Tractor will only start by pull starting???

[Cool Ray]

I had to jump off a Long 460 Diesel Tractor. After the Tractor was Started I removed the jumper cables, 10 seconds later the tractor died. The owner said he thought the fuel filters might be clogged up due to him never changing them. I replaced the Fuel filters (No sludge or Algee found) and bleed the air out. Tried to restart and I could not jump it off. I pull started the Tractor with no problem. I ran it for about 15 min (with no problems) then shut it off. I then tried to restart, but it didn't have enough juice to roll the Engine over. I tried to jump it off again, but it would only spin over. Pull started again with no problem. Again I ran for 15 min, shut down and it would not restart. The Batter is 6 months old. I tested the Netural switch and it is working. I will Clean/Check the battery cable connections and test the Battery in the Morning. Can yaw think of anything else to check? I'm just about ready to rule out everything Mechanical and Focus on the Electrical side, Starter, Safety Switches, etc.

 

[CADplans]

I do not think that you have to worry about the computer being flashed with the wrong data!! :laughing:

If the starter is spinning at the correct speed,,, and no start,,,
but, pulling will start the tractor,,,,
that typically indicates low engine compression,

I am guessing, as I can not determine if your starter is operating properly,,,,

I use a set of 2 gauge jumper cables on a diesel,,, "car" duty jumpers will not work.

 

[CobyRupert]

Check ground connections at frame.

 

[Cool Ray]

Check ground connections at frame.

Yeah, there is not much High Tech stuff on it. I will have to double check but I think my jumper cables are 4 or 6 gauge. But it was spinning at a Normal RPM. And I was also thinking about the ground cable, Thanks for the input.

 

[kthompson]

Is the engine spinning with the starter or only the starter is spinning? If starter is spinning normal speed but not engine could be Bendix on starter. If engine is spinning also it could be issue with fuel supply. That tractor has a manual pull fuel cut off I think, it may be partly pulled. There could be air restriction causing it to cut off or trash in fuel tank being sucked over the outlet as fuel is drained. If the engine is spinning there could be air leak in the new fuel filter just installed.

 

[Cool Ray]

Is the engine spinning with the starter or only the starter is spinning? If starter is spinning normal speed but not engine could be Bendix on starter. If engine is spinning also it could be issue with fuel supply. That tractor has a manual pull fuel cut off I think, it may be partly pulled. There could be air restriction causing it to cut off or trash in fuel tank being sucked over the outlet as fuel is drained. If the engine is spinning there could be air leak in the new fuel filter just installed.

The Starter is turning the engine over at a normal speed. Also on the Air Filter, I dropped the air filter above the battery and it was full of oil??? Is that some kind of oil bath cleaner? It looks like a 80w-90 oil and like it has not been used, it also is not the same oil that is in the engine.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Many of the older tractors had an oil bath air cleaner. You should have a removable cap top and bottom. Periodically you had to pull the lower cap off, dump the oil and then scrap out the dirt from the bottom. You also had to dribble some oil into the screens from the top so the wire mesh was oiled from top to bottom. Usually this required you do pour in about a cup of oil and let it drain thru to the bottom cup after you had serviced it. This might take 30 minutes to drain properly. Then remove the bottom cup again and finish filling it with the required amount of oil.

A bit of a pain compared to the dry filters, but I understand that they actually did a better job of filtration than the paper filters and less back pressure.

As for the engine not starting with the starter, we had an old D17 AC that would almost never start with the starter. Had to pull it off most of the time. It required 2 each 6 volt batteries but they just didn't seem to turn the engine fast enough. We put on an 8 volt and a 6 volt and it would then sometimes start with the higher voltage. I suppose you can still buy an 8 volt battery, maybe give that a try on your tractor. 14volts don't mess up any of the 12volt system so nothing else needed in the electrical system.

 

[Johnnyg1200]

I am not familiar with your tractor but have you checked the exhaust system for a restriction? I know a clogged DPF can cause problems similar to yours. The engine can be hard to start. If you do get it started and try to put a load on it it will fall on its face or die. I have had to send mechaics after trucks that would start and run for a while and die when they get hot. Even if you don't have a DPF you may want to check the muffler for restriction. EGR problems can also cause interesting things to happen.

I very well could be off base but it's worth checking out.

 

[kthompson]

With air filter off get a helper to crank the tractor and you spray WD40 in the air intake. You will need to more than just single shot maybe steady spray but if a fuel issue it should start. If that works then look at fuel and its supply.

 

[Cool Ray]

We got it Cranked back up and it's putting out White Smoke now and it won't clear up, and is seems to be missing at 1,600 RPM. It's starting to look like a Compression problem. Maybe worn out or broken piston ring.