TL100A fuel problems

beach70 · Oct 11, 2010

I have a TL100A that loses power and will die while working under a load. Currently it will start but starts hard and has no power. Changed fuel filters x2 bled fuel system but still acts the same. At first it would seem to work better with a completely full tank of fuel seemed to happen more around 1/2 a tank. Now does it with a full tank. Do you think line is cracked in tank or maybe injector pump going bad. I had dealer out twice, first time they just replaced the filters (which I had just replaced) seemed to work OK for a day or two then back to the same. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance from a first time poster.

Eagleview · Oct 11, 2010

The factory had their dealers fit an inline filter just before the factory filters . I think you will find that if you remove the inline filter , there will be some junk stuck in the hose or in the barb on the filter restricting the flow . The tanks are made of Polyethylene and when they are drilled and taped for the fittings , some swarf gets left in the tanks . This can get up the fuel lines but can't get past the restriction of the filter barb . If your tractor didn't get the inline filter , the junk will be in the fuel line at the factory primary filter inlet .

Air filter cleanliness is critical on these tractors also , they may look OK but when a new filter is fitted the difference in power is quite substantial .

beach70 · Oct 11, 2010

I will check the inline filter and clean. Any specific tricks for removing all the air?

Eagleview · Oct 14, 2010

Just pump the lift pump actuator until it goes soft (this is when the diaphragm wont come back down because of suction) . If it wont start , undo 1 or 2 injector lines , give it full throttle and wind it over until you see Diesel staring to spurt out . Tighten the injector lines and start it up , it will clear itself and run smooth quickly .

Did you find anything in the fuel line ?

beach70 · Oct 15, 2010

Its been sitting for about a week. Next week I'm going to tear into it. I'll let you know what I find. I'm sure i'll be back with more questions.

beach70 · Nov 2, 2010

well finally tore into the tractor. was taking the fuel tank off and found the back cap? to be almost open. this is a threaded cap that the fuel return from injector pump and fuel guage is housed. It was even leaking fuel down the back of the tank from fuel sloshing around. Took the tank all the way off cleaned it out, took all lines off checked for debris up to inline filter. everything else looked good. reinstalled and filled back up with fuel. Primed everything per manual and tractor fired right up. Seems to be working normal now.

one question I still have. The inline filter always has air in it. sometime more air, sometimes less. shouldn't it always be completely full of fuel with no air?

beach70 · Nov 2, 2010

started doing the same thing again. next i,m going to replace all the fuel lines. still don't know why i have air in the inline filter

beach70 · Nov 2, 2010

it has an odd new car style fuel cap, could this be it?

AndyG · Nov 4, 2010

Your fuel cap could be part of the trouble. It needs to be vented so that it can suck in air as the fuel leaves the tank. If the vent is plugged then a vacum is formed and the fuel will not flow out. I kind suspect that you may still have debris in your tank whick block the outlet. A piece of plastic bag is the worst at doing this. It will get sucked over the outlet causing the tractor to die. After a few minutes the plastic will float away and the tractor will start normally only for the piece of plastic to come back later. Step 1) make sure that your cap vent is working properly. Step 2) Answer this question: Does the fuel exit the top of the tank or the bottom on this tractor?

beach70 · Nov 4, 2010

fuel exits top of tank. I had the tank completely off. removed all lines and washed out with clean diesel

Eagleview · Nov 4, 2010

As mentioned , the vented cap could be blocked . When the tractor plays up next time , loosen the cap a few turns and see if it comes good .

Don't worry about the air in the filter , this is normal .

RickB · Nov 4, 2010

Air in the inline filter is normal. Air bubbles entering the inline filter while the tractor is running is not. The drop tube in the tank may be cracked or blocked. The inline filter itself may be cracked, allowing air to enter directly into the filter. This happened to me once on a brand new inline filter. You may or may not see bubbles from a cracked inline filter.

Eagleview · Nov 4, 2010

RickB is correct , I never thought to ask if you could actually see air bubbles entering the filter . A couple of years ago , my tractor once started to surge and also lost power when the hose clamp on the inline filter needed tightening as it was sucking air . It was hard to find because it wasn't the bottom clamp leaking which would have shown up as bubbles in the filter , it was the top clamp which allowed the air to travel to the main filters unseen .

Jbrink64 · Nov 4, 2010

I've seen this with a weak lift pump, wether it's electric, or the old diaphragm type. As I recall, you need about 8 psi of fuel pressure to the injection pump inlet. You would have to "t" in a pressure gauge, then run the engine under load and see what the pressure does. If you know someone with a pto dyno, it makes the troubleshooting easy.

beach70 · Nov 5, 2010

My initial thought was a cracked line in the tank. (metal pick-up tube from top of tank) that was where I started and took tank completely off. Next I will be replacing all lines and clamps and once again the plastic inline filter. Is the lift pump the same as the fuel pump? It is mechanical and has the manual way of priming the filters correct? This has also been replaced. I contacted New Holland they contacted my local dealer and are also "looking into it"

Jbrink64 · Nov 5, 2010

Items that could cause these problems have been covered in previous replys. Tank venting, try running with the cap loose, see if it makes a difference.
Fuel line obstruction/air ingress/low pump output-these issues I check in one test.

Install a clear hose just before the lift pump. T into it a vacuum gauge. After the lift pump do the same thing, but T in a low pressure gauge. While the engine is running, an occasional air bubble is OK, a steady flow of bubbles is no good. I put a clear hose before and after the pump to see if air getsmin through the suction side, or a pump diaphragm.

At full load, the vacuum gauge should show no more than a couple inches of vacuum, any more, the suction lines have blockage. And as mentioned before, there should be pressure feeding the injection pump.

I know it sounds complicated, I do apologize. This is a real tricky condition to figure out.

beach70 · Nov 5, 2010

great info guys! thanks again to everyone trying to help me figure this out. i have somethings to try. i'll let everyone know how it goes

AndyG · Nov 5, 2010

sounds like you have some good tips. If your tank was gravity flow you could simply disconnect the line where it enters the pump to check for good flow but it is not. Sounds like you have already checked the pick up tube in the tank. It might be helpful to gently blow out all of the lines with compressed air also.

beach70 · Nov 10, 2010

For now tractor is back to running like normal. Last thing I did was remove all lines, blow them out with compressed air, and reinstall. Also cleaned fuel cap but it didn't seem plugged. Also i did not get any debris out when blowing air through the lines. I actually think the problem was a line not tight enough and pulling in air under a load. baled some corn stalks and seems to be back to normal. i'll keep my fingers crossed as I don't want the only cab tractor to go down when its -30 and I need to drive a mile to feed hay.

Thanks again everyone!