engine dying again!!

[RickB]

Those old Stanadynes and CAV's are primitive compared to what the emissions standards have done to today's mechanical injection pumps. The variable advance mechanisms and closer tolerances required have made puimp repair a nightmare. We have sent out a few of these to our local Bosch authorized shop and the majority have been scrapped under warranty as economically unrepairable. The notion that a tractor dealership technician is going to do anything positive to any internal component of today's Bosch rotary pump just makes me laugh. The pumps that work well for the first few hundred hours seem OK; the ones that cause trouble early are either OK after repair, or don't get that far at all.

 

[WTA]

Well, my tractor came home from the dealer last night. Actually I had to go get it because I had no more time left to get my hay cut. They were done with it they said.

I made it a couple miles down the road and it started missing real bad on me suddenly. I can't tell you how embarrasing that was driving by all the farms where people were out working in their green tractors and mine is going by puking white smoke and cutting out on me.
They had the injector pump rebuilt so I figured the timing was off. It was thanks to a missing bolt and another one loose on the pump. That was a fun ride home.

When I got here I set the timing like it's supposed to be myself and went to cutting. It was running perfect for almost 15 minutes then it started back with the same problem the pump just got rebuilt for. This is really getting frustrating now!
I managed to get my fields cut with it missing on me and I kept stopping to check for air leaks again and tighten things.
Today, I tightened every fuel fitting and clamp on the tractor once again and it seems a little better but not much. The temp had cooled off a lot with some storms going by and it seems to mess up worst when it's hot out. If my hay gets rained on now I don't know what I'll do. That's their tractor payment laying out there in the field right now! It wasn't supposed to rain today but it's sure coming down around us. It all should have been baled already and put up but the tractor died again and had to go to the dealer when I was ready to cut last week.

I'm at a loss as to what to do with it now. I don't think it's going back to that dealer again. Too many things have happened lately that have me pretty upset. Missing bolts on the injector pump and a broken bracket that they took off my engine really don't help matters. Neither did the hydraulic leak that was puking all over my alfalfa after it warmed up that they said they fixed. There is a good oil trail on about half of my windrows out there. This just isn't acceptable for a new tractor and we're looking at our options now. I've been living with this problem for a couple of months now. the mechanics have been out three times and it's spent a week in their shop with no cure. The two antique tractors I sold last year to get this one were a whole lot more reliable. Especially the farmall. I'm really missing that tractor right now.

 

[Eagleview]

I would think it's not in need of a pump rebuild , it's just a little intermittent problem , sticky valve , crook solenoid , faulty relay , air leak etc . They may well inadvertantly rectify the problem while they are inside the pump but a switched on mechanic would diagnose and fix your problem on the tractor . Would the dealer loan you a pump to try ? Have you thought about hooking up a drum of fuel and gravity feeding the pump to rule out blockages , air leaks etc . Have you tried swaping the pump relay for a known good one , maybe a headlight relay etc . Have you taken the "buzzing" solenoid to an auto electrician to have checked ? You may find that when you finally get the pump back it may still have the problem .

You say you have done all the things i suggested above but something has obviously been missed . You still can't rule out the pump either because of the solenoids and check valves etc that they would not have tested with the rebuild . I feel your pain , you have no choice but to hire or borrow a tractor to get your hay in . Other wise you will be going backwards financially at full speed .

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I would be looking to trade that tractor in while you still can. It might even qualify for the lemon law but I don't know enough about that to say for sure. Either way I would get rid of the tractor and find a new dealer that will loan you a tractor if yours breaks down and buy from him.

 

[WTA]

We're trying to get more information on the lemon law for our state right now. It's not easy on the holiday so I may have to talk to a lawyer on monday. I'm going to ask him about the trail of oil down most of my windrows too from a leak they told me they fixed!

On the good side I may have finaly found the problem but I'm going to give it a few days of hard work till I can say for sure. There is a vent line coming off the back of the pump, it runs up through the intake heater(glow plug) and on back to the tank. It was routed really weird up and over the top of the engine and had 4 plastic zip ties on it securing it very tightly to wiring harnesses. I tried to blow air through it and it went through but not nearly what I would expect from a 1/4 inch rubber hose. After I cut all the zip ties and routed it more in a straight line the air blows through it just fine. I've been running it about 10 hours now and done one fill up without so much as a hickup so we'll see.

