JD 3038E starts, then after five seconds dies

[pmjerding]

My JD 3038E with 144 hrs has developed an annoying issue. It starts immediately runs for about five seconds then shuts down. After cranking for about thirty seconds it will start again then repeat the symptoms. After the third or fourth time it will run fine the rest of the day until I shut down then the process starts all over.

I have replaced fuel filter, drained the water seperator bowl-no signs of water. I have ran with and without air filters same result. My JD dealer said "never heard that one" not much help.

 

[GManBart]

That's more than annoying, it's wearing out your starter, and killing your battery from repeatedly deep cycling it. Assuming it's still under warranty, they need to get it fixed. It sounds like it has to be a fuel issue, and almost makes me think that somehow the system is losing it's prime. I'd check every single connection between the fuel pump and the injectors just to be sure. Some of them need to be pretty tight before they'll truly seal 100%.

 

[dusty3030]

That's more than annoying, it's wearing out your starter, and killing your battery from repeatedly deep cycling it. Assuming it's still under warranty, they need to get it fixed. It sounds like it has to be a fuel issue, and almost makes me think that somehow the system is losing it's prime. I'd check every single connection between the fuel pump and the injectors just to be sure. Some of them need to be pretty tight before they'll truly seal 100%.

Ditto, sounds like loosing prime. Should still be under warranty.

 

[pmjerding]

I am out of warranty. Dealer had tractor for two weeks, changed dash board panel, fuel shut-off selenoid and a relay. They said it was fixed. I picked it up drove home and could not get it off the trailor. Started fine first turn ran for about ten secounds then shut down. After turning over for about twenty secounds it stated and I was able to use it the rest of the day. After it sits the hole process starts over.

 

[pmjerding]

Took the tractor back to Deere, they pulled the fuel line from the tank and nothing came out. There appears to be a strainer in the tank that was plugged with BLACK ALGIE. I buy diesel either at Buckee’s or Kroger. Apparently their diesel sucks!
What an adventure!

 

[jimwatershed]

i've got a 3032e that had the same problem. changed out the fuel filters, no solution. checked the fuel shutoff solenoid, get power, no fuel coming through. check back to secondary fuel filter, no fuel coming through. finally chased this back to the tank, and after siphoning out 90% of the fuel and much difficult unscrewing the fitting there, they have a mesh screen attached on the inside of the tank that's not in the owner's manual that was completely clogged. JD dealer didn't have a replacement, so i soaked it in carb cleaner, scrubbed with an old toothbrush, blew it out with air compressor so no junk left, blew out the fuel tank to get all that junk out, hooked everything back up and seems to runs fine. so for me it was the secret mesh screen on the inside of the tank.

 

[CowboyRon]

i've got a 3032e that had the same problem. changed out the fuel filters, no solution. checked the fuel shutoff solenoid, get power, no fuel coming through. check back to secondary fuel filter, no fuel coming through. finally chased this back to the tank, and after siphoning out 90% of the fuel and much difficult unscrewing the fitting there, they have a mesh screen attached on the inside of the tank that's not in the owner's manual that was completely clogged. JD dealer didn't have a replacement, so i soaked it in carb cleaner, scrubbed with an old toothbrush, blew it out with air compressor so no junk left, blew out the fuel tank to get all that junk out, hooked everything back up and seems to runs fine. so for me it was the secret mesh screen on the inside of the tank.

The exact same thing happened to me on my mahindra 4025. I'm sure like me you were relieved when it was such a simple fix.

 

[jimwatershed]

oh yeah, when i pulled the screen out of the tank, that was a relief. i had been thinking fuel injection pump or some major problem. now if they would just have put that in the instructions in the owner's manual. but JD seems to lock away all their schematics somewhere in fort knox....

 

[Semipro]

I just thought I'd post this for anyone else that has this problem.
My JD 3032e started dying intermittently, would restart, run well for a while, then die again. I cleaned the fuel separator, installed a new filter, and added some diesel fuel treatment. This helped for a few months then the problem got worse. I knew already that microbes can grow in diesel so I suspected that they were clogging the tank pickup tube. I'd noticed some sort of slimy mass in the fuel separator when I'd cleaned it before so this seemed to make sense. I started to pull the pickup from the bottom of the tank but it looked pretty daunting so I took a look inside the tank - too much fuel to see through. I removed the inlet hose at the fuel separator to drain the tank but got little flow. I blew compressed air back through the tank and then got good enough flow to drain the tank. I took another look into the fill port of the tank and could see a slimy mass in the pickup area and in another low portion of the tank. Although the stuff looked fragile I was able to use a mechanic's pickup tool to remove both masses from the tank (photo below). I've read that this stuff grows at the interface between fuel and water. I'm pretty careful about my fuel quality so I'm not sure how I got water in there other than from the air.
She's running great now.
I read on another site where someone paid a JD dealer $600 to pull the tank and clean it for the same problem. I hope this post saves someone that aggravation.

BTW the stuff is not algae as most commonly call it. It's actually bacteria or fungi. There's some good info from DOW Chemical and Wikipedia at the links below.
http://www.hpcdfuel.com/pdf/DOWfuel_training.pdf
Microbial contamination of diesel fuel - Wikipedia

 

[John0829]

I have to wonder if it has something to do with the tanks used by John Deere or maybe the quality of the low sulphur fuel, I had the same problem with my 1025R recently. I had just changed the fuel filters and in less than 2 hours run time the tractor started shutting down. I am very particular about my fuel, buying it a station with lots of turn over and never put the tractor to bed without filling the tank using a Mr Funnel plus I use a biocide in the storage cans. I did figure out I was not using enough biocide after cleaning the tank and rechecking my math but that does not explain how the conditions (water) developed to allow the microbes to grow.