john deere 445 fuel issue

[zp18]

hello. i had posted a thread on hear awhile ago about my john deere 445 running rough. i have replaced the spark plugs, map sensor, air temp sensor, fuel filter, coils. it could still drive before... somewhat. it runs then looses rpms and bogs down and almost completely shuts off. just yesterday while 'trying' to plow with it, as i went to start it up, i heard the fuel pump priming up, and it sounded as if it wasnt priming correctly. instead of having the same tone , it had a few tones. so i am wondering if the fuel pump is shot.. causing the tractor to run rough and bog down. as of now, i cant drive it more than 5 feet without it bogging down and almost completely dying on me. very useless when it comes to plowing snow. let me know what yous think. Thanks!

 

[Yellowfever440]

Does it smoke at all during that time? If it is smoking black then it has plenty of fuel. You could have an injector problem. The injector sits in the throttle body. A 445 doesn't have a carb on it. Sometimes those injector will start dumping fuel into the engine. It dumps so much it will fill the crankcase with gas so check your oil and make sure you aren't gaining. If it isn't smoking really black then it could just be the fuel pump not picking up fuel or just going bad. I assume you have been changing your fuel filter once a year.

 

[zp18]

Does it smoke at all during that time? If it is smoking black then it has plenty of fuel. You could have an injector problem. The injector sits in the throttle body. A 445 doesn't have a carb on it. Sometimes those injector will start dumping fuel into the engine. It dumps so much it will fill the crankcase with gas so check your oil and make sure you aren't gaining. If it isn't smoking really black then it could just be the fuel pump not picking up fuel or just going bad. I assume you have been changing your fuel filter once a year.

it doesnt blow black at all. ill check the oil tomorrow. i was thinking it was the fuel pump too but before i go an spend even more money on it i figured id give this a try again. and yes i just changed the fuel filter in like july or early august

 

[Yellowfever440]

You should be able to take the fuel filter out and stick the hose from the fuel pump in the tank to a container and turn the key on and see if it is pumping fuel. Unless the pump starts messing up once it builds a couple psi.

 

[Dutch445]

good idea to find a way to get that supply line off going to the carb and see how the fuel
stream looks. another possibility is that there is an obstruction in the tank interfering
with fuel flow into the pump. you would be amazed at what can be found in a fuel tank,
from leaves, pine needles, parts of gas cans, fuel caps, plastic, stones....

if your pump has been run dry for a little while (maybe someone runs out of gas but keeps
trying to start the tractor) it can take out the pump also. learned that one the hard way,
as SO was out of gas and kept starting the tractor, driving it 5', it would quit, she'd restart
it and try to drive again, its quits, until the pump gave up!

 

[Yellowfever440]

Ya that's true about debris. I used to work at a deer dealer a few years back and they found paper towels in the tanks before. The big opening is nice for filling but a pain to keep stuff out of when it's breezy or anything.

 

[zp18]

thanks guys! ill have to rip the body off this weekend and try that out. at this point it has to be something with the fuel system. i just havent gotten it completely figured out yet. and the 445 doesnt have a carb. it has a throttle body and injector. just saying. i havent run it completely out of gas at all, i always will it up when ever it hits about 1/4 tank. and yea.. i get to like 5 6 foot and it wants to completely die , i have to let off the gas pedal for it to build rpms back up.

 

[Dutch445]

technically it may not be a "carb" but, it's a similar component with a single injection
into the throttle body instead of multi port injection like a car has. either way you
can pull a line and see how fuel flow is, cycling the key on after the pump quits to see
how long it pumps gas and how the stream is.
any chance there is something other than gasoline? my boys dumped my chain saw
mix into my old 445, and with the oil mix it wouldn't run. thought my whole engine was
crapped out, turned out to be just the oil mix. drain and clean fuel and it was good as new.

 

[zp18]

i know what you mean. i was just sayin. ill take the line off and check that tomorrow night or saturday mornin. i dont think theres anythin else in it.....unless somebody dumped something in there.... its been runnin like this since summer... drained the tank in summer and it still ran like crap. and its just gotten to the point within the last like 2 weeks where its completely useless and doesnt even drive.

 

[mechanic327]

I think you have a crack in the rubber hose on the fuel pump assembly. Pull it out of the tank and look close, replace it while it's out. Seen this many times.

 

[zp18]

on the fuel pump assembly... or that attaches to the fuel pump? i took the fuel pump out today. im gonna drain the tank later

 

[deadcarcass]

)
I have replaced the infamous gas line hose on my fuel pump, but had a different issue as well, tractor seemed to intermittently cut out for a second every once in a while, I ended up running a ground strap from the engine to the battery ground. It runs like new again!!

 

[jbudimlya]

Just bought a 1999 JD 445 with 350 hours on it.......It had not been run in a year....but reportedly it had run fine.....jumped it and it immediately started, but seemed to surge higher and lower motor speed. We put in fresh fuel with no effect and letting it run for a while did little to improve the situation. It seemed to get worse. I still bought the tractor not being afraid of a little repair work. I restarted it and stated to drive it home a mile away....got about 200 feet and it died....and it would not start! After towing it home and beginning to take the fuel tank apart and off.....I realized that the in-tank fuel pump was very similar to the unit on my 1995 and 2001 BMW motorcycle......and the problem was similar to one I had experienced on the bike.....the outlet hose from the fuel pump had dissolved from the alcohol ( now degraded into acetic acid) in the gas.....and had a hole in it. The fix was a 2 inch piece of fuel injection hose....cost $2 and the tractor no runs great.
Just sharing another example of this problem.

 

[BBO]

It might look like this one.

 

[RetiredCarGuy]

That is it!

My X575 pump motor failed internally, as plastic and metal fuel system components also fail.
A very common problem on all vehicles and machines that are subjected to varying amounts of ethanol.

Fuel suppliers are the cause by providing an unspecified ratio of gasoline/ethanol mix to the market.