L3200 losing power

[Atlanta Panther]

So occasionally my L3200 would lose power. I had posted on this issue a while ago and have taken all the advice I've gotten from here and put it to good use. By that I mean, I've:

Changed out the fuel filter
blown out all the fuel lines
dumped my diesel in case it was bad
Added an algaecide in case I had green crap growing in my tank
added some Lucas fuel treatment to make sure the injectors were clean
opened up the tops of the injectors until fuel came out
ensured all the air has been removed from the fuel lines
Changed out the air filter
ensured no leaks in the radiator and that it had not lost coolant

I thought I had the problem pretty well licked as this past weekend I worked with the tractor for over an hour with no problem. This was after I had used the tractor briefly a couple of times in prior days with no problem to haul hay up to the barn which only takes 10-20 minutes or so.

Unfortunately, after my hour of working this past weekend all of a sudden I started losing power again as the RPMs would not stay up. It certainly seems like a fuel problem to me but the fuel bowl was still full and clear so I think I can discount anything that could have been in the tank if that was even a problem in the beginning.

So, at this point I am in a quandary. My best guess is that its either the fuel lift pump or the injector pump. However, before I start tearing into the engine, I thought I'd see if there was any other suggestions and if not, how best to approach replacing these pumps as they are not cheap and my wrenching skills are limited.

Thanks!

 

[Fallon]

I thought the L3200 used gravity rather than a lift pump...

Check for something floating (or sinking as the same may be) in the fuel tank. My father-in-law didnt take the plastic bag over the fuel nozzle off before fueling my L3200 once. Had to figure out why it later started stalling after a few minutes, then fish it out. Had to learn to bleed injectors for my first time after that finally as well.

 

[MFIHCAT]

Sometimes you can drain the fuel tank, remove sender and see in the tank. Sometimes you just have to physically remove the tank.

 

[Lurch]

Mine was the fuel shutoff by the filter. Backed off the stop and closed partially. Only enough to affect high rpm operations. Found it when I went to change filter, because I was assuming bad filter.
Also got my B cheap because of a kinked fuel line. Wouldn't run over 1800 rpm. Couldn't see the kink under the tank.

Good luck

 

[Atlanta Panther]

Problem fixed...

I remembered I never got back with what I did to resolve the fuel issue. Looks like it turned out to be a problem with the fuel lift pump. The way it was diagnosed was that we bypassed the onboard pump and temporarily connected an electric pump we had sitting around. Engine started right up and ran smoothly with better power. So we replaced the fuel lift pump (not cheap...$168 with a new gasket). I've been running a post hole digger installing about 100 12" post holes the last few days and the L3200 has run like a champ. I also added some Seafoam to the fuel and have run about 10-15 gallons of fresh diesel through it since I started having the problem and I'm pretty sure I've now got it licked. I'll know for sure once I have to bushhog the pasture again.

Thanks to all the suggestions i got!