T1520 stall after 5 minutes

[moocow]

I've got a 1991 T1520 tractor that was running fine not too long ago. It died in the field, but turned over fine, so I replaced the fuel filter and cleaned out the sediment bowl, which had quite a bit of dirt and rocks in it. After putting in the new fuel filter and bleeding it the tractor ran fine for about 10-15 minutes before losing power and quitting all together. The engine still cranks fine, it just wouldn't start. Not knowing what to do, I just bled the engine and then it started up a bit rough at first but then ran fine. Now after about 2-3 minutes it dies again, and if I bleed it I can get another 2-3 minutes. Anyone know what I should try next?

EDIT: I forgot to mention that it also seems to puff a lot of white smoke now. It seems to be a constant stream of white smoke during the whole 2-3 minutes that it lasts before it needs to be bled again.

 

[WTA]

My TD95D is doing the exact same thing. Has been for almost two months now.

My BRAND NEW TD95D!

It's already had the injector pump rebuilt. Fuel lines replaced, filters replaced, tank cleaned, everything I can possibly think of and I'm not at all new to working on diesels. This one has me pulling my hair out. The dealer is coming to get it again tomorrow. If I hear anything about what's causing it from them I'll be sure to let you know because it may just be the same problem. I'm lost is all I can say. I'm going to tell them not to bring it back till it can sit there and burn a full tank of fuel without so much as a hickup or one singe puff of white smoke.

I'm hearing from several sources that it's probably an algae problem but it's not on mine. No way. I've cleaned the fuel system well enough to drink out of the tank.

Good luck with yours. All I can advise right now is to check the strainer inside the top of your lift pump if it uses one and start checking all the seals on the fuel system after that.

 

[JC-jetro]

I've got a 1991 T1520 tractor that was running fine not too long ago. It died in the field, but turned over fine, so I replaced the fuel filter and cleaned out the sediment bowl, which had quite a bit of dirt and rocks in it. After putting in the new fuel filter and bleeding it the tractor ran fine for about 10-15 minutes before losing power and quitting all together. The engine still cranks fine, it just wouldn't start. Not knowing what to do, I just bled the engine and then it started up a bit rough at first but then ran fine. Now after about 2-3 minutes it dies again, and if I bleed it I can get another 2-3 minutes. Anyone know what I should try next?

EDIT: I forgot to mention that it also seems to puff a lot of white smoke now. It seems to be a constant stream of white smoke during the whole 2-3 minutes that it lasts before it needs to be bled again.

You are saying two things that are important here, one is not starting and cleaning the fuel bowl, filter and such. Are you sure that you bled the air in the injector lines all the way to the injectors. Any trapped air can be pulsed (squeezed back and forth) by the work of a mechanical pump if the air has no where to go, thus no fuel being pumped. Line to the injectors need to be lightly cracked open to be able to get the air bled off till you see diesel spewing out. The injector pump may also have bleed holes that you need to bleed the air from. I'm worried more about the second statement you made that you get a "constant Stream of White smoke".. that does not sound good as white smoke could be a sign of anti freeze burning in the cylinder, but why? Did you over heat the engine? is your crankcase shows milky stuff mixed with the oil? do you see oily sheen in your radiator water? a busted head gasket is a heck of a lot more worrisome than getting the engine going.

JC,

 

[moocow]

Well the white smoke smells like fuel, not antifreeze or oil or anything... Also, wouldn't the engine not run at all if air was in the injector lines? I only bled air from one screw at the end of the pipe leading from the filter to the engine and never turned the engine over before bleeding it after replacing the fuel filter. So unless air in the injector lines can cause it to run fine for a while and take on more air I don't really see how bleeding the injectors could help.

 

[JC-jetro]

Well the white smoke smells like fuel, not antifreeze or oil or anything... Also, wouldn't the engine not run at all if air was in the injector lines? I only bled air from one screw at the end of the pipe leading from the filter to the engine and never turned the engine over before bleeding it after replacing the fuel filter. So unless air in the injector lines can cause it to run fine for a while and take on more air I don't really see how bleeding the injectors could help.