Should I sent them the bill for all the hours I've spent working on it under warranty? Man this makes me mad!

 

[Robert_in_NY]

We're trying to get more information on the lemon law for our state right now. It's not easy on the holiday so I may have to talk to a lawyer on monday. I'm going to ask him about the trail of oil down most of my windrows too from a leak they told me they fixed!

On the good side I may have finaly found the problem but I'm going to give it a few days of hard work till I can say for sure. There is a vent line coming off the back of the pump, it runs up through the intake heater(glow plug) and on back to the tank. It was routed really weird up and over the top of the engine and had 4 plastic zip ties on it securing it very tightly to wiring harnesses. I tried to blow air through it and it went through but not nearly what I would expect from a 1/4 inch rubber hose. After I cut all the zip ties and routed it more in a straight line the air blows through it just fine. I've been running it about 10 hours now and done one fill up without so much as a hickup so we'll see.

Should I sent them the bill for all the hours I've spent working on it under warranty? Man this makes me mad!

If that is the problem I would make sure and tell the mechanics what you found and did in case they run into this again. Giving them a bill won't do much good. Hopefully you did find the problem and now you only have to get the oil leak fixed.

I have not heard of anyone having any chronic problems with their TDD or JX (the red version which has been here longer). Hopefully your problems are past you but I would still be looking for a different dealer that is geared towards your needs and the needs of your farm.

 

[WTA]

There is another dealer about 60 miles away that I am going to start using. If I have to. Normally I don't ever take anything to another mechanic unless it's a warranty thing. I still need a place to get parts though. This other dealer though has 15 mechanics and the proper tools to do the job. They have been there a while too. The one I have been gong to is close by but they only have two inexperienced mechanics.

I fixed the leak. All it took was a 26 MM wrench and a couple times loosening it and tightening it. It's a banjo fitting with copper washers on the spool valve on back. I asked them to replace the washers but I guess I should have asked them to retighten it also when they were done.

Oh, I'm not telling them squat! They can figure this one out on their own next time.

For all of you people, the return line from the pump straight back to the tank via the intake heater is way too long and should not be tied tightly like it was. If yours is missing or feeling weird then follow that hose all the way back and make sure it's not pinched, especially where it goes over the rear hood bracket and where it turns the corner to go under the cab. Also make sure all the zip ties aren't too tight on it. That thing has to flow fuel and it's not going to do it like it came on mine.
I just can't figure out why it waited till 200 hours or so to start messing up. I guess it's possible that vibration and heat maybe caused the ties to slip and go tighter where it was attached to the wiring harnesses.
I also rerouted that line more directly around the back of the engine and straight to the tank where it's all downhill all the way to the tank.

 

[Eagleview]

We also have taken off all the flexible fuel hoses, blown them out and reinstalled them where there's no possibility of being pinched.

It seems like you've been here before .

 

[MikePA]

Oh, I'm not telling them squat! They can figure this one out on their own next time.

You'd be helping out other owners whose tractors have the same problem.

 

[WTA]

I looked at that hose before but it's the only one I didn't take off myself. One of the mechanics told me they did it. I don't see how after I took it off myself. I had to drop the tank on one end just to get to it. That's when I noticed how tight the zip ties were on it.

The reason I don't feel like telling them anything is I have lost two custom farming contracts over all this plus probably 200 ruined bales of hay out there due to that oil leak.
Being a mechanic myself for so long I guess it's my own fault. I should have known to check their work but when I picked up the tractor the only thing on my mind was getting my hay done. Without that my family really would have been screwed for money.

All the years I spent in supervisory positions I never once let any machine out the door without personally checking the repair myself. Only now that I'm semi retired am I getting lax in it. Walmart got me last month with a set of tires they put on my truck and now this.

Though with the walmart incident, I did catch the mistake they made at first. They balanced my tires wrong and I told the manager they need to go back and try again. They had weights in 3 different positions on each side of my new tires. Totally wrong. They did go back and redo them but they screwed them up that time too and I didn't recheck it because I thought I got the message across. They also put 80 PSI in the front tires and 50 in the back when I told them the exact opposite and made sure that was written in the work order.
I just can't win.

ANy of you that have ever driven with overinflated front tires in truck rutted highways will know how long it took me to figure out that screw up.