Oil & Fuel John Deere 755 stalling all of a sudden

[BigNotEasyGuy]

Hello, this is my first post (and my first tractor). I bought a jd 755 seems to be from around '87 or so. I installed a block heater a few months ago since it was hard to start and a lot of people on this site suggested it. Since then it has run great, I've plowed and tilled a 40' x 40' garden area among other tasks since then. I've mostly been running it in 50 degree weather so far. Today was 70 degrees and I wanted to spread some compost. But I couldn't get more than 1 row spread with the FEL and it would stall. It has stalled before, but only when I was plowing and was too deep on the first pass or something. But then I would let it sit and restart it no problem. Now I haven't made it half way through this easy job of moving compost and it has stalled 7 or 8 times, each time it lugs the engine and black smoke comes out. Earlier it did seem to get too hot so I let it sit until it cooled. After that I tried taking it easy, driving slow, etc. But it still will get to the end of the row or something and just quit no matter what I do. Since I've owned it I have gone through a tank of fuel so far, I treated the new fuel with fppf. I think I added too much the first time by calculating wrong. This last 5 gallons I just put 2 caps in. I haven't done any other service yet (besides the new coolant when I did the block heater). The tractor has about 1700 hours on it, but the engine was new about 200 hours ago so it's not too old.

Is there something about the warm weather that has caused this behavior? Any debugging thoughts? Some posts seem to suggest clogged fuel lines maybe but I would have thought my additive helped with that. Any help or suggestions would be very appreciated, I need to get this dirt ready for planting.

Thanks!
jasen

 

[jneddermeyer1]

Hello, this is my first post (and my first tractor). I bought a jd 755 seems to be from around '87 or so. I installed a block heater a few months ago since it was hard to start and a lot of people on this site suggested it. Since then it has run great, I've plowed and tilled a 40' x 40' garden area among other tasks since then. I've mostly been running it in 50 degree weather so far. Today was 70 degrees and I wanted to spread some compost. But I couldn't get more than 1 row spread with the FEL and it would stall. It has stalled before, but only when I was plowing and was too deep on the first pass or something. But then I would let it sit and restart it no problem. Now I haven't made it half way through this easy job of moving compost and it has stalled 7 or 8 times, each time it lugs the engine and black smoke comes out. Earlier it did seem to get too hot so I let it sit until it cooled. After that I tried taking it easy, driving slow, etc. But it still will get to the end of the row or something and just quit no matter what I do. Since I've owned it I have gone through a tank of fuel so far, I treated the new fuel with fppf. I think I added too much the first time by calculating wrong. This last 5 gallons I just put 2 caps in. I haven't done any other service yet (besides the new coolant when I did the block heater). The tractor has about 1700 hours on it, but the engine was new about 200 hours ago so it's not too old.

Is there something about the warm weather that has caused this behavior? Any debugging thoughts? Some posts seem to suggest clogged fuel lines maybe but I would have thought my additive helped with that. Any help or suggestions would be very appreciated, I need to get this dirt ready for planting.

Thanks!
jasen

I would try fuel filter.

 

[beenthere]

:welcome: to TBN

Don't count on the "additives" to do anything but lighten your pocket book.
(my opinion of them)

As suggested, start with a fuel filter and also make sure your fuel is good.. even consider draining and flushing out the fuel tank and lines. The lugging and black smoke are not good signs. Weather should not have an effect on running good, just maybe hiding the problem so you think it is weather.

Finding a service tech manual, either from a Deere dealer or get one on-line would be a helpful "tool" for you to have. Hopefully just the fuel is the problem, but bad fuel may have caused other conditions in the injector pump or the injectors.

 

[BigNotEasyGuy]

Ok, I'll try to pick up a new filter. Too bad tomorrow is Sunday, nobody is open. I did just fill the tank. I went to a different gas station the last time. Maybe I could drain the tank and try new fuel.

