tc30 just died, won't start

[jsm555]

I just put fuel in my tc-30, mowed for maybe ten minutes and the engine simply quit. it felt as if it were out of fuel, so i removed the fuel filter and blew it out - there was a lot of crud in there, but seems pretty clean now.

i'm wondering if there may have been some crud in the bottom of the can when i got gas (i use 5 gal gas cans for diesel fuel) - if so, could something else be clogged up so bad that the engine won't run? it seems like it 'tries' to start, but never runs more than 1/2 sec or so - any ideas?

thanks,

 

[rayikeo2]

I bet there was water in the gas can. I would take the fuel filter back off and drain about a quart of diesel into a see thru container and let it set overnight to see if water seperates out. Then try bleeding the system acording to your manual and try restarting.

 

[jsm555]

Thanks, I'll try that - unfortunately, I cannot find my stupid owner's manual - my wife likes to "put things away" that she sees sitting out, and it will probably take months for me to stumble across the new hiding place

I bet there was water in the gas can. I would take the fuel filter back off and drain about a quart of diesel into a see thru container and let it set overnight to see if water seperates out. Then try bleeding the system acording to your manual and try restarting.

 

[rayikeo2]

Wives do that, and unfortunitly they then blame you for losing it.:confused2:Maybe soneone with that model tractor can give you the correct info.

 

[Jerry/MT]

I just put fuel in my tc-30, mowed for maybe ten minutes and the engine simply quit. it felt as if it were out of fuel, so i removed the fuel filter and blew it out - there was a lot of crud in there, but seems pretty clean now.

i'm wondering if there may have been some crud in the bottom of the can when i got gas (i use 5 gal gas cans for diesel fuel) - if so, could something else be clogged up so bad that the engine won't run? it seems like it 'tries' to start, but never runs more than 1/2 sec or so - any ideas?

thanks,

I don't know the specifics of your tractor but I would replace the filter and then bleed the system. I don't know what good "blowing out" a typical diesel filter would do!

Make sure that your battery is well charged.

Make sure the tank screen isn't clogged. Remove the line from the fuel valve at the bottom of the tank( Valve closed) and hold a suitable container under the valve while you open it. The fuel should gush out like a cow peein' on a flat rock. If it doesn't, then you'll have to remove the valve and clean the screen. If it does gush out, close the valve, and reconnect the line. Replace the old filter with a new one and open the bleeder screw at the top of the filter assembly. Open the tank valve and let the filter assembly fill to th top with fuel so there is no air in the filter. Check to see if there is a bleeder screw on your injector pump. If so, open that next and bleed the air out of it. If you don't have a bleeder screw on the pump, go to the injectors and loosen the fuel fitting on the injector so that it just leaks a little.(I do one injector at a time, other folks open all the injectors. Your call.)

Now crank the engine til you see some fuel come out of the injector fitting(s). When you see that, tighten them down. Since I do them one at a time, the engine usually starts on the 2nd injector of my 3 Cylinder Ford 4610.

 

[sweettractors]

Most definitely, change all fuel filters, drain some fuel out of the tank (may have trash in the tank). Bleed the system and try to start. We have had customers that carried fuel to their tractors in 5 gal metal cans and got lots of rust in the tank to where it had to be removed and cleaned. Had 1 guy that bought a new tractor from us and the neighbor boys came over at night and put red clay dirt in his tank. It got thru the filters all the way to the injection pump. We spent several hours cleaning out that mess for him. Ken Sweet

 

[rayikeo2]

Just a pointer, when using a 5 gallon container to store extra diesel fuel always use a yellow plastic 5 gal can and a funnel with a fine screen built in. That will eliminate 95% of the problems. You always know which can is diesel.

 

[JC-jetro]

Along with what Ray said, I'd use a coffee filter in the funnel and does a great job of picking up all the contaminants from my yellow 5 gallon fuel tank.

JC,

 

[jsm555]

Well, I wish I'd talked to you guys before now - I use some old plastic gas cans, I wasn't aware that the yellow cans had a filter built-in -

BTW, my wife did find the manual, in her office (but it was still my fault, of course! and I bled the fuel system per the instructions, but when I open the bleed valve, nothing comes out until I crank the engine - then the engine will catch and some fuel will come out. It runs for about two minutes and then seems to be starving for fuel again and dies. I suspect that there's junk in the bottom of the tank, but this manual doesn't have instructions for removing it, etc. I guess I'll just have to try to figure out how everything bolts on, then remove the tank and clean it.

Thanks for all the help, guys, at least I was able to get it started and drive it back to the house (well, it took three tries!) and I know what's causing the problem - I sure would have thought that the fuel filter would have caught any junk in the fuel, but I guess it may be in the tube from the tank to the filter or in the bottom of the tank itself. Actually, that makes sense, because the engine dies when I run the tractor on an incline - I just thought of that.

 

[sweettractors]

On some tractors, there is a valve where the fuel leaves the tank that can be screwed out of the tank, if it can, you may be able to flush it out without removing?? Ken Sweet