JD 5205 fuel injector problem?

blehmann · Jul 30, 2020

This morning I was running a new to me brush hog. It is a little out of balance so I didn't think much of what was going on at first. After about ten minutes I thought to myself that the vibration from the brush hog is affecting the engine. So, I released the pto and let the blades come to a stop, revved up the engine and drove for a little ways. It has a miss, sounds almost like a light rod knock. I'm hoping that it is a plugged fuel injector. From what I read, a plugged injector on these 3 cylinder engines makes a pretty scary sound. This engine has 935 hours on it and I already had to replace a fuel pump and put in new injectors several years ago. That was caused by wet fuel. Since then, I've been really careful about draining water out of the fuel system. Anyway, I drove the tractor back to the yard and tried to determine if an injector is plugged. My theory was that the plugged injector fuel line would be warmer than the others since the other two would have fuel flowing through them which should make them slightly cooler. I couldn't tell any difference. I poured some fuel treatment in the tank and let it run for maybe fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, I came inside and order a set of new injectors. They are cheap enough that our local fuel injection shop recommends not messing with attempting to clean the old ones.

Have any of you guys had an injector plug up and did it sound like a knock when it happened?

Tx Jim · Aug 1, 2020

I'd try adding some fuel conditioner to fuel tank designed to help clean injectors.

blehmann · Aug 1, 2020

That was the first thing that I tried. Yesterday I started it up to get it warm. It runs great at 1000 rpm. I turned it off and changed the oil and filter, blew the dirt out of the primary air filter, and checked it over. It sounded so good that I took it down the hill to finish what I had started the prior day. It ran great for about ten minutes then started missing so bad that I hated to drive it back to the house. Next step is a fuel tank drain, a new fuel filter, and new air filters. If that doesn't fix the problem I will install the new injectors when they arrive.

Loaderman22 · Aug 25, 2020

blehmann said:
That was the first thing that I tried. Yesterday I started it up to get it warm. It runs great at 1000 rpm. I turned it off and changed the oil and filter, blew the dirt out of the primary air filter, and checked it over. It sounded so good that I took it down the hill to finish what I had started the prior day. It ran great for about ten minutes then started missing so bad that I hated to drive it back to the house. Next step is a fuel tank drain, a new fuel filter, and new air filters. If that doesn't fix the problem I will install the new injectors when they arrive.

There is a guy on here from South Carolina that checks injectors for most machines, I haven't seen him in a while, but I sent him mine for my dumptruck and he only charged like $20 to fix the clogged one. Once you get the new ones, it might be worth sending the old ones to him to check, then you will have a spare set just in case. Look for thepumpguysc, he also rebuilt my injection pump for a great price, runs like a champ now.

Agvg · Sep 1, 2020

I think is very unlikely that the injectors should take any damage from vibration, would more think of something that blocks fuel from the tank or feeding pump.

Tx Jim · Sep 2, 2020

I'll bet you have a ""lack of fuel delivery"" problem not fuel injector problem.

Have you checked for good fuel flow from fuel tank to inj pump?

Have you replaced the inline filter in photo below??

Have you checked to be sure fuel tank is venting?