JD 4300 quits when going uphill.

[breedtractor]

When I got out to bush hog this fall my tractor would quit when I would angle to go up a hill. It didn't usually start happening until I was at least 20 or 30 minutes into bush hogging. It won't restart until after a couple minutes.

Thus far I've checked to make sure that the radiator screen and everything is clear of debris. I've made sure there's plenty of coolant and the radiator and the reservoir. I've replaced the fuel filter air filters change the oil and oil filters. I've also replaced the thermostat. I bought a thermistor but haven't replaced that yet, but I'm not sure that what is making it quit. The temp gauge doesn't indicate that it is overheating.

When I start the day and I go to start the tractor it doesn't have any problems firing up. It's only after I use it for a while and pretty much only when I go uphill.
Any thoughts or ideas of what the issue could be?

 

[ptsg]

I would say there is trash or sludge inside the fuel tank moving around. When you go uphill, whatever is inside the tank will slide around and block the passage to the fuel line. Then the engine just starves for fuel.

 

[breedtractor]

I had that thought too and let the fuel get really low a week or two ago. I looked in with the flashlight but couldn't see anything obvious.
Is there a good way to get stuff out of the gas tank? Is there any kind of cleaner I could add that would dissolve it maybe?

 

[BCinVA]

The thermister would definitely not be the problem. The only purpose it serves is to give the fuel solenoid an extra boost when the key is turned on to make sure it engages. Once the tractor starts it plays no role. Since you have a mechanical injection system, once it is running the electrical system can only stop it if the fuel solenoid loses power and the spring inside it then closes the fuel rack and shuts down the engine. So the only electrical issue could be something interrupting the power to the solenoid when going up hill. Perhaps a loose connection that is vulnerable to the angle of the tractor. However, I believe this is unlikely. Otherwise about the only other thing that could be affected by the up hill angle is the fuel, as PTSG has suggested. The fuel tank on the 4300 has a very deep sump in the rear of the tank. The shafts for the brake pedals actually run through the tank. It is pretty much impossible to see to the bottom of the tank. There is a tank drain petcock on the right side of the tractor on the bottom of the tank just to the rear of the fuel filter. You might park it on an incline and when you have the problem open the petcock and see what kind of fuel flow drains from it. Of course we can only guess on here but I would lean toward fuel starvation.

 

[Jerry/MT]

Sounds like lack of adequate fuel delivery to me.

 

[zzvyb6]

Your tank's fuel pickup hose is in the front of it. If this line has a crack or perforation in it, then an uphill climb will expose this crack to air and lead to stalling. Then after some cranking, air gets pulled through and it starts again. Otherwise, maybe a safety switch is borderline and and uphill climb disables the fuel supply.

 

[Egon]

As per others: fuel delivery.

Suggest draining the tank via the fuel supply line to the booster pump. Raise up the front of the tractor when doing this. You might see the fuel flow drop off as it’s draining.

Drain & flush tank and blow out all the supply fuel lines.

 

[ruffdog]

Does the tractor have a lift pump (low pressure pump prior to the injector pump)? Maybe it is getting tired and relies on gravity to supply fuel. I would jack up the front of the tractor and check for fuel delivery problems.

 

[Thunder chicken]

Check the simple things first!……..So not too long ago my tractor would quit running after a random amount of time. Start back up, run for another random amount of time then quit.
After changing filters, fuel lines, cleaning the water separator, I decided to take the fuel tank off and clean/rinse it out. I found a piece of foil from an additive bottle, it must have been sucking against the pickup…… been running fine since!

 

[kthompson]

When it does it try removing the fuel line at the tank to see if fuel flows freely or not. Had same thing to happen to me and was hard to spot the dead black wasp in a dark fuel tank. If the trash is something that will float you might be able to get fuel to a level that works and use a very fine net with handle to skim the top of the fuel.

 

[breedtractor]

Thanks everyone. I'm continuing to debug this thing. When I figure it out I'll let everyone know.

 

[zzvyb6]

I'll bet you can back up the hill. That means fuel pickup problem.

 

[RalphVa]

Have you siphoned off all the fuel and looked inside the tank?

My 2025R is showing slowing issues right after starting it. Will change fuel filter this morning again (just changed @ 400 hours about 3 hours ago). Thinking to maybe siphon the tank and to look inside.

My 4010 once had wax globs partly plugging the fuel tank exit. Siphoned tank and used one of those fingered tools to fish out the wax globs.

 

[JSanders10]

I had the same issue, not just when going uphill, but anytime I had higher RPMs and heavy PTO use such as with the bushhog.
I had a small piece(s) of plastic floating in the tank which would pull towards the fuel intake and shut her down. O belive the plastic came from a busted fuel level ball cock in the tank.

 

[Boss 302]

Were you able to get the problem solved? The fuel suction line is probably getting plugged or collapsing, I would blow out the fuel line with compressed air for starters.

 

[breedtractor]

Well, I've solved a few issues with my tractor over the past couple of weeks.

First, I put cleaner in my fuel to try to get rid of any bio material and sludge.

Second, my fuel solenoid was incredibly gummy to the point where it would not click. I ordered a replacement solenoid off of Amazon, only to find out it didn't work. Freaked me out at first, so I tested the voltage at the plug, luckily the voltage was fine. I swung by the JD dealer and got a legit replacement solenoid, and it works great.

A couple hours after replacing the solenoid, took it out to do some work. Tractor stalled and wouldn't restart. Swapped out the thermistor with a new one (got it when I got the Solenoid). Engine started right up.

Today, I was working on the tractor all day and experienced a couple hiccups, but it never stalled. I'm also thinking it's something in the tank (agree with many of you who have suggested that).

I've blown air into it, but still haven't seen anything float or move in the tank. Maybe the cleaner worked? I picked up another bottle and was going to put it in tomorrow.

 

[breedtractor]

I had the same issue, not just when going uphill, but anytime I had higher RPMs and heavy PTO use such as with the bushhog.
I had a small piece(s) of plastic floating in the tank which would pull towards the fuel intake and shut her down. O belive the plastic came from a busted fuel level ball cock in the tank.

How did you get the plastic out?

 

[Boss 302]

Keep after it, you'll get it ironed out sounds like you're making progress

 

[breedtractor]

Hi everyone, I wanted to provide an update on this as it probably pertains to others who have bought used tractors. Coincidentally shortly after posting this in the forum, a mouse made a nest in my tractor and chewed into a hose going into the injectors on the top of the engine. That caused a diesel fuel leak, which I needed to repair, though the tractor still around fine, it was just causing an environmental disaster. To get to the hose, I was forced to remove the gas tank entirely, which, FYI, was not fun. I was flushing things out with some diesel and turned it upside down only to find some kind of gas cap that a previous owner must have dropped in the gas tank and never retrieved.
Luckily there wasn't much other debris in the tank so pretty much 100% sure this was the issue all along. That said the thermistor did need to be replaced, as now my engine starts right up immediately which it didn't previously do.
Thanks again for all of your comments.

 

[ruffdog]

THX for the update!