John Brabant
New member
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2009
- Messages
- 2
Thought I should post the experience I am going through with my Massey Ferguson 2680HD. So this year was to be the year I had may act together to get my hay cut on time. With the COVID 19 situation providing me more personal time to get my equipment in shape well in advance, I set out to start mowing mid-June. My always reliable and perfect runner 2680HD had clean oil and oil filter installed and with a full tank of fuel was ready to go. I hopped into the cab and started the tractor only to have it die. it has NEVER done this. Tried again and after too many turns of the starter it stumbled to life only to die. I checked under the hood and saw the the water separator and filter assembly (aka "sedimenter" according to the MF online parts catalog) was dripping fuel. So I tightened that all up and proceeded to start the tractor. It would not start, the sedimenter continued to drip. So I pulled the sediment apart. The one-piece filter canister fell apart when I removed it and I could readily see that the rubber seals were discolored and deformed, one even looking somewhat melted. I called my wonderful dealer, Rene Fournier Equipment in Swanton, Vermont to get the lowdown. Andre told me that they had seen this before and that it is often caused by diesel anti-gel additive. I had always used the Power Service brand without problems, but thought I would try the Howes Lubricator Diesel Treat sold at Tractor Supply. Apparently this stuff did a number on my fuel system, at least the water separator/sedimenter unit. So I ordered the new sedimenter filter canister and a week later it arrived. Upon reassembling the sedimenter, the glass sediment bowl literally cleaved in half along a seam down the middle of the glass bowl. Arghhh! How crazy is that? So now I had to order a sediment bowl. Another week and the bowl was delivered but had been smashed to bits by UPS. Ordered another and when it came, this time intact, I set about getting the thing back together. The 2680HD tractor has an electric fuel pump with a fine (30 micron?) filter assembly located below the electric pump within the same assembly that is situated in-line after the sedimenter. I noted that the new sediment glass bowl had no seam which leads me to believe that those with the seam had an issue such as I experienced. So, the fuel system path is fuel tank to water filter/sedimenter to electric fuel pump and filter (aka lift pump) to the injection pump. These are interconnected with low-pressure quick disconnect lines (thankfully). After opening up either the sedimenter or lift pump filter assembly, it is necessary to purge the air from the system by turning the key (without starting the tractor) to the 2nd, on, position to run the electric lift pump for 30 seconds to refill everything with fuel. What I should have immediately seen was the glass sedimenter bowl fill with fuel. Didn't happen. So I pressurized the fuel tank by stuffing a heavy rag into the tank filler opening and fitting in an air hose nozzle. This worked to get the fuel flowing and filled everything up with fuel from what I could tell. I did this with the lift pump running. Despite confirmation that the system now had fuel and hearing the lift pump running, the tractor still would not start. I tried bleeding the high pressure side of the system by cracking the 2nd and 3rd injector connections, still nothing. Soooo..., I then pulled the low pressure lines off the discharge side of the lift pump. While the pump was clearly operating, the fuel it was pumping came out in spurts and did not flow clear and steady. I was able to stop the flow by putting my finger over the discharge opening and there was no real pressure felt against my finger, let alone fuel forcing past it. So it looks like I will need to replace the lift pump, which I was able to remove by removing the 3 screw bolts that hold it onto the heavy steel mounting bracket. FYI, to get at the obscured 3rd screw located over the engine, one needs to remove the entire mounting bracket which was a simple job. I found a label on the lift pump upon removal that said Perkins on it with part number 4132A018 on it. The dealer priced the part at $247.00 plus shipping, so it would likely come to about $280.00 delivered. Searching the internet, I found that this pump is universally used on all kinds of equipment that uses the 104D-44T Perkins engine found in my MF 2680HD, even used in Hummers! As such, this can be found as an aftermarket part that looks to be identical in every way. I found a number of sellers on Ebay selling them in the range of $42.99 with free delivery and a 1 year warranty. The aftermarket lift pumps are made in China, but from my research, it appears that the Perkins brand pumps are made in China as well, my guess at the very same factory as the less expensive ones. FYI, despite the $247.00 dealer quoted price, that appears to be a very competitive price for a Perkins labeled pump as others on the internet want upwards of $350-$550 for them. So you really need to do your due diligence in researching prices and sources for these things. So, I am writing this on a Sunday and have placed an order for a replacement lift pump which I hope to receive by week's end which I expect will do the trick and get me fully up and running and out on the hayfield, now 5 weeks later. My hay will not be great quality this year due to all of this, but I have learned a lot about how the fuel system on my MF 2680HD operates which will aid in troubleshooting and repair down the road. Oh, and I will be buying a second, back up pump to keep in inventory and have already bought a back up sedimenter filter cartridge so I can avoid the wait for parts should any of these parts fail again. I will not use Howes Lubricator Diesel Treat in my tractors ever again as I believe it not only damaged the seals in my sedimenter assembly, but also ruined my electric lift pump. I wanted to put this information on the TractorbyNet forum so that anyone with a 2600 series tractor, all of which use the same 104D-44T Perkins engine and fuel system, could learn about how to address a non-start, fuel related problem. And one last thing, for those of you that might need to bleed the high pressure side of the fuel system (e.g. between the injector pump and the injectors), you should know that there is a solenoid valve on the injector pump that stays open for 36 seconds and then closes if the tractor does not start or is not running as part of the MF 2600 Series Safety System. If bleeding the high pressure side and turning over more than 36 seconds, you need to turn the key back to the OFF position and then operate the starter again, which resets the solenoid valve and timer again to 36 seconds. I am told that sometimes this solenoid valve can fail and stay shut, so if everything else on the low pressure side is operational, that is the next place to look. You should hear the solenoid valve click when you turn the key on and if not, it has likely jammed or failed. Wish me luck!
