jp2code
Bronze Member
I spent the day out on my Kubota L4400DT mowing pasture, about 10 hours all together.
I get back in, add 5 more gallons of diesel to the tank as it was down to about 1/2, greased all of the joints, and my dad thinks there is water in the fuel filter.
So, I turned the petcock off at the filter, turned it off, and realized it was just how the filter sat at the bottom of the float.
We cleaned it out anyway because there was a little gunk in the bottom, then put it back on.
Cranked the tractor and I was driving it over to the barn when the engine started idling down lower and lower until it died.
No fuel. I guess I got air in the lines.
We tried cranking it over and over, but it would not start. We hooked it to my dad's truck and pulled it down the road with the transmission in 4H. The power steering and hydraulics were working fine, but the engine just would NOT crank.
We pulled the tractor back home, and dad tries his trick of putting a rag soaked with gasoline in the intake. When I tried cranking, it knocked a little, but still refused to crank.
I took the fuel filter off again, and double checked that we reassembled it correctly. Diesel seems to flow in and out of there just fine, so I guess it has to be air in the system. Right?
We were still trying to crank it when all of a sudden it would not crank either. It was like one of the safety switches (like having the transmission in Neutral or the switch that detects when you are in the seat) was preventing power from getting to the starter.
There are 3 fuses by the battery: Main, Key Switch, and Key Off. All 3 fuses looked fine.
We fiddled around with the Neutral switch. It seemed OK.
We toggled the switch under the seat. It seemed fine.
I flipped the PTO switch On and Off, but that didn't make any difference either.
I've got a workshop manual for it, but all it seems to cover are really big things like engine overhaul. As soon as I locate my owners manual, I'm going to see if there was something silly I missed with the fuel filter.
So, I have 2 questions:
First, how can I get this engine to turn over? How do I find what is preventing the starter from turning over? Safety switches like that are such a bother when they prevent you from getting something done.
Second, how can I get fuel to the injectors so the engine will crank?
Old pic, but this is the tractor:
I get back in, add 5 more gallons of diesel to the tank as it was down to about 1/2, greased all of the joints, and my dad thinks there is water in the fuel filter.
So, I turned the petcock off at the filter, turned it off, and realized it was just how the filter sat at the bottom of the float.
We cleaned it out anyway because there was a little gunk in the bottom, then put it back on.
Cranked the tractor and I was driving it over to the barn when the engine started idling down lower and lower until it died.
No fuel. I guess I got air in the lines.
We tried cranking it over and over, but it would not start. We hooked it to my dad's truck and pulled it down the road with the transmission in 4H. The power steering and hydraulics were working fine, but the engine just would NOT crank.
We pulled the tractor back home, and dad tries his trick of putting a rag soaked with gasoline in the intake. When I tried cranking, it knocked a little, but still refused to crank.
I took the fuel filter off again, and double checked that we reassembled it correctly. Diesel seems to flow in and out of there just fine, so I guess it has to be air in the system. Right?
We were still trying to crank it when all of a sudden it would not crank either. It was like one of the safety switches (like having the transmission in Neutral or the switch that detects when you are in the seat) was preventing power from getting to the starter.
There are 3 fuses by the battery: Main, Key Switch, and Key Off. All 3 fuses looked fine.
We fiddled around with the Neutral switch. It seemed OK.
We toggled the switch under the seat. It seemed fine.
I flipped the PTO switch On and Off, but that didn't make any difference either.
I've got a workshop manual for it, but all it seems to cover are really big things like engine overhaul. As soon as I locate my owners manual, I'm going to see if there was something silly I missed with the fuel filter.
So, I have 2 questions:
First, how can I get this engine to turn over? How do I find what is preventing the starter from turning over? Safety switches like that are such a bother when they prevent you from getting something done.
Second, how can I get fuel to the injectors so the engine will crank?
Old pic, but this is the tractor:
