need help with fuel issue - stalling

boughtaJD · Aug 2, 2013

I've searched the forums and tried a couple of things from threads but have had no luck - any ideas?

I have a 2320 about 6 years old with about 700 hours on it. My son was mowing & didn't check the fuel gage - ran out of fuel, filled it up and it would run for a minute or so & stall. I had a stalling issue last year that turned out to be a clogged fuel filter so that was my first thought. Replaced the fuel filter but still stalling. The engine will start back up after a few cranks but I noticed that the fuel is disappearing from the sediment bowl surrounding the filter & then the engine stalls.

This pointed me to perhaps a clogged supply line from the tank to the filter resulting from vacuum created when he ran it out of fuel? I pulled that line off, drained the tank via that line. I was draining that line into another hose & then into my diesel jug so I couldn't really tell how good the flow was but it took a good twenty minutes or so to empty 3.5+ gallons from the tank. I blew out the line with compressed air with the fuel tank cap off - hooked it back up and same results - starts up, watch fuel level in sediment bowl drop after a minute or so & engine stalls. I also checked for a bad fuel tank cap by leaving it off & it doesn't appear to be it either. And yes, the shutoff valve is in the correct position.

I didn't check the hose barb/filter top yet. Perhaps the clog got in that right angle?

Should I blow out other lines?

Perhaps there's still a foreign object in the tank hole leading to the fuel line?

Any ideas?

Thanks

Grumpy Old Man · Aug 2, 2013

I would check the fuel line itself for possibly a crack or a loose fitting sounds like its sucking air with 7 hundred hours it could be a worn fuel line from vibration ,the air in the bowl has to be coming from somewhere between the tank and the bowl . This could also be why your son ran out of fuel , curious as to what you find .

boughtaJD · Aug 2, 2013

The fuel lines all look good - no cracks or loose connections or leaks. Son just started mowing without looking at the gauge + big yards = trouble. As soon as it stalls or you shut off the engine you can see fuel filling the sed bowl back up.

I was just searching and saw another thread where a 2320 owner posted:

"Hello to all 2320 owners,
I recently posted a call for help regarding a problem with fuel flow on my 2320. I ran out of fuel, and after refueling, the tractor would not run for more than a couple seconds, them die...Because the fuel flowing into the filter housing was not keeping up with the consumption rate. I thought I picked up some dirt or crud from the bottom of the tank which restricted fuel flow, so I drained the fuel, blew out all fuel lines, and replaced the filter and o-ring..All to no avail, as the issue did not go away. Here is the issue...The book says the system is self priming, but it is not! On the side of the transfer pump is a little lever, the priming lever. After running out of fuel, the fuel pump must be primed in order to draw fuel out of the tank, so all I did was depress the prime lever about 15 times, and bingo...Problem solved. "

Doesn't sound like he ran out of fuel but perhaps a solution?......

Rick Gent · Aug 2, 2013

boughtaJD said:
I've searched the forums and tried a couple of things from threads but have had no luck - any ideas?

I have a 2320 about 6 years old with about 700 hours on it. My son was mowing & didn't check the fuel gage - ran out of fuel, filled it up and it would run for a minute or so & stall. I had a stalling issue last year that turned out to be a clogged fuel filter so that was my first thought. Replaced the fuel filter but still stalling. The engine will start back up after a few cranks but I noticed that the fuel is disappearing from the sediment bowl surrounding the filter & then the engine stalls.

This pointed me to perhaps a clogged supply line from the tank to the filter resulting from vacuum created when he ran it out of fuel? I pulled that line off, drained the tank via that line. I was draining that line into another hose & then into my diesel jug so I couldn't really tell how good the flow was but it took a good twenty minutes or so to empty 3.5+ gallons from the tank. I blew out the line with compressed air with the fuel tank cap off - hooked it back up and same results - starts up, watch fuel level in sediment bowl drop after a minute or so & engine stalls. I also checked for a bad fuel tank cap by leaving it off & it doesn't appear to be it either. And yes, the shutoff valve is in the correct position.

I didn't check the hose barb/filter top yet. Perhaps the clog got in that right angle?

Should I blow out other lines?

Perhaps there's still a foreign object in the tank hole leading to the fuel line?

Any ideas?

Thanks

Did you try bleeding the fuel line at the filter? Also I would want to see the rate of fuel flow coming from the tank. Twenty minutes to drain 3.5 gals seems a long time. Also look into the tank with a light to see if its clean, and try blowing air into the tank from the fuel line back. If it was run out of fuel as you say, some crud in tank bottom may have been sucked up. Good Luck

kuboman · Aug 2, 2013

If your sediment bowl is being sucked down then the problem is either an air leak at the filter or a restriction up stream from the sediment bowl. Does it have any kind of pump that could have failed or become plugged that it is up stream from the sediment bowl?

JohninCT · Aug 2, 2013

boughtaJD said:
The fuel lines all look good - no cracks or loose connections or leaks. Son just started mowing without looking at the gauge + big yards = trouble. As soon as it stalls or you shut off the engine you can see fuel filling the sed bowl back up.

I was just searching and saw another thread where a 2320 owner posted:

"Hello to all 2320 owners,
I recently posted a call for help regarding a problem with fuel flow on my 2320. I ran out of fuel, and after refueling, the tractor would not run for more than a couple seconds, them die...Because the fuel flowing into the filter housing was not keeping up with the consumption rate. I thought I picked up some dirt or crud from the bottom of the tank which restricted fuel flow, so I drained the fuel, blew out all fuel lines, and replaced the filter and o-ring..All to no avail, as the issue did not go away. Here is the issue...The book says the system is self priming, but it is not! On the side of the transfer pump is a little lever, the priming lever. After running out of fuel, the fuel pump must be primed in order to draw fuel out of the tank, so all I did was depress the prime lever about 15 times, and bingo...Problem solved. "

Doesn't sound like he ran out of fuel but perhaps a solution?......

No harm to try it. Have you done this yet? I had a Kubota B1750 that had a prime lever like that and it did work.

boughtaJD · Aug 5, 2013

Problem fixed but I don't know exactly what did it. I tried the prime lever but that didn't seem to do the trick. My FIL came over & we drained & checked the tank again, took off each fuel line & blew them out (with psi recommended in tech manual of course), blew out filter assembly & everything else we could think. Used prime lever again, started her up & saw fuel level dropping in the bowl again. So I resigned myself to drive it down the road to repair guy I use a mile away. My plan was to go low rpm & watch the bowl for fuel to drop so I could stop, turn off & let it refill. However, got half the way there & the fuel level never dropped & so no stalling! I stopped anyway & ran the throttle up to see if it would drop because I was now thinking I'm turning around & avoiding at least a couple hundred dollars of diagnostics/repairs. Turned around and headed home - runs like a top.

Don't know if there was still some crap that got dislodged, air bubble somewhere, or what.