L2900 Fuel System Problem

cce1911

New member

Equipment
L2900
Jul 21, 2025
3
3
3
GA
My brothers L2900 has been running great for years, then I made a stupid mistake. I put about 2 gallons of gas in the diesel tank which was 1/3 full. I started mowing and the tractor started to run funny. I shut it down and went back to the shed and checked the fuel can. Yep, gasoline...

The first thing I did was remove the fuel bowl/filter and drained the tank. The fuel filter was clogged and there was gunk in the bowl. After cleaning the bowl, I installed a new filter and filled the bowl with diesel before screwing the ring back on. Next, I opened the air vent cock (knurled knob) and started the tractor. It started up and ran for a few minutes and then I closed the bleed screw. The engine died. So, I opened the bleed screw and started it up again. I could get the RPMs up to about 1500 before it started to die. Backing off the throttle, it would rev back to 1500. Every time I shut the bleed screw the engine would die.

I was able to limp the tractor back to the shed, but the behavior didn't change. The engine would idle up for a 30 seconds and then the RPMs would drop and almost stall out. There is no skipping/misfire, so it doesn't appear to be a single injector issue. It will die when I close the bleed screw and won't rev to more than 1500 rpm. On and off, the engine ran for 30+ minutes. So I'm pretty sure it has clean diesel, but there must be trash or air in the fuel system. Anyone have some advice?
 

whitetiger

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Equipment
Kubota tech..BX2370, RCK60, B7100HST, RTV900 w plow, Ford 1100 FWA
Nov 20, 2011
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Kansas City, KS
I suspect the fuel lift pump is very weak.
Do you have the tank full of fuel, or did you add a couple of gallons?
 
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lugbolt

Well-known member

Equipment
ZG127S-54
Oct 15, 2015
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Mid, South, USA
pull the line off of the tank and see if fuel flows out freely. If so, put it back on. Then remove the line at the fuel filter outlet and see if it flows freely. If not, pull the inlet line off of the filter housing, remove the filter and then get the stuff out of the inlet and/or outlet. The inlet has a 90 deg elbow and right in that elbow stuff tends to build up in there (algae especially). If those flow freely move to the lift pump in/out, should flow freely.

your description screams lack of fuel flow, so you're gonna want to isolate where the restriction is. If no restrictions, check the oil for fuel...if you find fuel in the oil, the lift pump is shot.
 
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North Idaho Wolfman

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Lifetime Member

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L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Jun 9, 2013
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Sandpoint, ID
If the above fuel flow issue is not your issue.
Then I would suspect injection pump or more likely the injectors got damaged.
 

cce1911

New member

Equipment
L2900
Jul 21, 2025
3
3
3
GA
@whitetiger you nailed it. Turns out it wasn't bad fuel. I changed the lift pump and she runs great. Getting to the lift pump on the L2900 was a pain. I went with the $245 OEM part as opposed to the $30 Amazon one because I don't want to have to do that again anytime soon...

I did have to take the fuel filter off to get to is so i blew out the lines to clear any crud that may have been in them. There was no fuel in the oil.

Thanks for everyone's help!
 
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