Losing power randomly

[claya1]

L235. 4wd. Was pulling a stump out. After one of the attempts, heard a high pitch whine at idle, (first time ever) then went away. (Hydraulic pump?). Discovered low hydraulic fluid. Re-filled. 20min later, running fine, Pulled the stump out. Put in the bucket, and drove 200yards to dump. At High rpm started to slow down, then Ok again. Dropped down to idle, then it slowed down to stall. Starts up& idles fine, but randomly drops rpm at high throttle. Coolant is about 7,/8's full. Let it sit for an hour. Topped off coolant. Started right up, drove it 200yards at 3/4 throttle. (Full throttle rpms dropped when under load). At rest, full rpms... Fuel filter, or other fuel starvation under load?? Or perhaps the hydraulic pump is creating resistance? One side of the loader spool valve is a bit sticky.

Prolly 3,000hrs, with a lot of blowby. Has been that way for 5 years, since I got it. Have been thinking about a ring job.
Suggestions?

 

[Russell King]

It sounds like a fuel supply issue. Be sure you have fuel in the tank. I assume you do since it idles well.

I assume it is a metal tank. On my L185 the interior of the tank was rusted out from water sitting in the tank. The rust ended up clogging the hose from the tank to the fuel filter. That hose was easy to remove at the filter housing. Take a pan or bucket to put under that area, remove hose and see if any fuel is coming out. If so, then move to the injection pump where the bleeder valve is.

If there is no fuel supply somewhere then that is your problem. I blew back into the tank with some low pressure air and the cap loose (or removed). If you get carried away you will blow diesel fuel out of the tank so be careful with what you are doing. Don’t blow up the tank by leaving the cap on, it is fairly air tight and you will get a lot of force from very little pressure.

If that fixes the flow then you will need to figure out what is clogging the hose. There is also a biological growth problem in diesel fuel. Mostly with plastic tanks since they can pass some light (is my theory anyway).

There is a salvage yard near San Francisco so not far from Sacramento, California (but you don’t provide state information)(but that seems to be the only Sacramento in the USA).

@007kubotaguy is his username and he has used parts for these older L series. I have purchased a fuel tank and two front wheels for my L185F and have never had any issues with him (and I got some free almonds!)

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Second a fuel supply issue

 

[GreensvilleJay]

3rd for fuel supply issue.
I'd remove and properly clean tank..start totally fresh ,save fuel but ONLY after a week of sitting and filtered before 'topping up' new fuel.

 

[claya1]

3rd for fuel supply issue.
I'd remove and properly clean tank..start totally fresh ,save fuel but ONLY after a week of sitting and filtered before 'topping up' new fuel.

One detail I forgot. The fuel tank was low. Was on a strep incline, and it sputtered like it was out for a second, leveled it out, and refilled the tank. A bit later had the low power/throttle dip. So the fuel starvation in the line seems a culprit.

 

[D2Cat]

You have to get fuel to the IP, be it a fuel pump or gravity!!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

If the fuel tank was low enough to suck air into it, you don't have a problem just don't run it out of fuel again.
If it's still having a power issue then you might need to check the filter as you might have also sucked debris into the filter.

 

[Russell King]

How much is a bit later? If you got air in the line it will get pulled along and eventually make it to the injector. Then another slug of fuel will let it run until it gets more air at the pump. Eventually it may run out of fuel even with a full tank. So you might have to bleed the air out to the pump bleeder valve and then at the injectors.

Use the decompression knob and full throttle and it goes fairly quickly.

I hope it works out for you.