 

[sweettractors]

Hello, this is my first post (and my first tractor). I bought a jd 755 seems to be from around '87 or so. I installed a block heater a few months ago since it was hard to start and a lot of people on this site suggested it. Since then it has run great, I've plowed and tilled a 40' x 40' garden area among other tasks since then. I've mostly been running it in 50 degree weather so far. Today was 70 degrees and I wanted to spread some compost. But I couldn't get more than 1 row spread with the FEL and it would stall. It has stalled before, but only when I was plowing and was too deep on the first pass or something. But then I would let it sit and restart it no problem. Now I haven't made it half way through this easy job of moving compost and it has stalled 7 or 8 times, each time it lugs the engine and black smoke comes out. Earlier it did seem to get too hot so I let it sit until it cooled. After that I tried taking it easy, driving slow, etc. But it still will get to the end of the row or something and just quit no matter what I do. Since I've owned it I have gone through a tank of fuel so far, I treated the new fuel with fppf. I think I added too much the first time by calculating wrong. This last 5 gallons I just put 2 caps in. I haven't done any other service yet (besides the new coolant when I did the block heater). The tractor has about 1700 hours on it, but the engine was new about 200 hours ago so it's not too old.

Is there something about the warm weather that has caused this behavior? Any debugging thoughts? Some posts seem to suggest clogged fuel lines maybe but I would have thought my additive helped with that. Any help or suggestions would be very appreciated, I need to get this dirt ready for planting.

Thanks!
jasen

As suggested, Replace fuel filter and bleed system. Ken Sweet

 

[Wagtail]

G'day Mate and welcome to TBN from Downunder.

As has been suggested with the fuel filter... and draining the system. Take note of the flow rate out of the tank, does it pour, dribble or drip? Dribble or drip would indicate that something is obstructing in your tank. An inspection camera will confirm (a nice handy 'tool' to have around, by the way).

Start eliminating the 'simple stuff' (tank obstruction, fuel filter) before throwing parts at the problem. With the age of your machine, despite having a new donk, you could have a biological growth.

Keep us informed and enjoy the site.

 

[BigNotEasyGuy]

So if I wanted to drain the tank, how would I do that on a 755? I took the hood and grill off. I don't see an obvious drain plug. Maybe the FEL hardware is obscuring it? Does anyone know if the 755 has a drain plug on the bottom somewhere? I've tried a cheap hand siphon with the bulb, but the tank seems too deep to get the flow going. I was going to go get a longer hose with a fancier pump on it unless someone knows where drain the tank?

Thanks again!

 

[beenthere]

Don't see that there is a drain on that tank, but by removing the grill and some of the hardware (i.e. hood) associated with the tank, it can fairly easily be removed for cleaning. The service tech manual has illustrated photos that show how. When you get to the pickup tube that has the screen at the bottom, you may have a clear picture of what all is (or isn't) in that tank that may be causing the problem.

 

[BigNotEasyGuy]

I came to the same conclusion, and I can confirm that there is no drain plug on a 755. The tank is one piece and comes out after taking a few bolts off here and there as the technical manual says.

However, after draining my tank and refilling with fuel from a known source I then went through the line bleeding procedures (and recharged the battery) and was able to start up just fine. I tried moving a few buckets of compost and had the same exact problem. I am able to drive about 100 yards or so, then if I do anything stressful like turn to sharp, or back up out of the garden, or try to full the FEL, it lugs and spews black smoke for several seconds. I tried waiting it out and just letting it idle. At first that seems to work, it will idle and return to white smoke. Then if I push on the forward or reverse peddles it will lug again and more black smoke, then it stalls. It seems to be fine after it sits for 20 minutes or so, then I can start it up again and go through the whole procedure again.

I'll try the fuel filter this week when the dealership opens. One thing I'm worried about is the overheating I thought I saw. That hasn't been a problem in the recent past since it was cold outside. Someone installed a temp. gauge on it and I wasn't paying attention, it looked like the first time this happened it was really hot, I shut it off and flipped the lit open and saw coolant coming out the overflow hose. I was a bit shocked because it wasn't that hot and I hadn't done much. But then later I noticed the other hose from the bottom of the radiator was dripping. The valve hadn't been tightened enough when I did the block heater job and had drained the coolant. So my fear is I overheated it maybe and did something bad to the engine? Since I've been restarting it, the gauge hasn't gotten even above the lower marks. But will try to top if off with some more coolant possibly to confirm I didn't leak a ton out. I haven't seen huge puddles or anything where it's parked but it is probably low if that drip has been going for a couple months now.

I'll update when I try the filter change. I really hope I didn't mess up that nice engine...

 

[beenthere]

With that latest info, I don't think it is a fuel problem.. agree with you that it is "something bad in the engine".... bummer.