John Deere Backhoe stalls out

[mahpop]

I have a John Deere 301B Backhoe, 3 cylinder diesel with a stalling problem. After sitting for 2 years, I got around to getting it started.

It had a full tank of diesel when I parked it. I drained the water from the tank until colored fuel came out. Then I cracked the fuel pump lines, changed the fuel filter, and drained the line to the injection pump. At this point I added 5 gallons of kerosene to the fuel tank. Using the lever on the fuel pump, I pumped until clean fuel came out of the injector lines. Installed my new 850 CCA battery and fired it up. No problem so far.

Ran the machine for about two hours and parked it overnight. The next morning I replaced the hoses to the backhoe boom, crowd, stabilizers, etc. and fired it up. It ran fine for about two minutes while I operated the backhoe section to purge the air from the lines then it seemed to load up and then quit running. I immediately cranked it over and it started and ran for another two minutes or so and it quit again. Did this several times with the same scenario, quit after a couple of minutes after either loading up or being starved for fuel.

My initial thought was the fuel pump because it is 30 years old and with it sitting so long without being used, the diaphragm could have cracked from disuse or freezing if there was any water present in the lines. My second thought was that through evaporation (and my neighbor stealing about 10 gallons of fuel for his tractor when I wasn't around) the inside of the tank could have rusted and some scales moved down to the outlet, clogging it.

I have a new fuel pump on order and I'm going to remove the fitting at the bottom of the tank to see if there is any junk clogging it. That is all I can think of to do right now, but if I missed anything I hope someone on the forum here could offer some suggestions for me. I thought I covered everything but you never know, might be something I've missed. Appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.

 

[DaveOmak]

Sounds like rust sediment plugging stuff until it stalls.... then the rust settles and fuel flows... repeat.... I had this problem with a boat and rusty fuel tank... The rust plugged an elbow, restricted area, in the fuel line... It never even got to the filter... It was a few big flakes that caused the problem..... Sounds like the fuel is gravity feeding to the filter when the engine is not running... once the fuel pump starts pumping, the increased flow picks up the rust and causes blockage again.....
I could be wrong.... been wrong before..... Good luck..... Dave

 

[DT86]

I would hold off on a new fuel pump until I was 100% sure that was what is wrong. We all know they ain't cheap!

 

[mahpop]

Update to my previous post about the 301B Backhoe:

Took the fuel out of the tank and thoroughly flushed it after removing the bottom fittings. Checked the fuel line from the tank to the fuel pump and found a small hole in it so I replaced it with new. Installed a new fuel pump, and put a new fuel filter on, thinking the first one I installed might have picked up some debris from the tank. After restarting, the same stalling occurred. Took the inspection plate off of the injection pump and found the small black (plastic) pieces inside. So that must be where the problem is, in the fuel injection pump itself.

Next step: Have the injection pump rebuilt. Talked to some local construction mechanics, among others I trust, and they all agree for me to use John Deere for a rebuild rather than the guys who advertise on the 'net as rebuilders. I don't want someone to put new seals in it and call it "rebuilt". For the money, I want a precision job and JD seems to be the better qualified to get it done right.