Suspected fuel flow problem, Part II

[ostereh]

Okay, back to the beginning. I was tilling with my gray market L2201 DT diesel this morning and the engine just slowed and then quit. The first thing I did was try to start it again. I would sound like it was starting and then immediately fade and quit. Figuring it was that it wasn't getting fuel and knowing that the fuel filter had not been replaced in 4-5 years, I changed the fuel filter. Then I attempted to blead the fuel line at the injectors. After I freed the injectors and cranked the engine nothing came out of the injector lines. (At first I had thought one line was bleeding, but it seemed more that the fuel was coming from where the injector inserts.) The next thing I did was try to start the tractor. Turned over but will not start.

Any ideas about what might have been the original problem when it voluntarily stopped?

Could it be something not related to fuel but to the elecrical system?

Hoping for help. We need to plant potatoes this weekend and the dealer won't be open until Tuesday.

Thanks in advance. Fred

 

[284 International]

From your explanation it isn't comploetely clear to me what you've done, exactly. There are some hard lines that run from the injection pump up to the injectors. Where the line meets the injector there is a fitting. Did you loosen those fittings as shown in video (linked in the other thread) or did you actually pull the injectors?

If you changed the fuel filter you'll need to bleed the lines up to the pump, too. Start at the filter and bleed your way to the injectors. If you skip ahead you aren't going to get the air out.

What you described sounds exactly like running out of fuel to me.

 

[ostereh]

Can you tell me how to bleed the lines up to the injectors. Theres a larger tube/line running from the fuel filter to lower part of the pump(?) and it has a bolt that unscrews. In the video the guy recommends loosening this and seems to suggest that you loosen it and crank the engine. This tube/line runs "uphill" from the fuel filter, so I don't understand how you bleed uphill without cranking and getting some sort of pumping or sucking action.

Sorry to be so ignorant.

 

[ostereh]

To answer your first question, i had not watched the video and I actuall pulled the injectors or at least totally disconnected the line from the injector.

 

[284 International]

Pulling the injectors is a lot different than disconnecting the injector line(s).

Make sure your tank is full of fuel. It makes things much easier, and if you're still out of fuel, obviously, it won't help to try to bleed things... I don't know what your tractor's system is like, but here's a general guide, borrowed from my Yanmar experience, which matched the only Kubota I've worked on:

With the fuel filter replaced and assembled, loosen the bleeder on top of the filter bowl. It may have a philips head screw, too. Wait until bubbles stop coming out, then close it off. Next, there may be another bleeder where the fuel hose leaves the filter body, or around there. Do the same.

Follow the fuel line to the fuel injector pump. There will be another bleeder there, too. Again, loosen and wait until bubbles stop coming out, and close it off.

Now fuel is getting to the injection pump. Loosen the hard lines at each injector as shown in the video. (You can do them all at once.) Activate the decompression release and crank the engine. MAKE SURE THE ENGINE IS AT FULL THROTTLE, AND ANY FUEL CUTOFF SWITCH IS IN THE RUN POSITION (Sorry to yell and bold it, but I didn't do that once, and it took awhile to figure out.) After a little bit, fuel should spurt in pulses from each hard line or the fitting. As soon the fuel looks like it is consistent and bubble free, tighten down the fittings.

Spin up your tractor, close the compression release, and drive away with your freshly bled fuel lines, get your spuds in, then come back and tell us how it worked.

 

[284 International]

It may look "uphill," but you're getting pressure from the height of the fuel in the tank, not from the filter to the pump. As long as the pump is below the level of the fuel in the tank, it will get diesel, however low the filter assembly is.

 

[Kubota Newbie]

You're trying to make this too complicated. Here's the fuel line bleed procedure for my old M4500, should be about the same for your smaller tractor.
1. Check fuel level in tank. Full?
2. Make sure fuel cock on tank, if so equipped is open.
3. Make sure filter attachment is correct.
4. Loosen air vent on filter until fuel runs clean and without any air bubbles.
5. Close vent plug.
6. Open air vent cock at injector pump.
7. (This is important) WITH THE ENGINE STOP KNOB IN THE ENGINE STOP POSITION, crank the motor until fuel runs from the fuel pump vent (10-15 seconds or so).
8. Close fuel pump bleed vent.
9. Return stop knob to run position and start tractor.