Oil & Fuel Spin on Fuel Filter

[Acky]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I need to replace the spin on fuel filter on my daughter's Foton 404. I'll be replacing the CX7085 with a Napa 3195. Frankly, I have no idea when or if the present filter has been changed before. Neither does she.

Will I need to bleed any injector lines after replacing the filter ?? Info on the web seems to suggest filling the new filter with fuel before screwing it on and then it's good to go.

Hopefully, the folks that are a lot more familiar with these machines can lead me in the proper direction.

Many thanks for any advise. Hope you all are having a great holiday season.

Acky (Frank)

 

[SPIKER]

Acky;

if you fill fuel filter all way up you still MAY need to do a bit of bleeding on them. Be sure to warm up the engine first and then shut down for overall maintenance. I like to change all my filers and fluids in late fall after a long day of brush hogging. That way it sets much of the winter with good clean fluids in it. I also run it around yard for couple min shifting between gears to get all the trans fluids mixed up and dirt suspended.

On the fuel filter you may have to pump the primer pump some to push out the last bits of the air trapped in the system.

Mark

 

[RonMar]

You should be able to swap the fuel filter without having to bleed the high pressure injector lines.

Most fuel filter assemblies I have seen installed are setup with the fuel lines both input and outlet, running upward to the filter. They do this to make the filter a high point in the system. There usually also have a bleed screw or nut on top of the filter housing. Once you close the fuel valve at the tank, swap the filter and turn the fuel valve back on at the tank, you can loosen the bleeder on top of the filter boss to let the air out and completely fill the filter and piping. Tapping on the lines adjacent to the filter while this is happening can help to dislodge any air bubbles. Once you get only fuel out of the top of the filter housing, close the bleeder bolt.

There may also be similar bleeder bolts/screws on the injector pump(IP) housing. It is common that the lift pump is attached to the IP and there may be a hand priming pump as part of the lift pump. AS mentioned that hand pump can be used to help get fuel to the fuel pump and to push air out thru the bleeder at the filter. At any rate, any air you do not get out of the filter will find it's way to the injector pump housing when you start the engine or cycle that hand pump. The IP housings are usually configured so any air will go to the top of the pump housing(where the bleeders are) and the diesel being drawn into the IP cylinders is drawn near the bottom of the housing. So you can cycle that hand lift pump or start the engine, but you should then open the IP bleed screws to insure any air that has made it to the housing gets let out.

You should only have to bleed the high pressure hardlines to the injector, if enough air has been accumulated in the IP housing to reach down to the lower fuel inlet ports on the injector pumps WHILE the engine is running. As long as this is not allowed to happen the high pressure side of the injection system shoud be ok.

 

[Acky]

Many thanks, Mark and Ron. Filter went on easy and no bleeding was required.

Now, here's one for you: On my daughter's 10 yr. old Foton, when she puts it in 1st gear (either low or high) and lets off the clutch, the tractor will hardly move and just goes at a crawl pace, no power whatsoever. This has been happening on and off for about a week now. I've tested the battery and voltage was OK but haven't as yet done a load test. I thought that perhaps it was fuel starved thus the reason for changing the fuel filter.

I do a lot of work on Harleys but only the routine maintainance on tractors (our JD and daughter's Foton). Some may say there's really no difference but that's another discussion. If that problem was on a bike, I'd start to think of a clutch issue.
Is there a way to adjust the clutch on these things ?? Trying to decipher the owners manual is an exercise in frustration.
Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated.

Frank (Acky)

 

[SPIKER]

Acky;

Does the tractor still rev up while moving and it is just in the (Low Low) range? (Not as familiar w FOTONs but many have dual high/low ranges and creeper gearboxes.) My Jinma is a .2mph in Low Low 1 range so slow it barely moves but the traction force is highest & can drive up a tree or pull one down.

Does it have lots of power to PULL traction or is it simply so weak that it stalls on any resistance to movement.??? Weak clutch usually shows up in higher gears under loads where engine revs but no movement or slowing movement.


Mark

 

[Acky]

Mark,
The tractor will rev up with no problem in either the low or high range but will only operate at a crawl. It idles perfectly and has not stalled. No matter how much throttle, the machine refuses to move at anything greater than VERY slow. There's no traction force at all.

Acky

 

[RonMar]

That sounds like the clutch is not engaging...

 

[quicksandfarmer]

That sounds like the clutch is not engaging...

Agree. There should be a direct relationship between engine speed and ground speed, if the tachometer is saying the engine is not slowing down but the forward progress is slowing, either the clutch is slipping or the wheels are spinning.

To answer the earlier question, yes the clutch can be adjusted. There should be enough play in the clutch pedal that when you take your foot off, the fork is not touching the throw-out bearing at all, there's a visible gap (.1 inch) between the fork and the bearing. You can sense it without taking the cover off the clutch, you should have to push in a bit on the pedal before you encounter any resistance. If there is no play, the simplest thing is to adjust the linkage rod that connects the clutch pedal to the fork, you don't have to take anything apart.

If the clutch is slipping and there is a gap at the throwout bearing there is no further adjustment, you need a new clutch.

 

[Acky]

Adjusted pedal play and tractor seems to be working fine.

Thanks to all for your guidance and help with this issue. A Happy New Year to all.

Acky (Frank)