Oldyellowtractor
New member
Hi,
I have been trying to repair my dad's 1973 Ford 5000 diesel. The tractor quit in the field while bush hogging, it apparently had trash in the fuel tank. We cleaned the tank, added clean fuel, and replaced the fuel filter. We bled the pump and the tractor cranked and ran for about 1 hour, then it quit. After that, you could push the cold start button and it will run for about two minutes, then slowly die. First, I rebuilt the lift pump, no change. Then I found a small fuel leak in the line at the inlet to the lift pump, so I replaced the line thinking it was sucking air. That didn't change anything either. Note, the fuel tank is clean, and the fuel is fresh and clean.
Here is a description of what it does. Crank the tractor, it runs fine for about two minutes, then slowly dies. After it dies, you can bleed the fuel system, and air comes out each bleed screw. (I'm bleeding the screw on top of the filter first, then the rear screw on the injector pump, then the front screw) Then you can crank it and again it dies after two minutes. Now, while it's running, no fuel is returning back to the tank, but when you use the manual pump lever on the lift pump, the fuel will return to the tank. Also, when it is running, it runs fine, doesn't miss, smoke or anything. It cranks right up without using the cold start right after it's bled.
I did find one small leak where the line comes from the shut-off valve on the tank to the lift pump. It appears that the threads on the shutoff valve are damaged. I'm going to replace the shut-off valve to fix the leak.
Is it possible that there is enough air coming from the leaky fuel line to kill the motor? I know it has leaked in the past, and it ran fine. If there was a leak somewhere that was sucking air, fuel wouldn't come out, would it? How would I find a leak like that? What could cause the fuel not to return to the tank when it's running?
This thing has me baffled. I don't know what else to try.
I have been trying to repair my dad's 1973 Ford 5000 diesel. The tractor quit in the field while bush hogging, it apparently had trash in the fuel tank. We cleaned the tank, added clean fuel, and replaced the fuel filter. We bled the pump and the tractor cranked and ran for about 1 hour, then it quit. After that, you could push the cold start button and it will run for about two minutes, then slowly die. First, I rebuilt the lift pump, no change. Then I found a small fuel leak in the line at the inlet to the lift pump, so I replaced the line thinking it was sucking air. That didn't change anything either. Note, the fuel tank is clean, and the fuel is fresh and clean.
Here is a description of what it does. Crank the tractor, it runs fine for about two minutes, then slowly dies. After it dies, you can bleed the fuel system, and air comes out each bleed screw. (I'm bleeding the screw on top of the filter first, then the rear screw on the injector pump, then the front screw) Then you can crank it and again it dies after two minutes. Now, while it's running, no fuel is returning back to the tank, but when you use the manual pump lever on the lift pump, the fuel will return to the tank. Also, when it is running, it runs fine, doesn't miss, smoke or anything. It cranks right up without using the cold start right after it's bled.
I did find one small leak where the line comes from the shut-off valve on the tank to the lift pump. It appears that the threads on the shutoff valve are damaged. I'm going to replace the shut-off valve to fix the leak.
Is it possible that there is enough air coming from the leaky fuel line to kill the motor? I know it has leaked in the past, and it ran fine. If there was a leak somewhere that was sucking air, fuel wouldn't come out, would it? How would I find a leak like that? What could cause the fuel not to return to the tank when it's running?
This thing has me baffled. I don't know what else to try.
