BX2360 Issues in Cold Weather

[repair1]

I am not having any problem starting my BX2360 (6 degrees this morning) and it runs fine however, HeLa's comment about the cap venting makes sense to me. I've noticed that I can put the filler cap on finger tight but the next time I fuel the tractor it takes two hands to loosen it. I can't think of any reason for this other than vacuum.

 

[RFB]

If I had to guess I'd say the fuel flow is being restricted by ice in the tank, lines, or new filter. The most likely guess is the new filter has some water in it (again) and as it gets below freezing it begins to restrict the fuel movement. If there's water in the tank, about the only way to get it completely out is to remove the tank and flush it, which I suspect is a pig of a job. The thing is, I doubt the filter will allow water to pass through, instead it "holds" some of it due to the porosity of the filter. Fuel will go through no problem, but the larger water molecules hang up in the fibres of the filter and restrict the fuel. It'd be worse when it was below freezing, once the water freezes, it forms an impassable barrier for the fuel. That's why the heater worked the first time, it thawed the filter. You can try some diesel or heating oil anti-freeze.. it's the same idea as gas line antifreeze, but has some additives to prevent damage to fuel pumps. The active ingredient in gas line anti-freeze is alcohol, which has zero lubricating qualities and is pure poison to a fuel injection system or even a furnace burner oil pump. A lot of diesel cold-weather additives have ingredients to prevent gelling and a cetane booster, but may not have an anti-freeze component. Either way, you'll have to get it going again if you use the anti-freeze option to get it through the system. A short term fix may be to remove the line going to the first filter and drain the tank, then add fresh treated diesel (and another new filter!) with an antifreeze component in the additive. The trouble with that is, if there IS water in the tank it'll go to the lowest point in the tank, fuel being lighter than water and sit there, usually just below the level of the fuel pickup or drain point. When the tractor moves around, it sloshes around a bit and some water goes into the fuel line, hangs up in the filter and freezes and you're stuck. Again. That's my 2 cents, not good news for a freezing day in January though. Sean

Chilly,

I wonder if something like this would work? Insert it into the fuel tank (even if you could not get all of in, enough to be effective) and drive around, slosh the water, absorb it and then remove it.

http://www.cim-tek.com/petroleum/tankdryers.html

 

[wmonroe]

If I had to guess I'd say the fuel flow is being restricted by ice in the tank, lines, or new filter. The most likely guess is the new filter has some water in it (again) and as it gets below freezing it begins to restrict the fuel movement. If there's water in the tank, about the only way to get it completely out is to remove the tank and flush it, which I suspect is a pig of a job. The thing is, I doubt the filter will allow water to pass through, instead it "holds" some of it due to the porosity of the filter. Fuel will go through no problem, but the larger water molecules hang up in the fibres of the filter and restrict the fuel. It'd be worse when it was below freezing, once the water freezes, it forms an impassable barrier for the fuel. That's why the heater worked the first time, it thawed the filter. You can try some diesel or heating oil anti-freeze.. it's the same idea as gas line antifreeze, but has some additives to prevent damage to fuel pumps. The active ingredient in gas line anti-freeze is alcohol, which has zero lubricating qualities and is pure poison to a fuel injection system or even a furnace burner oil pump. A lot of diesel cold-weather additives have ingredients to prevent gelling and a cetane booster, but may not have an anti-freeze component. Either way, you'll have to get it going again if you use the anti-freeze option to get it through the system. A short term fix may be to remove the line going to the first filter and drain the tank, then add fresh treated diesel (and another new filter!) with an antifreeze component in the additive. The trouble with that is, if there IS water in the tank it'll go to the lowest point in the tank, fuel being lighter than water and sit there, usually just below the level of the fuel pickup or drain point. When the tractor moves around, it sloshes around a bit and some water goes into the fuel line, hangs up in the filter and freezes and you're stuck. Again. That's my 2 cents, not good news for a freezing day in January though. Sean

I respectfully disagree. If the tractor had been running for 45 minutes then the return fuel would have warmed the fuel in the tank enough to keep it from freezing.


Don't the BX's have fuel pumps to provide the fuel to the injection pump. My 5240 is gravity feed to the injection pump but I thought the BX's had a pump. If that pump isn't working it might explain the issue.

