L3400 stalled

[bigballer]

185 hours on my L3400 and over the weekend was working on installing my zip line and on the way down to the lower tree the tractor started sputtering and then died, i tried restarting it and it wouldn't go, checked the fuel level which was just under 1/4 tank. looked inside the tank, could see fuel so i knew that wasn't the problem. looked down at the fuel filter bowl and it was only half full.. ??? so i unscrewed it and cleaned it out, didn't see anything strange but expected fuel to come shooting out, it didn't so i pulled the feeder line from the tank that connects to the filter cap fuel started shooting out then i noticed this long gooey string of grayish brown gunk coming out of the hole in the filter cover. i then remembered when you screw the filter bowl back on it opens the valve and it's supposed to fill up the bowl, well this wasn't happening so i worked the the valve and slowly but surely more of that grayish goo came out until i completely cleared it, looked like about a tablespoon of that gunk had come out. i checked the filter - looked fine, and replaced the bowl and woosh the it filled with fuel, a quick bleeding and i was back in business. so what is that goo anway? anyone experience that sort of stuff before? i last replaced the fuel filter at 100 hours so only 85 since then how could this have so much buildup.. anyway happy it was a quick 5 minute fix and she's back on her feet..

 

[ccsial]

That's pretty ugly. I wonder if you got bad fuel or if somthing got in the tank.

Diesel can grow algae if moisture gets into the fuel. Not sure what you had there but I'd change my fuel source.

 

[philipb]

Even with good fuel, condensation can put water in your tank, or fuel can, for that matter, especially if the fuel sits in an atmosphere of warmer and then cooler temperatures, promoting condensation. I use a fuel conditioner in my gas cans everytime I fill up because I know they will sit for a long period of time. Your problem makes me want to go out and drain the filter and just see what's going on in there.

 

[ccsial]

I am wondering if your using bio diesel. My fuel supplier told me they have more trouble with bio fuel gumming up. I don't buy it.

 

[bigballer]

no biodiesel here and i usually only fill 5 gallons at a time so the fuel doesn't sit in the can for more than a day or two before it goes into the tank. could have been due to condensation build up. the last few tanks have been from the Chevron station, maybe I should go back to the Shell and watch over time see if it repro's.

 

[VALENT]

The goo could have been building up for quite some time even before you changed the filter the last time. It just wasnt built up enough to be noticeable.

So, how big a zipline?

 

[Harvest Moon]

How about that zip line? Got any pictures?

 

[canoetrpr]

I've never run into anything like this but now you've got me a bit worried. I have a 300 gallon tank. I go through about 100 gallons a year.

100 gallons is the min they will fill so I get them to fill up 100 gallons each year when I see it gets low. Just had it filled and dumped a powerservice bottle into it.

Touch wood three years that I have been doing this now and the diesel seems to be in decent condition.

I did add a water block filter to my pump so perhaps the combination of that and the PowerService that I add is helping. I don't think you could get much more stale than mine though sitting around for a year.

 

[dex3361]

Diesel can have alge growth. Most of the Diesel conditioners have an algecide. Could this be what you saw?

 

[bigballer]

yeah it could have been the algae buildup. i wanted to take a picture of it but was too busy to walk up to the house to get my camera. it was a brownish gray thick goo and it all came out in one piece sort of globbed together.. i should also do a visual on my fuel cans, maybe they are contributing since i don't always get every drop of fuel out of them. i'll try to add a conditioner to the fuel as well, what is the best brand to get or what works for you?

RE that zipline - i started a thread on it a while back but didn't really get moving on the project until this past weekend, it's 275ft long and has about a 20ft drop but in testing tonight realized it needs to go up a bit higher and the mainline needs to be shortened so i can tighten it up more. also originally planned on gravity stop but want to get the most ditance out of it so will be installing a brake block at the bottom. i'll be posting some pics to that thread (under "projects") soon but i can tell already it's going to have a decent fear factor and will be nice adrenaline rush.