Deere 510B BackHoe getting air in fuel

[searcyfarms]

So the story goes......

Trying to help a neighbor with his plight, I have this 510B after they couldnt keep it running this winter.

They replaced the fuel filter ( its a rectangular glass type ) because it wasnt running good. Still no help, added new treated fuel for winter, still no help.

I could see air in the glass fuel filter, simple i think, get air out, crack lines etc.........

it will run all day at idle and you can see little fuel bubbles coming into the glass filter on the inlet side of it/outlet side of the fuel pump - basically a lift pump that is gravity flow to the fuel pump from the tank.

I see no fuel leaking anywhere, pre fuel pump/post tank however im sure this rubber fuel line is likely the original that goes from the fuel tank to the fuel pump.

It has one of the primer levers on the side also.

Now, you can see a little tiny bubble coming into the filter at idle every second or so, sometimes as long as 3 to 5 seconds one will float in, so i let it run for about 15 minutes and then try WOT and it runs fine down the hill about 1/4 mile and then as it tries to go up the hill it wont hardly pull itself so i limp back to the house, get off and it looks like frothy coffee pouring into the glass filter, how could it pull that much air and then not leak?

Could a hose do that ? its metal ends rubber in the middle like a hydraulic hose. Could the fuel pump be bad and cause that? how would it not leak and dump fuel into the crankcase to be able to pull air?

I am hoping someone has ran across something like this and can help

Thanks in advance,
Robert

 

[thepumpguysc]

ITS VERY common to suck air & not leak..
Have u tried pressurizing the fuel tank & see where its weeping??
Change all the rubber lines.. or you'll be chasing ghosts for a long time..
Check the return circuit at the injectors.. does it go straight back to the tank?{doubtful}
Does the return tie back into the inlet circuit?? {probably} U "might" have a prob. at the injector return lines sucking air & ur just working at the wrong end.?? Lol
Happens to the best of us..
Another trick is, dust the engine w/ baby powder & pressurize the tank a smidg.. NOT MUCH or you'll blow stuff up.. & have a look around for drips in the BP..
Caution> BP has been known to cause cancer in older JD engines.. lol
Good luck.

 

[searcyfarms]

no i didnt know about pressurizing - will chekc the return line and see where it goes, i dont think i want to blow things up - oh dear i hope this ole girl doesnt get the big C hopefully she has a few good years in her

 

[searcyfarms]

problem solved.................slime in tank, restriction causing vacuum bubbles it appears, i back flushed the tank via hose about 3 or 4 times, noticed slime come out of hose, evidently it was causing the pump to overwork and create the vacuum bubbles, i put in some power service slime/cleaner let is sit for about 30 minutes, ran it for 15 WOT in drive, drove it about 1/2 down the road and back and it never missed a lick, then i let it idle for about 10 minutes, then shut it off for about 45 mins then ran it about 2 miles down the road ( I got more brave LOL ) and 2 miles back and its not drawing any bubbles now. Seems that was the problem!!!!

thank you guys, we experienced this on our tractors on the farm about a year ago and it never dawned on me slime would create a vacuum and make bubbles like that our tractors all quit completely, the station we get our red dyed off road diesel from admitted to buying a mix of bio diesel but only @ 10% and that is when we started having issues. We went to another station where we get it near another farm and they DO NOT use any mix/grade of bio at all and we said please dont every unless forced to, its causing nothing but problems with the slime/algae.

No problems since on any of our tractors or our neighbors since we switched, so i will advise my neighbor to get his fuel elsewhere, not sure where he got it just yet.

 

[fried1765]

problem solved.................slime in tank, restriction causing vacuum bubbles it appears, i back flushed the tank via hose about 3 or 4 times, noticed slime come out of hose, evidently it was causing the pump to overwork and create the vacuum bubbles, i put in some power service slime/cleaner let is sit for about 30 minutes, ran it for 15 WOT in drive, drove it about 1/2 down the road and back and it never missed a lick, then i let it idle for about 10 minutes, then shut it off for about 45 mins then ran it about 2 miles down the road ( I got more brave LOL ) and 2 miles back and its not drawing any bubbles now. Seems that was the problem!!!!

thank you guys, we experienced this on our tractors on the farm about a year ago and it never dawned on me slime would create a vacuum and make bubbles like that our tractors all quit completely, the station we get our red dyed off road diesel from admitted to buying a mix of bio diesel but only @ 10% and that is when we started having issues. We went to another station where we get it near another farm and they DO NOT use any mix/grade of bio at all and we said please dont every unless forced to, its causing nothing but problems with the slime/algae.

No problems since on any of our tractors or our neighbors since we switched, so i will advise my neighbor to get his fuel elsewhere, not sure where he got it just yet.

Try using a little Biobor (algaecide) each time you fill your tank.

 

[searcyfarms]

hi there fried, i have been using diesel fuel for over 50 yrs and this is the second time this has happened in the past yr, we had 4 tractors go down and now this backhoe of a neighbors, all from different fuel sources - frustrating, how come we never had this problem all these yrs and now we are seeing slime in fuel, is it because of the new ULSD ? or some type of bio mixture?

 

[Rmart30]

hi there fried, i have been using diesel fuel for over 50 yrs and this is the second time this has happened in the past yr, we had 4 tractors go down and now this backhoe of a neighbors, all from different fuel sources - frustrating, how come we never had this problem all these yrs and now we are seeing slime in fuel, is it because of the new ULSD ? or some type of bio mixture?

The slime is algae growing in the diesel. Go to napa or a truck stop or truck parts house and get a bottle of biocide. It will kill the algae .. But, it will still leave whats left of it behind. If you have a transfer tank put the biocide in it also. Deere also has rubber seals on its fuel lines that will dry and get hard and suck air eventually ... just so ya know in case ya start loosing prime or sucking air again one day.

 

[LouNY]

A boicide will kill the algae growing in the tank, then the filter should catch the sludge.
Good Bio-diesel will actually clean all the sludge out of a fuel system and fill the filters.
The low sulfur fuel is more susceptible to biological growth.
In warm weather I actually like the bio-diesel.