On cold engine start you may smell a bit of not fully burnt fuel till the engine gets hot. I don't know if I can smell antifreeze burning and have seen and heard that white smoke is tell tale sign of anti-freeze burning. Air in the injector lines up to the injectors can keep the engine from starting , but what is hard to explain is, why it starts and then dies after two minutes. I have had two situations where once I changed the filter and only bled the bit out of the sediment bowl and the tractor started right up. On second time I actually totally ran out of fuel (no gauge) and filling the tank and bleeding the air from the sediment bowl was not enough and could not start the engine, till I broke the pipe connection at the injectors and turned over the engine a few times. I could clearly see air was bubbling out of the connection till I ended up with diesel only, at that time I tightened the connection back up, engine started right up and I was in business. Use the search tool and you'll find many refernce on how to bleed the injectors. That might help you.

JC,

 

[WTA]

If you smelled antifreeze burning you would definitely know the difference. It's got a really weird sweet and sour kinda smell to it. I guess that's how to describe it. I've rebuilt too many Chrysler's and 3.8L ford engines I guess. Too much fuel type of white smoke will make your eyes burn and just smells terrible.

These NH tractors, at least all that I have worked on and my experience doesn't go back that many years on them, have a bleed line connecting to all the injectors that goes back to the pump then on back to the tank. If you ever run one so dry that you gotta crack the injector lines then you've really done something. Most of my tractor experience as a mechanic is Kubota, international, case and MF though so I don't know how far back that system went on the NH tractors.

I sure can't figure out what has happened to mine and it's been two months since it started having problems. The exact same thing that is happening to this mans tractor is happening to me but noone has figured it out yet here. My dealer is coming out to replace the lift pump tomorrow. It's possible that sucking air damaged it but I didn't completely run mine out of fuel. It was on fumes but not that completely out. The day it started messing up the needle was almost at the bottom and I filled up then the problem started.

Things I can say to check from experience on this one are

plugged vent in your fuel cap.

Collapsed or plugged suction side fuel lines. Just blow them all out on the suction side. It's possible you got some junk past the filter. I doubt it though.

If you have a mechanical pump on it with the priming lever then does it feel right when you are pumping it up? I have seen farmers before that didn't realize it had to be on the back side of the cam lobe in there before that thing works. SOmetimes you have to bump the engine over till you can pump it and feel some resistance.

All I know is if you start it and it runs fine for several minutes then goes air bound then you didn't leave the air in it. It's sucking it from somewhere. Mine will go anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour before it goes airbound.

 

[WTA]

Have you been able to get it running yet? I'm really curious because mine still isn't working and the dealer hasn't called me to say it's fixed yet. Maybe I can give them some more ideas.

 

[moocow]

Well I seem to be getting a lot of suggestions to drain my fuel tank and check for debris. I guess I'll try that this weekend, even though it doesn't really make much sense. Maybe I'll also check for small leaks in any tubing or cracks in the engine, or any other place it might be able to take on air into the fuel lines. Hopefully this will end up being something simple and not some elusive obscure problem.

 

[WTA]

It always is something stupid in cases like this. Almost always. I doubt it's your tank really though. I keep getting told to clean mine out too. Even after I tell someone I already cleaned it. I was an engineer in the Navy and as many toilets and machines as I've cleaned I think I know what clean is by now. If I hadn't put fuel back in mine you could fill it back up with water and drink out of it when I got done.

I wish you luck though. I really think something is going on with the ULSD crap the government is making us use. It's been the same story every time they
make us switch to something else over a product that worked great for a long time.

 

[WTA]

My dealer just told me my tractor was fixed and that it was the lift pump. I am skeptical as I checked that thing twice and it was pumping and was not sucking air but they said it fixed it.

I priced the pump on mine and it was only 20something dollars so on yours, if it uses one, it might be worth replacing.

I've never seen an intermittent lift pump in my life. Only working or not working. I've also never seen one less than a year old have a diaphragm problem but I guess things can happen.

Maybe mine had a crack in the housing that was invisible or something is all I can figure.