Fuel to injector pump, but won't start. Solenoid and injector questions

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Glow plugs won't keep it from running or cause it to bad.

You are exactly right. Sometimes in the heat of things we forget the obvious. Thank you for clearing my head on that.

Why did you change your fuel filters? How long after that did it run bad and not start?

The Story:

The tractor was occasionally losing power, and once in a while, stalling. Let it sit for a bit, and it would be fine. It got worse over the summer. Finally decided I must have something in the tank. Tried draining the tank (pumped it out) and vacuumed it out as well as I could. I changed both filters. (first one was really bad, but the second one was clean.) Ran okay for a few weeks, then started bogging again, and as my son was bringing it up to the garage to look into the matter, it died.

So, I flushed the tank backwards. How? I have a 12v pump for fueling, with two separate filters, a 10 micron sediment filter followed by a 2 micron with water block. I rigged some fuel hose to suck fuel OUT of the tank, through the filters, and INTO the tank via the normal tank outlet, just before the first filter. Ran that way for a few hours to try to clean any floating junk out of the tank. Changed both filters.

We have not been able to start it since, SO, it's possible that we cleared a fuel problem out of the tank, and now we have a GP problem.


Had a really busy day today with other things (newborns will mess with your schedule!) and didn't get to anything on the tractor today. I'll try on Monday.

I do appreciate your generous help, gentlemen!

 

[dodge man]

Filters clogged all the time is still possible. Just make sure you are getting fuel out of that second fuel filter with the key on. It sounds like you have already done this but I'd check again.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Bother. It rained all day yesterday and it's doing the same today. At this rate, I won't get my hands on it until Saturday....

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Well, Saturday came around, and a high temp of a whopping 24 degrees. I decided to remove all three of the injector lines at the same time and get a good look at how much fuel is coming out of the lines to the injectors.

I'm glad it's cold today! It made the problem obvious, as you'll see in these pictures. Ice crystals. I saw them as soon as I had them opened up. I cranked it over anyway just to see, and got one good spurt out of one line, and then nothing. It's clearly a lot, and it's clearly through the system.

I guess that just might be why it's not starting.

So what's the procedure for getting it out of there?


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[94BULLITT]

Warm it up some way to get rid of the ice. Can you get it inside? Then get it running. You may want to drain the tank if the fuel is that bad.

Have you been using any fuel additives?

You need to put a Racor filter on it.

Where have you been buying fuel?

 

[moship]

Besides the ice, what are the yellow chunks in the 1st photo and possibly the 3rd photo? I'd be a bit worried where they came from and why they are in this location.

Reference the circled area:

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Warm it up some way to get rid of the ice. Can you get it inside?

The only "inside" I have is my house. I think that's not going to work.

Then get it running. You may want to drain the tank if the fuel is that bad.

I will be doing that!

Have you been using any fuel additives?

Just Stabil.

You need to put a Racor filter on it.

The interesting thing is that I have a water filter on my fuel pump. I'm guessing it's been maxed out.

Where have you been buying fuel?

Free home heating oil from someone converting to electric heat. I got about 100 gallons and the tank.

I'm pretty sure that my problem is my boys have been pretty careless about keeping the fuel barrels covered. I've been on them about it, but I guess the damage is done.

Besides the ice, what are the yellow chunks in the 1st photo and possibly the 3rd photo? I'd be a bit worried where they came from and why they are in this location.[

I saw those, too. I was hoping someone here could shed some light on them. Hmmm. Wax?


I have a 12v pump that I used to pump fuel out of 55 gallon barrels. I'm wondering if I can use that to circulate an additive to clean up the water in the system. Any ideas?

 

[moship]

Before trying to salvage your existing fuel, I'd be cleaning out the tanks, lines and such from the tractor and refilling with fresh known to be good diesel. Get the tractor running and then focus on decontaminating the existing fuel.

Fuel storage tank(s): Before adding any fuel conditioner, perhaps it would be best to filter the fuel first to remove as much water as possible before adding any additive.

 

[94BULLITT]

Do you have a heat lamp?

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Before trying to salvage your existing fuel, I'd be cleaning out the tanks, lines and such from the tractor and refilling with fresh known to be good diesel. Get the tractor running and then focus on decontaminating the existing fuel.

Fuel storage tank(s): Before adding any fuel conditioner, perhaps it would be best to filter the fuel first to remove as much water as possible before adding any additive.

That's my plan at this point. I plan to pick up a fresh 5 gallon can tomorrow. I'll get the on-road kind so the dye doesn't interfere with seeing the condition of things. I figure I'll disconnect the tank behind the first filter (before the lift pump) and plug that temporarily, then feed the lift pump from the fresh fuel, with a de-icer additive. (Diesel 911?) And yes, I do have a heat gun and a portable room heater that should warm up the filters, lift pump, injection pump, and injectors.

If I can get it running I'll let it idle a good bit to warm everything up well.

Then I'll tackle de-watering the rest of the fuel. Tractor tank first, then the barrels.

I've been using a water-absorbing filter on the fuel pump. I think I probably need to add a seperator with a glass bowl so I can keep an eye on things, and just have the absorber as a 2nd stage.

Sound like a plan? Any recommendations on additive?