L3400 stalling problem 15 minutes after start

slan · Jul 12, 2009

I had a similar problem with my L3240 and it was the fuel bleed cock was not tight and would start to starve for fuel in about 20 minutes.
Make sure your fuel bowl is seating, bleed valve is tightly closed, and when it stalls out check to see if you have fuel in the bowl.

Rick Cabell · Jul 12, 2009

All good info thanks.
Yes, there is plenty of fuel in the bowl at all times.
Is water in diesel fuel as easy to see as gasoline? When checking for water, I am looking for water sitting at the bottom of glass jar. If not,maybe I do have a mix.
That pre fuel pump would be my next thought if there is no water in the tank.

lawn_king · Jul 13, 2009

It does sound like a fuel problem or perhaps a bad (15 minutes) intellipanel?

Rick Cabell · Jul 13, 2009

What is a intellipanel??

Rick Cabell · Jul 16, 2009

Off and running. As good as the fuel looked, I drained it out 100%, and put in fresh fuel. Seems OK. Ran it 1.5 hours today. The fuel in it had been in since last November. Never heard of fuel going bad after such a short time.

ccsial · Jul 16, 2009

Thanks for the update. I've not seen fuel go bad that quick either. Interesting.

Ron D. · Jul 17, 2009

Rick, I've had the same type of issue when gasoline was mixed with the diesel.

I would recommend adding Power Service Diesel Kleen to your fuel. It boosts cetane and lubrication, which is an issue with the low sulphur fuels. I just started using it and can tell the difference. There is a silver bottle and a white bottle. The white bottle is for cold weather, and has better anti-gel properties than the silver bottle.

Here in Texas, I use the silver bottle and highly recommend it.

machinefarmer · Jul 18, 2009

I had a similar problem and I traced it back to the Bleed fitting on the fuel filter canister. My Yanmar, (since traded for a new L2800) had a "plunger" type purge valve to refill the fuel filter jar or to bleed the fuel system to the filter housing. That plunger was not seating sometimes, and it would allow air into the system creating bubbles in the line from the filter housing to the pump when running the engine. It would only leak a drip or two per hour so it was hard to see the leak with the tractor on a dirt floor. The tractor would die after about 10 minutes. It drove me nuts for weeks. If you don't have a plunger type bleed fitting, check to be sure your bleed screw is seating and not allowing air to suck into the system when running. Overall, I think you are definatly experiencing a fuel delivery problem or getting air into your fuel lines someplace. Good Luck. JP