).
From my understanding, the initial "fix" from Mahindra is to replace the KSB timer, if that doesn't work, they advance the timing on the pump.
I think the KSB timer swap is a "shot in the dark"/"hope this fixes it" type thing as the old unit does as it is supposed to and advances the timing to make cold starts easier, it is once that timer is off that the issues really show up. In reading all I can on hard starts and sputtering after the KSB timer shuts down, the most common cure seems to be manually advancing the pump itself.
OK, so I've done the research on advancing the pump, that has led me to a new query... In visually inspecting my engine, it appears the pump is nearly rotated as far as it can go in one of the two directions. I'm sure it hasn't moved since it left the factory as there is not only a coat of paint that was applied after assembly that is flawless, there is also an alignment mark that indicates the factory position and that is perfectly aligned.
What if I make the adjustment and it helps but isn't enough? What needs done to correct the issue? Most likely it will go back to the dealer for anything more than what I'm into already, I'm mainly curious.
I wanted to try the timing adjustment on my own because sending the tractor to the dealer for an unknown amount of time for a 20 minute fix isn't appealing to me at all...
Below is an image of the timing marks and you can see how the bolts are not centered in the slots.
