L3302 won't run; should fuel come out of top high pressure port of common rail pump if cracked open?

[richmapls]

Hi all, been following the forums for a while but had to join to post. Background details:

* L3302 with only about 26 hours on it.
* No warranty coverage as it was bought at an auction.... long story.
* Located in a hard to reach area, off grid, that will be a HECK of a lot of effort to get the tractor from to bring to a dealer. Also has a 600 pound concrete ballast on the back and a front loader, both of which are real anchors with no hydraulic power.

Always ran great. But had a rain storm and tried to start the tractor some time after, would crank but not run at all. Noticed water in the fuel separator cup after the fact (I live in a desert so I'm not used to looking at it, also has a float sensor in it that *should* have helped).

As soon as I noticed, I emptied the cup and also saw kind of amber gel/sludge in there, so I cleaned that all out. Also replaced the main fuel filter just in case. Bled as per manual (I've also done that many times before). But still no dice. Cranks but won't start.
Tracked the fuel flow all of the way to the common rail high pressure pump. Fuel seems to go in and out of the low pressure ports with good flow but if I remove the high pressure line from the top and crank, there is no fuel that comes out. Seems like there should be. Does anyone know for a fact?
Checked the voltage to the SCV, looks good (around 9v). Checked the resistance across the SCV and that was in the range in the shop manual as well. Even pulled the SCV and verified that the little piston moves in and out smoothly with battery voltage.

Without the easy ability to bring my tractor anywhere, it seems like I might be about to replace the common rail fuel pump, but knowing from others if cracking the high pressure line on the top and not seeing fuel while cranking seems like a good indication something is clogged in there.

Much appreciated!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Are you getting fuel out of the top of the fuel filter bleeder?

 

[whitetiger]

Yes, there should be high-pressure fuel at the rail with a line cracked. You are taking a seriously dangerous chance doing that, so dont do it again!!

Just because you have no pressure does not condemn the high-pressure pump, as it is controlled by the SCV, which is controlled by the ECU, which gets its information as to what the SCV should do from various sensors.

A failed sensor, broken wire, poor connection, failed ECU etc can keep the ESU from directing the SCV which will not allow the pump to build pressure.

You either do not have it bled properly, which you can rectify, or you need KOBD Ace connected.

Replacing the SCV or injectors requires KOBDAce to complete the install.

 

[richmapls]

Are you getting fuel out of the top of the fuel filter bleeder?

View attachment 164096

Yes, absolutely. Fuel makes it past that to the common rail high pressure pump.

 

[richmapls]

Are you getting fuel out of the top of the fuel filter bleeder?

View attachment 164096

Yes, absolutely. Fuel makes it past that to the common rail high pressure pump.

Yes, there should be high-pressure fuel at the rail with a line cracked. You are taking a seriously dangerous chance doing that, so dont do it again!!

Just because you have no pressure does not condemn the high-pressure pump, as it is controlled by the SCV, which is controlled by the ECU, which gets its information as to what the SCV should do from various sensors.

A failed sensor, broken wire, poor connection, failed ECU etc can keep the ESU from directing the SCV which will not allow the pump to build pressure.

You either do not have it bled properly, which you can rectify, or you need KOBD Ace connected.

Replacing the SCV or injectors requires KOBDAce to complete the install.

Excellent info and thanks for taking the time to write it all out. The voltage at the SCV connector was in spec for the shop manual so I made the (likely false) assumption that anything up stream of it (ECU, sensors, etc) were at least behaving well enough for the engine to start even if it ran poorly or stalled, etc.
Same with the SCV, wasn't aware that like the injectors, it needed to be coded for the ECU.... it's just a simple PWM-controlled solenoid so it should work fine out of the box and just need limit calibration in the software (IE the engine might run poorly but at least I could move the hydraulics and get my tractor on a trailer to a dealer).

But you clearly have more experience here than I and it does seem like I need to get my dead tractor onto a trailer or find a Kubota dealer who can travel with their diagnostic tool.

Many thanks for the reply.

-Jesse