BX24 stalling out on hills

stewbintn · May 17, 2011

Hi everyone!

Like some other threads, my BX24 just recently started doing this, rpms drop down to 800 or so, it struggles but I'm usually able to recover (thank goodness, I've got *steep* hills around here). 310 hrs on the machine. I just now changed the fuel filters, and 2 of the clamps broke when I used the pliers to move them, so I haven't taken it out of the barn just yet to give it a run until I get clamps, although it starts and idles. Lower filter was pretty dirty looking. Anyway, I also see mention of the fuel cap being clogged. How much venting should I expect? I see the little cap that looks like it snaps on, but I was afraid to try and pry it off for fear of breaking it. Was able to push a piece of string trimmer line into the hole on the underside. Blowing on the top side, it seems like some air is passing, but not much. I suppose insects or something could have gotten into it somehow.

Thanks!

ShenandoahJoe · May 17, 2011

Fuel filter was the first place to look, all right. Have you checked the air filter, and blown all the dust out of the screens?

stewbintn · May 19, 2011

Thanks Joe. Air filter is pretty clean. Not sure which screens you mean?

Definitely have plenty of fuel flow from the tank to filter 1, got doused trying to replace the clamp

It may have been that lower fuel filter that was the whole problem. Fuel gauge is stuck at full, but iirc, that's happened on occasion before.

I'll post pictures later of what *not* to do to see if your fuel cap is venting, so others can learn from my mistake :ashamed:

LostInTheWoods · May 19, 2011

A common problem people seem to run into with the BX models on steep inclines is tripping the kill switch under the seat. Leaning to far forward in the seat, especially. As your weight shifts, there's not enough pressure on the switch...the tractor thinks you're falling off and starts to kill the engine. Could this be your cause?

Mike_V · May 20, 2011

LostInTheWoods said:
...the tractor thinks you're falling off and starts to kill the engine. Could this be your cause?

What a good observation! That may well be what's happened to me backing up a steep slope...

Thanks!

Now for a solution... I don't want to disable the switch, but I'm going to need to something to stop this. I wonder if consciously pushing back will work.

stewbintn · May 20, 2011

Thanks Everyone. In this particular scenario, I mostly back down this hill as it's pretty steep and if I have a load in the bucket I'll actually tip forward going head down (unless I lower the bucket so much I lose half the load). The symptoms are slightly different than the cutout switch scenario, the tractor runs, but acts like its starved for fuel or air, it doesn't just stop. (I've had fun with the bumping the PTO switch and things cutting out too).

For those curious about the fuel cap, I've attached pics of mine in pieces.

What *not* to do:
blow air through the inside center hole - this is how mine became disassembled
try to pry off the small cap piece

As you can see in the exploded images, the venting is through the central hole (some things I found online implied that the 2 towers provided venting via the circumference of the inner circle).

There's a small rubber "valve" in the tip, which restricts the flow to only into the tank. Blowing air from the underside, this valve closes, and I actually separated the central disc from the cap with a loud pop. I probably also did some damage to this valve sticking string trimmer line in the hole on the underside, as it's split in more than the expected centerline.

The small cap piece is not removable, it's glued/fused in place. Venting takes place via the 2 small "v"s on the side of this piece and the central groove which should be somewhat visible in picture 2.

I think one would need to use vacuum on the underside or an air tip that would go over the small cap piece to check this correctly. Now that I see how it's put together, unless one got mud all over the cap, it seems unlikely it would get blocked.

I've glued mine back together with 2-part epoxy. If it falls back apart I guess I'll be buying a new one - lesson learned.