Kubota starts then dies

[jimbo913]

I just bought a 2005 L5030 Hydro with 200hrs and showroom clean. I used it about 7 hrs now (multiple uses), and today it has an issue which has put me in the dog house so I need some help. When I bought this machine I insisted to the wife how much I needed it and how long it would last, not too mention how I wouldnt have to be working on it all the time like my old 8n. Well I just invested 24k and I am gonna be working on this tractor too so lord help me before the wife finds out.

Anyways it had been fully serviced 15 hrs ago, oil is full, gas full, etc. I started it and it ran for 40 seconds, and slowly died as if I had lower throttle to zero rpm's. I waited a second and started it again, and it abrubtly died again. I did this 4 times but I stopped because every time it died the battery light and oil pressure light came on. I think that those are unrelated but wasnt sure. It fires right up with 3/4 of a revolution so I cant figure out whats going on.

Any ideas?

 

[bruceatlam]

Sounds like a fuel issue. Did they change the fuel filter?? Dirty fuel??

 

[Kytim]

<<serviced 15 hrs ago, oil is full, gas full>>


Correct fuel?

Kytim

 

[gurn]

Sounds like it needs bled. http://www.youtube.com/user/OrangeTractorTalks#p/u/4/XJn2kDnWQPU

 

[jimbo913]

I am certianly considering a fuel issue, I just wasnt sure it would act like that. Why would it die slowly but be so quick to fire up again?

I have no way to verify that the fuel filter was changed so that might be first course of action. I do know it sat a lot given the year and hours so fuel was likely a bit old. I burned up the old fuel mixed with 5 gallons new off road diesel until the fuel light came on and then I put 5 gallon more off road diesel in it and problem occured. I never ran it dry so shouldn't need to bleed it?
Lastly the fuel I put in was suspect because a friend told me they found dirt in that fuel before. I was using a paint strainer and leaving some in the can so I should have avoided the dirt. Again, why would it start so easily following self shutdown if fuel filter etc was clogged?

 

[B7100]

Diagnosis is reasonably straight forward if one starts at the begining with known or proven facts and works through eliminating posible causes on the way, then there is no need to wonder if "this has been changed"or "is this blocked"..Once bad fuel is mentioned I would not mess around with anything until I had drained and flushed the tank,lines ,changed the filter and bled the air out all the way to the injector unions.
Dave

 

[Kytim]

Given your statements about old fuel, newer offroad fuel with a known dirt /particulate issue and unknown filter change all points to a fuel <<problem!!!>>

Begin with a drain/ flush of the tank. then change filter, Bleed all connections from the tank to the IP then on to the injectors themselves. Dirt and air will cause some strange problems.

With the start and die/stop thing going on sounds like a filter blocking under suction/pressure then clears when those conditions stop. One would think Air bubbles would clear themselves but the air itself acts as a mass because it is in-compressible using only hydraulic pressure generated from the fuel and injector pump.

Use simple troubleshooting process. start from the top with a known fact and work to the unknown.

Did I make more "MUD?"

kytim

 

[kuboman]

Is the valve turned off at the filter

 

[AZrancher]

I am new here and do not know your tractor, you may want to ignore this.

We had a similar problem with a deere swather (windrower). Like others have told you, start at the tank and trouble shoot from there.

The process we went through was to start with the tank, loosen fitting from tank to pipe, tighten it back an and check pipe to fuel pump, then fuel pump to injector pump, then the pressure side of injector pump. Then we loosened each injector (just like you would to bleed). All was well through the whole system, so I went and talked to the service manager at the dealer and he said the only part we had missed was the return lines.

When I took out the return lines from the injectors to the injector pump, the check valve in it was blocked. I blew it out and cleaned it up and it worked fine. Then it happened again, and we finally tracked it down to a corroded seal in the injector pump, which was causing the blockage by small bits of the seal shifting and blocking the check valve.

The swather behaved like you are describing because once fuel pressure is lost, the blockage would drop down and until pressure would rebuild through the entire system it would run fine.

For what its worth, anyway. The symptoms you describe are almost identical to what we went through so I thought i would share our experience.

Joe

 

[Kytim]

I am new here and do not know your tractor, you may want to ignore this. Joe

Joe, Welcome to the forum!! And secondly, time spent on the forum from a new person to the site owner has nothing to do with being able to offer good sound advice, suggestions and even encouragement to others. all are welcome and encouraged to communicate ideas with one another. I know when I first came here I needed help and was given it, which proved helpful. I honestly did not check to see how long they had been around or times they posted. I was just happy for the help! So... roll up your sleeves and jump in!!

Kytim

 

[AZrancher]

Thank you very much Kytim, that was very nice of you. I will do just that then. That was a nice post to receive.

Take care,
Joe

 

[jimbo913]

I am new to diesels and I wasnt sure it would act that way with dirty or fuel or air in lines. I was thinking it might be a solenoid, pump or electronics issue.
I picked up new fuel filters and will start there by replacing and inspecting the old. If dirt is found, I will drain as much as possible and bleed. If no dirt is found, I will bleed and see what happens.
I will post results this weekend.

 

[jimbo913]

Thanks for the help, my Kubota is back and running strong. The fuel was indeed dirty and had water in it as well. I drained the tank and replaced filter, bleed injector pump and life is good.

 

[gurn]

Try this for a dirty tank, when I drained mine on the old L175 I was given not only did it have water and rust in it but it had a 10" nasty old tree twig in it I figured someones attempt years gone by to check the fuel level

 

[Kytim]

Great, wonderful, and 2 or 3 other big words I to tired to spell!

Glad you got it running!

kytim

 

[Jimb21]

I have a B21 and had the same problem. It would barely run and sputter then slowly die. I removed the fuel filter and bypassed it and it still sputtered. The fuel was flowing out but not a whole lot. I thought it had to be in the fuel line and not getting enough fuel to the injectors. I replaced the 5 amp controller fuse and the fuel started pouring out. Put it back together and the machine started running great! maybe anyone can keep this in mind if they have a sputtering engine