Everything Broken
New member
All - new member, first tractor. BX 23 bought this spring with 1200 hours. Was told by the previous owner he had "just changed the oil", which I mistook for meaning he had just serviced it. My bad. I've used it two only three days so far - something breaks every time I use it it seems. After only using it once I blew a line on the backhoe. When I installed the new hose, I flushed it, and discovered the hydraulic oil looked like chocolate milk. So, I learned how to change hydraulic oil filter and clean the strainer in a hurry. The strainer was full of metal fur. Hopefully it's not signs of worse to come. Got it back together after a few days, next time I used it, found oil leaking from front wheel, and suspected a seal had gone. But, after much research, discovered the front left wheel gear case was cracked. I looked at the front right - it wasn't leaking, but had a hideous surface weld repair that had been done to it, and the gear oil drain plug was now welded in (I wondered why I couldn't remove the drain plug for a long time until I saw the weld job on the gear case). I replaced both front wheel gear cases (and the seals, and the bearings... over $1,200 at the dealer). I used it successfully for a day, the next day, another hose on the backhoe had a pinhole after digging only a very small hole in soft dirt - maybe a minute digging, if that. Replaced that hose, and two others that looked iffy why I was in there. Got it back together, and tested it all to check for leaks, then washed the mud off the tires. Then I couldn't start it. Read some more, discovered there's TWO controls that need to be in neutral, the hi/low range selector AND the forward / reverse pedal. Got it started, drove it around to the garage, turned the key off and removed it... but it keeps running. You name it, I did it. I tried the seat interlock. I pulled the fuse. I pulled all the fuses. I disconnected the battery. I removed the fuel line from the fuel pump under the tractor. I reread the owner's manual (it says "to shut off the engine, turn the key to off", or something like that. Hmmm. Maybe I should try that? Ya think? (did I seriously pay cash for this manual? Answer - yes I did. I'm a dope.)). I siphoned the fuel out of the tank, I used vise grips to pinch off the fuel lines. It took me two hours to kill it. I know now there's a solenoid that dumps the fuel rail, but it's pretty well hidden. Now that I know where it's at (by feel), I might be able to trip it manually (I hope), if it happens again.
SO... here's the current dilemma. I was under the tractor reconnecting the fuel pump, and it just doesn't look right. There's a bracket on it, but it's not attached to anything. The pump is supported by the fuel lines, which are stretched taunt. The wires running to the fuel pump are also stretched tight. I check through the manual, and it shows two filters, one of which is near the fuel pump. Obviously, somewhere along the line, somebody decided they needed this fuel filter more than this tractor did... OK - I now have new filters on order -the question is - which way does it go? My intuition says the filter is between the tank and the pump, and the fuel flows from the tank, through the filter, then the pump, and then to the engine. But if that's the case, why did the tractor run for at least an hour (that's like 60 minutes if your using the metric system) with this fuel line disconnected? Is this possibly a fuel return line? If not, and the other fuel line is the return, is there someway the fuel return line was able to pull fuel from the tank back up to the injectors?
Any and all help, advice, suggestions, humor, etc would be appreciated.
SO... here's the current dilemma. I was under the tractor reconnecting the fuel pump, and it just doesn't look right. There's a bracket on it, but it's not attached to anything. The pump is supported by the fuel lines, which are stretched taunt. The wires running to the fuel pump are also stretched tight. I check through the manual, and it shows two filters, one of which is near the fuel pump. Obviously, somewhere along the line, somebody decided they needed this fuel filter more than this tractor did... OK - I now have new filters on order -the question is - which way does it go? My intuition says the filter is between the tank and the pump, and the fuel flows from the tank, through the filter, then the pump, and then to the engine. But if that's the case, why did the tractor run for at least an hour (that's like 60 minutes if your using the metric system) with this fuel line disconnected? Is this possibly a fuel return line? If not, and the other fuel line is the return, is there someway the fuel return line was able to pull fuel from the tank back up to the injectors?
Any and all help, advice, suggestions, humor, etc would be appreciated.
