L3800 Sitting Dead In the Field - Help...

[Saftgeek]

Good evening everyone... I took a couple hours off of work to try to get some food plots in before the rains next week. Of course I'm way to busy and trying to beat dark - sooooo I pushed my luck and ran my tractor out of fuel. Once it started to sputter I immediately shut it down. After a 30 minute drive for more fuel I put about 4.5 gallons in and tried to start it. The tractor tried to start a couple times, but never really took hold.

I made a call to our mechanic at work and he suggested I may have air in the fuel lines. Since I'm by myself I couldn't actually watch for the fuel to spray out of the lines while I was cranking it. The lines for the 1st and 3rd cylinder had diesel coming out of them. The center cylinder never did. I got frustrated and went to the computer to do some research. In doing so, I found out my L3800 HST has a handy-dandy little device located above the fuel pump where I can turn the knob to bleed out the air. Imagine how foolish I felt after wrestling a 17 mm wrench for 2 hours trying to bleed out the lines the old school way.

I thought I was going to just turn the knob, crank it over, then close the knob. Nope... I can't get anything to fire. The tractor is cranking fine, but it never seems to want to fire up. When I first started trying to start it, it did fire up, but for only a half second or so.

I know the issue is fuel, but I can't tell if I burnt up my injector for the center cylinder or if I've got something in the line. The tractor has 136 hours on it and I've had it for 3 years. I've got an issue with the interlock on the HST pedal, but I figured out what to do when it won't turn over at all. This is something totally different and really frustrating. I don't want to spend $300 on a service call to have someone come out and bleed the lines. Any help would be appreciated. I have skills, but I'm not a mechanic.

Thank you in advance for taking time to reply...

Saftgeek-

 

[Jim L.]

What are you doing with preheat?

 

[Tooljunkie]

firstly,you need an assistant.or a way to remotely crank your engine.when cracking lines at injectors,it helps to gently wiggle line to make sure its loose.
start with filter,making sure its full of fuel,then on down the line,finishing at injectors.

 

[Saftgeek]

I am not sure what you mean by preheat. It's 90 degrees here now so I don't think I need glowplugs. Maybe I need to heat them up to help it kick in. I just walked out into the field to check the fuses. I didn't think that was an issue, but I wanted to make sure the easy stuff was checking out.

When I turn it on I can hear the click I normally do. I tried to start it and it seemed like it wanted to start but my battery ran out of juice. I've got it on the charger and I'm busy till late tomorrow afternoon. I guess it will be a yard ornament till then. The keys are in it and all you need is a battery and a flatbed truck to make off with it... I'm to the point I'd high-five the thief if he got it running.

Saftgeek-

 

[Saftgeek]

Yup... Tooljunkie - I've got fuel in the bowl, looks very clean and there aren't any air bubbles I can see. I'm wondering if I didn't flood it with all the cranking it did while I was trying to bleed out the air. I cracked all of the lines loose and got diesel out of two of the three lines. I'm still puzzled as to why the center line never did spray out like the others did.

When I went to the field just now I made sure to have the bleed-wheel turned completely open. Like I said, it really seemed like it wanted to start. It cranked and fired for a split second. Maybe tomorrow the moon and stars will be aligned perfectly and magic will happen.

Thank you very much for your reply.

Saftgeek-

 

[Russell King]

Be sure to close the bleed wheel after air is bled and fuel is coming out. Be sure you injector lines are tight also after you bleed them. Don't crank tool long or you will overheat the starter and burn it up.


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[D2Cat]

Have your throttle in maximum fuel position.

 

[Lil Foot]

You are sure you put diesel in it? Just sayin, seems like the problem started after refueling.

 

[Saftgeek]

Yup - it is diesel. Nobody is allowed to fuel the tractor but myself. I use different fuel containers so as to not confuse it.

Max fuel position is something I was not doing. I will do that this afternoon when I try it again. I've got 12 lawns to mow before I can work on the tractor. I'm hoping to heat up the glow plugs and max level then finish my food plot. I can hope, right???

Stay tuned, and thanks to everyone who took time to comment. This is a great resource.

Saftgeek-

 

[clay45]

When bleeding air trapped in the fuel line you should start with a full to the brim tank. Gravity is what pushes the fuel (air) out. Bleed at points sequentially starting from below the fuel tank down. Manual may explain the sequence but you essentially loosen screws at select points between tank and injectors until fuel begins to flow out; shut (screw in) and move down.

I've done it twice on two tractors after replacing fuel lines or fuel filter and its always worked. Wouldn't work until I started with a full tank.

Good luck!

 

[kuboman]

Once you force air into the system by running out of fuel it is very difficult to purge all the air.
First pull the fuel line on the outlet of the filter to make sure you have good flow, then the line at the inlet of the injection pump. Then one at a time loosen the injector lines at the injection pump and make sure you get clear flow from the pump as you crank. Next loosen one at a time the injector lines at the injectors and crank until you get clean flow from each injector. Make sure all connections are tight and start it up.

 

[Jim L.]

Always use preheat on a cold L3800. 90 F is cold. What fires the diesel is a hot engine plus the heat of compression.

When first starting, the engine is cold and needs to be warmed at the combustion chamber to ignite the diesel.

The minimum time for preheat on a L3800 is 2-3 seconds, longer if below freezing.

Will up your odds of a start.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Saftgeek,

I live in Arizona and always use pre-heat on the first start of the day, even in summer. Three seconds makes a huge difference and it fires up with very little smoke. The quick start takes a gainormous load off your starter. My starter barely gets one revolution and the engine is running. Starting cold without pre-heat means twice or three times the work for the little starter motor.

I guess I was lucky. When I changed my fuel filter, mine started right up. I did fill the bowl back up but figured I had some air in the line somewhere.

Good luck and let us know when you get it running.

Ray

 

[razzle]

With site search I quickly found this thread, put 5 gal more fuel in, opened bleeder knob and bingo! Didn't know it was gravity feed until I read this thread. Thank you to OP and for the those who replied.