Oil & Fuel L4400 WATER IN FUEL AND INJECTION PUMP

[Chilly807]

***UPDATE*** STILL NOT RUNNING!! Got all water out of tank and fuel bowl. Cracked lines to injectors on top of pump and cranked engine a ton- only had water(and then diesel) come out of the injector closest to firewall. Nothing out of other lines. Now i have nothing out of any of the four lines. When i spray starting fluid in the intake it will run till the fluid runs out. I do have power to glow plugs and no air obstructions so its clearly a fuel problem. There is some sort of solenoid on the injection pump which i think is the key off solenoid and i am wondering if this is engaging and preventing pump from pulling fuel through. Our seat switch is jacked up and the springiness of it is gone. I originally thought that the switch was just a safety switch for starting but i know it controls fuel kill too(when you get out of seat it cuts fuel). Im wondering if any of you have ever had a switch that would allow starting but would not allow fuel? Or could it be that the injections pump is now dead and can't build pressure? Any thougts would help. my injection pump did not appear to have the top bleed the gentleman earlier was talking about but it does have the regular air bleed. should this be open or closed when i am cranking? Giant air pocket? help!!!!

I'd say it's air locked..

The air bleed should be open when you crank the engine to the best of my knowledge. If it isn't, the injector pump is just treadling air back and forth. What needs to happen now is to fill the lines from the tank to the filter, the filter, and finally the injection pump itself with fuel. The trouble is, there has to be somewhere for the trapped air to go before the fuel can get in.

It's going to be messy in my experience, although I've never run my Kubota dry so I really don't know how bad these engines are to bleed. Check your owner's manual for the exact procedure.

You'll have to rely on gravity to fill the filter bowl, IIRC the tank feeds to the filter, from there to the fuel supply pump and finally the injection pump. The problem is the fuel supply pump won't normally allow fuel flow through it unless the engine is turning. The older style supply pumps had a lever on the outside you could pump to actuate the pump manually.

You can try opening the air bleed on the pump and wait for fuel to drip from the injection pump. If it doesn't drip out under gravity you'll have to crank the engine and watch for fuel there as you do that.

Once you have solid fuel out the bleed screw (minimal air) the engine may start. If it doesn't, close the bleed screw once you're satisfied you have fuel available there. You may have to loosen the fuel line nuts at the injectors and crank the engine again until you see fuel at the injectors, then tighten the nuts and go for a start.

This is all assuming there's no damage to the injection pump... these small pumps don't move a lot of fuel, so bleeding them may take a few minutes of cranking.

I'd say the seat switch is ok, if it allows the engine to crank it should permit fuel as well. There MIGHT be a fuse for the fuel solenoid, I'm not sure.

Rest the starter at least a minute between start attempts, and limit cranking to about 20 seconds max each time. No point in burning up a starter.

Sean

 

[leonz]

***UPDATE*** STILL NOT RUNNING!! Got all water out of tank and fuel bowl. Cracked lines to injectors on top of pump and cranked engine a ton- only had water(and then diesel) come out of the injector closest to firewall. Nothing out of other lines. Now i have nothing out of any of the four lines. When i spray starting fluid in the intake it will run till the fluid runs out. I do have power to glow plugs and no air obstructions so its clearly a fuel problem. There is some sort of solenoid on the injection pump which i think is the key off solenoid and i am wondering if this is engaging and preventing pump from pulling fuel through. Our seat switch is jacked up and the springiness of it is gone. I originally thought that the switch was just a safety switch for starting but i know it controls fuel kill too(when you get out of seat it cuts fuel). Im wondering if any of you have ever had a switch that would allow starting but would not allow fuel? Or could it be that the injections pump is now dead and can't build pressure? Any thougts would help. my injection pump did not appear to have the top bleed the gentleman earlier was talking about but it does have the regular air bleed. should this be open or closed when i am cranking? Giant air pocket? help!!!!

Please do not crank the starter or use anymore ether you can blow a hole in one of the pistons!!

1. very carefully retighten the flare nuts on the injection nozzles if you have not done so already.

2, open the bleeder/banjo bolt only slightly-this is the banjo bolt on the far end the injection pump closest to the front of the engine.

3. get a very large rag and wrap it around the blower nozzle and use several puffs to force fuel into the lines with the key turned to the on position.

4. after this is done you should have fuel exiting the space where the banjo bolt is located-if not continue to squirt air in the tank using the rag to seal it i no fuel appears the the bleeder is not loosened sufficiently to allow air to exit the injection pump.

By this time you should be able to start the engine at low idle ONLY and the bleeder will be pushing fuel and no air and then you can tighten the bleeder/banjo bolt.


I would also very quickly purchase the manual bleeder pump accessory for your engine.

 

[kuboman]

My hair stands up when I hear someone using starting fluid on these engines. It takes very little to break top rings.

 

[leonz]

AMEN to that!!!! Just as bad as using WD-40 to see if an ignition system is working.

 

[Johnny Burke]

went out today and put new seat switch on, put new battery in and after 1 minute of cranking, realized starter was shot. It was pulling so much juice that negative cable was smoking and it was making weird noises and was crazy hot. so next step is new starter and bleed entire system. i'll keep y'all updated. sure is a learning process that started with water in fuel!

 

[Johnny Burke]

Please do not crank the starter or use anymore ether you can blow a hole in one of the pistons!!

1. very carefully retighten the flare nuts on the injection nozzles if you have not done so already.

2, open the bleeder/banjo bolt only slightly-this is the banjo bolt on the far end the injection pump closest to the front of the engine.

3. get a very large rag and wrap it around the blower nozzle and use several puffs to force fuel into the lines with the key turned to the on position.

4. after this is done you should have fuel exiting the space where the banjo bolt is located-if not continue to squirt air in the tank using the rag to seal it i no fuel appears the the bleeder is not loosened sufficiently to allow air to exit the injection pump.

By this time you should be able to start the engine at low idle ONLY and the bleeder will be pushing fuel and no air and then you can tighten the bleeder/banjo bolt.


I would also very quickly purchase the manual bleeder pump accessory for your engine.

What is "the blower nozzle" that you refer to? I don't have access to compressed air as i am out in a field.

 

[leonz]

Hello Johny,

I was referring to the low pressure
air spray nozzles to clean things off with.


If you can borrow a portable air tank and a
"safety blow gun nozzle" as they are referred to
you would be able use air to move the fuel through
the hoses to the injection pump by plugging the filler
hole with a rag around the blow gun nozzle.

 

[Johnny Burke]

****UPDATE- SHE'S UP AND RUNNING****
Ok, so new battery and starter went on. Opened petcock valve on injection pump and cranked her over for about 30 seconds and she fired and ran! Ran it for about 30 seconds, closed petcock and then just let er' run. Still blowing a lot of extra smoke from all that starting fluid and probably little water still in system but ran great! Added lubricity additive to fuel to help relube that injection pump and cylinders. Thanks again for all your help. My number one problem in getting it bled out?--- i had unplugged the fuel cutoff solenoid and so it wouldn't let fuel through pump. I had originally thought that unplugged meant it would be open but i had it backwards, unplugged is closed and when it receives power-then it opens fuel flow! If i ever have water in fuel again i'll have it diagnosed and fixed in 1/2 hour. Live and learn!! thanks again,
johnnyb