2008 TC40DA loosing power

[Harry in Ky]

It's not really a return line in the strictest sense. It's actually a bleed line. Problem is it also lets air bleed in as well as bleed out. Close it off and see what happens. No harm done.

 

[Fields_mj]

Definitely on my list to try. The only problem is accessing it. Between the loader frame and the cab, I'm not certain I can actually reach anything on the top of the fuel filter. When I changed the filter last week, I had to use a screwdriver and small hammer to loosen and tighten the bowl, and I had to move the ring as far as I possibly could before I stood a chance of reaching the next notch. I never complained about being able to access anything on my old 1710, but WOW are things tight on this machine.

 

[Fields_mj]

Well, its not an issue with venting the tank. I also clamped that hose off with a pair of needle nose pliers, and that didn't seem to help either. The fuel filter bowl still remained about half full while the tractor is running. That fuel line is actually new, but I couldn't see the other lines to see if they were also new or not. I'm thinking its either something clogging the line or something in the tank. I'm getting down closer to 1/4 tank and it seems like its happening more frequently. Kind of seems like I should drain the tank, and remove it, clean it out, and run new line from the tank to the TEE near the fuel filter.

 

[nyone]

Well, its not an issue with venting the tank. I also clamped that hose off with a pair of needle nose pliers, and that didn't seem to help either. The fuel filter bowl still remained about half full while the tractor is running. That fuel line is actually new, but I couldn't see the other lines to see if they were also new or not. I'm thinking its either something clogging the line or something in the tank. I'm getting down closer to 1/4 tank and it seems like its happening more frequently. Kind of seems like I should drain the tank, and remove it, clean it out, and run new line from the tank to the TEE near the fuel filter.

Blow the fuel line back into the tank. Also dont go by the gauge.

My tc40 shut off on my climbing a pile. Then the key wouldnt do anything, no lights or anything. Fixed the poor battery terminal connection then it drove 20' and would just crank. Checked for fuel at the injectors, and low pressure pump, nothing. My gauge said 1/2 tank...well turns out it was empty. 12gal of fuel later and I was back up and running.

 

[Fields_mj]

Blow the fuel line back into the tank. Also dont go by the gauge.

My tc40 shut off on my climbing a pile. Then the key wouldnt do anything, no lights or anything. Fixed the poor battery terminal connection then it drove 20' and would just crank. Checked for fuel at the injectors, and low pressure pump, nothing. My gauge said 1/2 tank...well turns out it was empty. 12gal of fuel later and I was back up and running.

I think mine is the other way around. The gauge was getting pretty low, but 5 gal of fuel almost overflowed the tank.

 

[Harry in Ky]

I would lean towards a restriction of fuel exiting the tank. I think the old "compressed air into the supply hose" trick would be next on the list. See what that changes.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I picked up a 2008 TC40DA in Jan to replace my old Ford 1710. Time will tell, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be some of the best money I've ever spent. That said, I do have one issue with it. After its been running for a while (30min to an hour), it acts like its starving for fuel, or developed an air leak. It looses power, and after several seconds, it dies. It will start right back up, but then does it again within a few minutes. The more I keep going, the more quickly it happens. After 4 trys, it's almost instant. If I walk away for a while (30 min), it will run for another 10 or 15 min before the problem comes back. I first noticed it this spring, but it wasn't as frequent. AFTER the problem started, I had some work done to it at a dealership which included replacing some leaking fuel lines. Problem seems worse after that, but I didn't have a lot of time on it prior so its hard to say.

I thought it acted like a clogged fuel filter, so I swapped that out last week and the problem still exists. I do notice that when the machine is running, the fuel bowl on the filter has about an inch of air at the top, but I can't see the fuel bowl from inside the cab (LOVE having a cab with AC), and by the time I get out of the machine after it dies, the bowl is full of fuel again. I'm normally running the machine in the back yard moving logs or totes of firewood, and I'm normally not running over 1500 rpm, often lower. My thinking is that either I have a lift pump that is weak, or I have air in the line prior to the fuel filter and its eventually getting to the fuel pump and injectors. Problem with that is that I'd think that it would pretty quickly work its way out and back through the return line.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Thanks,
Mark

I had the same type of problem on mine when I bought it. I found plastic shavings and "crap" in the fuel line fitting at the filter AND at least one debris in the tank intermittently blocking the nipple output. I lucked out and got the piece out of the tank by grafting in a 1/4 turn petcock at the nipple. Those are wide open when on, and you can hand spin a drill bit or a screw up into the tank to grab the offender and pull thru. You can also augment by temporarily adding a Tee fitting to try to suck it through at the same time.

Three yrs now and no issue other than filter change.

 

[dieselscout80]

After using compressed air to clear the line supplying fuel from the tank to the filter mine ran fine. However, this past winter I pulled the tank off and cleaned it.

If you take the tank out and pull the tank exit fitting out and it’s grommet it makes cleaning it easier.

Also I replaced the grommet on mine to ensure I didn’t have leaks.

I plan on adding a pre-filter right below the tank.

 

[Fields_mj]

Update - Obviously this issue hasn't been real urgent for me... lol I tried the whole removing the lid to make sure the vent works. No joy. Vent works fine. I blew air back into the tank from the fuel filter. I could hear it bubbling in the tank. That was one day early last week. I also added some Poweer Service Clear Diesel at the time. I tried to run a camera down into the tank to see if I could see anything, but I couldn't see a darn thing. Too much fuel in the tank still to be able to see anything on the bottom. Didn't really have a chance to use it much until yesterday and the problem returned in about 5 min. Thinking back, when i was blowing air into the tank, fuel never did try to run out of the fuel like like it SHOULD have. I finally got it moved over to the driveway where I don't mind spilling a little fuel on the ground now and then. Pulled the fuel line off at the tank. No fuel coming out. Blew air into the drain, and fuel started pouring out. I had the line off at the fuel filter too so I got it hooked up at the tank, then ran around to the filter and hooked that up as well. Fuel bowl STILL didn't want to fill (it was only half full).

I did notice some junk in it so I started to take it off and drain it. As soon as I had it loose enough for the air to drain, fuel started pouring out so I just tightened it back up. At first I thought I had fuel leaking back from the fuel pump and I started cursing myself for not clamping that line off like I would normally do when changing a fuel filter. I soon realized that I had drained noticeably more fuel than what the pump and injectors could hold so what ever the root cause was, it had now gone away. I only ran it about an hour after that, but it had no issues and the bowl was always full. Since the fuel wasn't draining when I had the line off at the tank, OBVIOUSLY there was/is something in there causing a problem. Once fuel was draining though, I would have expected the fuel bowl to fill without having to vent the air out. I would have expected the line on top of the fuel filter to vent the air back into the return line. Am I missing something there?

FWIW, I changed the fuel filter about a month ago. That was the first thing I did to try to address this problem. The problem has gotten progressively worse sense then (until yesterday). The PO used the machine to maintain his deer lease so it sat for long periods of time. I'm wondering if he didn't use some fuel with Biodiesel in it, and I'm dealing with algae. I have some work to do with it tomorrow. When I'm done, I'm going to go ahead and drain the fuel filter again to get the crud out of the bowl. I'll also pick up some Bio Kleen on the way home tonight and add that to the tank before hand.

 

[Harry in Ky]

Seems to me if you had algae in the system you would see some of it with all the lines and such that you've had apart. Something in the tank (or the fuel filter inlet fitting) is likely yes, but algae? When I've found that it's been some black, slimy, sort of stuff. Hard to miss.