billwross
New member
Equipment
L2900, front loader, backhoe, scraper, box scraper, post hole digger, brush hog,
L2900 stalls after 4-5 minutes (Solved)
My L2900 has been a very reliable tractor for over 8 years. It has about 1200 hours on it and has never given me any trouble. The other day I was grading the driveway and after about 5 minutes it lost power and even after unloading it (putting it in neutral) and giving it full throttle, it slowly lost RPM and died. After letting it sit for a while, it started and ran fine with good power, for about 5 minutes! Then, same problem. I changed the air and fuel filters to no effect. The fuel tank is 3/4 full. Yes, I did look in the tank and verified there is indeed fuel.
The fuel is fresh, clean and free of water. I disconnected the fuel line at the fuel pump inlet and drained some fuel to check for tank, line and filter clogging issues and it and drained a gallon of fuel in less than two minutes so I’m assuming no problems there as this engine sips about a gallon of fuel an hour working. I reconnected the input line to the fuel pump and disconnected the output line to check fuel flow through the pump. Fuel trickled out but much slower than from the filter output. Cold cranking the engine didn’t seem to increase the flow. The pump diaphragm doesn’t seem to be leaking as it produces a vacuum when the plunger is pushed. It just doesn’t seem to be pumping fuel. Is this normal? I put in a shunt and bypassed the fuel pump and the engine started and ran fine at about 1800 RPM for about 8 minutes. I was thinking Yea, I’ve found the problem but then the engine slowly lost RPM and died again!
I verified that the fuel cap isn't causing a vacuum lock. The shut-off solenoid is working correctly. The shut-off knob is in and the linkage is adjusted correctly and moves freely. I checked the oil level and it was in the lower quadrant of the dip stick. I changed the oil and filter and verified it is not overfull. The oil is in the lower quarter of the dip stick range. The old oil looked and smelled normal. The engine doesn’t seem to use any oil as I never have to add oil between oil changes.
Bleeding the fuel system has been no problem. Sometimes it starts right up and sometimes it sputters a bit and then starts running fine. I haven’t had to loosen the injector lines to bleed them but I have loosened them to check for correct operation. They seem to be working correctly. The bleed valve is closed. One curious thing, the bleed valve was fully open when this problem started and I think it has been open for years as I’ve never touched it. After closing it, there was no change in symptoms but now on opening it while the engine is running it causes the engine to stop.
The engine will idle for quite a while before dying but at higher RPM it will quit after about 4-5 minutes. It certainly acts like it is being starved of fuel but I can’t find the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
OK folks, confession time. DON'T TOP OFF YOUR DIESEL TANK FROM A RED CAN MARKED 'TRACTOR DIESEL' WITHOUT VERIFYING IT IS INDEED DIESEL FUEL! I drained some of the fuel from the tank this afternoon and burned it and it flamed up much more rapidly than some known diesel fuel did. I realized there must have been some gasoline in the can I had recently emptied into the tank so I could refill it on a fuel run. Don't ask me how there came to be gasoline in a red can marked tractor diesel because I don't know. I certainly couldn't be dumb enough to do such a thing! The good news; the tractor now runs great again on its preferred fuel.
My L2900 has been a very reliable tractor for over 8 years. It has about 1200 hours on it and has never given me any trouble. The other day I was grading the driveway and after about 5 minutes it lost power and even after unloading it (putting it in neutral) and giving it full throttle, it slowly lost RPM and died. After letting it sit for a while, it started and ran fine with good power, for about 5 minutes! Then, same problem. I changed the air and fuel filters to no effect. The fuel tank is 3/4 full. Yes, I did look in the tank and verified there is indeed fuel.
The fuel is fresh, clean and free of water. I disconnected the fuel line at the fuel pump inlet and drained some fuel to check for tank, line and filter clogging issues and it and drained a gallon of fuel in less than two minutes so I’m assuming no problems there as this engine sips about a gallon of fuel an hour working. I reconnected the input line to the fuel pump and disconnected the output line to check fuel flow through the pump. Fuel trickled out but much slower than from the filter output. Cold cranking the engine didn’t seem to increase the flow. The pump diaphragm doesn’t seem to be leaking as it produces a vacuum when the plunger is pushed. It just doesn’t seem to be pumping fuel. Is this normal? I put in a shunt and bypassed the fuel pump and the engine started and ran fine at about 1800 RPM for about 8 minutes. I was thinking Yea, I’ve found the problem but then the engine slowly lost RPM and died again! I verified that the fuel cap isn't causing a vacuum lock. The shut-off solenoid is working correctly. The shut-off knob is in and the linkage is adjusted correctly and moves freely. I checked the oil level and it was in the lower quadrant of the dip stick. I changed the oil and filter and verified it is not overfull. The oil is in the lower quarter of the dip stick range. The old oil looked and smelled normal. The engine doesn’t seem to use any oil as I never have to add oil between oil changes.
Bleeding the fuel system has been no problem. Sometimes it starts right up and sometimes it sputters a bit and then starts running fine. I haven’t had to loosen the injector lines to bleed them but I have loosened them to check for correct operation. They seem to be working correctly. The bleed valve is closed. One curious thing, the bleed valve was fully open when this problem started and I think it has been open for years as I’ve never touched it. After closing it, there was no change in symptoms but now on opening it while the engine is running it causes the engine to stop.
The engine will idle for quite a while before dying but at higher RPM it will quit after about 4-5 minutes. It certainly acts like it is being starved of fuel but I can’t find the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
OK folks, confession time. DON'T TOP OFF YOUR DIESEL TANK FROM A RED CAN MARKED 'TRACTOR DIESEL' WITHOUT VERIFYING IT IS INDEED DIESEL FUEL! I drained some of the fuel from the tank this afternoon and burned it and it flamed up much more rapidly than some known diesel fuel did. I realized there must have been some gasoline in the can I had recently emptied into the tank so I could refill it on a fuel run. Don't ask me how there came to be gasoline in a red can marked tractor diesel because I don't know. I certainly couldn't be dumb enough to do such a thing! The good news; the tractor now runs great again on its preferred fuel.
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