 

[Chilly807]

If it was a Detroit Diesel or something with a high return fuel volume, I might agree, but all that goes back on these engines is the injector leakage, which on a bx might not amount to a cup every hour.. even so, if the problem is a filter with water in the element, the fuel would have to be quite warm to thaw it. With ours, where the tank is above the engine and gets warmer, maybe it wouldn't be a problem..
It would be interesting to pull the first filter, keep it cold, and try to move fuel through it.
Which brings up another question.. where is the boost pump in relation to all this? I know there are 2 filters, a boost or lift pump, and the injection pump.. is the pump before the filters? After them? In between?
Problems like this one are good for trouble shooting, I'm glad it's not mine though. We've got a shi* load of snow to move here this morning!

Sean

 

[bramel]

I remember hearing once somebody a problem similar to this...it was found to be a piece of plastic in the fuel tank. As the fuel was drawn into the engine it pulled the plastic down and blocked off the fuel line, stalling the engine. After sitting for awhile the suction would break and the plastic would move off into the tank, until the next time he tried to run the machine.

Drove the poor guy nuts... Until he got the piece of junk outta the tank.

Might be the same thing happening here????

 

[jesseb3@att.net]

What does the fuel pump sound like when you hold the key to glow? Rapid, steady clicking? Listen before you start it, and after it gives you problems. If mine stutters, I know I'm gonna' have issues. It happened this winter once already - granted, I got lazy this year and didn't treat the fuel. (I also moved, and haven't been able to find that bottle of treatment!)

Warming the line with a heater always does the trick for me...the real question is why do BX's have such a consistent issue? Looking forward to how you fix yours - I park in an unheated garage that's connected to the house now, and that seems enough to prevent mine from acting up.

 

[Dan W]

I remember hearing once somebody a problem similar to this...it was found to be a piece of plastic in the fuel tank. As the fuel was drawn into the engine it pulled the plastic down and blocked off the fuel line, stalling the engine. After sitting for awhile the suction would break and the plastic would move off into the tank, until the next time he tried to run the machine.

Drove the poor guy nuts... Until he got the piece of junk outta the tank.

Might be the same thing happening here????

Bramel,
This happened to me as well, way back in one of my previous lives as a service manager for Cummins.
We had a poor customer with a constant low power complaint, and we could not reproduce the failure at our shop. He would always arrive with his truck at our shop with both tanks full. This was a Cummins 400hp in KW tractor, I remember we tore-down the engine twice, then installed a new engine and yet we still had this severe and very intermittent HP loss. We finally pulled all the fuel lines and both 120 gallon fuel tanks off the truck and found one large piece of plastic sandwich wrap, one in each fuel tank. No idea how the stuff got there but certainly difficult to find. As the fuel got low, the plastic floating around in the tanks would block-off the suction stand pipe and cut the fuel delivery to the fuel pump, and the engine would almost stall. Stop the engine, let it sit for a while, start again and all was fine..... This was one of the most difficult issues to resolve. This was a brand new truck.
So, yes, always look for the simple stuff first...
I
Dan

 

[milkman]

The fuel filter is small and doesn't take much water to plug it up. I got some bad fuel and took five filter changes to get rid of it. I started using a Mr Funnel and haven't had a problem since, worth it's weight in gold. I'm betting it's moisture in the fuel and plugging the filter. I have 1000 hrs on mine now and only needed to change the filter under the hood once, the first filter does it's job, just can't hold much junk.

 

[tonylumps]

I second Mr. Funnel. Had a fuel can go bad on me. About the time I noticed the bad fuel coming out it was too late. I was using the funnel but did not trust it even though it was loaded with dirty water. Went out and bought a Half dozen fuel filters just in case. Never had to use the filters, but did pour a can of Seafoam in the tank.So on all of my power Equipment I use Mr. Funnel and I always keep a half a case of Seafoam around and use it for Gas and Diesel.It seems to work

 

[Brimfield]

Sounds like me yesterday. I started up no problem and started to go the 1/2 mile to clear the mail box and it started slowing down and finally died. I had summer fuel in it with no power service for gelling. I walked back and grabbed a bottle of the power service anti gel and re stated it, it was rough at first but I let it idle and it worked just fine. I added 2 gallons of kerosene to 3 gallons of diesel and addded a good dose of two stroke oil and power service to be sure. I park it outside so no electricity there for block a heater.