new holland engine stalls under load

[rustyd]

hi guys , new to this great site , hope some one can give some advise pls. i have a 2006 new holland L170 pilot control model with about 2500 hrs used privately around my property. has started stalling the engine when driving ahead or turning. engine seems to run ok and revs up ok and machine will move around if u crawl, but push the control lever full forward and it will drive bit then start loading engine and if you don't back off the joystick it will stall the engine. oil levels seem ok , i don't feel like its somehow starving the pump as i believe a lack of oil would cause it to lose power but not load the engine as pump would just lose pressure.? any ideas or someone had this happen ? thanks in advance.

 

[mountainlake]

I'd check the fuel supply first starting with the filters. Steve

 

[skata]

have you checked the most obvious? the air filter?

 

[thepumpguysc]

What color is the exhaust when it starts to die/load up?? Heavy white??

 

[rustyd]

thanks for the responses guys. I've ordered a full set of new filters to start with the easy stuff but the ones on it have done less than 150 hrs. the air filter was a bit dirtier than i thought so i tested it with just the inner filter installed but problem still there. i`ll have to get someone behind me to check exhaust colour but i haven`t noticed any huge plumes of smoke behind - black or white. originally this started happening when moving ahead ( or behind) with abit of pace but i had to do about 20mins light work on the weekend just shifting bark chips and it ended up not wanting to crawl along either. i tried it on a slope to see if a brake was stuck but that seems ok. i drove it to a near stall than stopped and worked the boom up and down and it stalled as well so i don't think its isolated to just the drive hydraulic circuit .ill fit the filters and pull out the injectors and give them a clean up , see how it goes , thanks for your responses and taking an interest.

 

[rustyd]

just to add gauges indicates a engine temp of about a steady 170 -174 F

 

[old-iron-habit]

thanks for the responses guys. I've ordered a full set of new filters to start with the easy stuff but the ones on it have done less than 150 hrs. the air filter was a bit dirtier than i thought so i tested it with just the inner filter installed but problem still there. i`ll have to get someone behind me to check exhaust colour but i haven`t noticed any huge plumes of smoke behind - black or white. originally this started happening when moving ahead ( or behind) with abit of pace but i had to do about 20mins light work on the weekend just shifting bark chips and it ended up not wanting to crawl along either. i tried it on a slope to see if a brake was stuck but that seems ok. i drove it to a near stall than stopped and worked the boom up and down and it stalled as well so i don't think its isolated to just the drive hydraulic circuit .ill fit the filters and pull out the injectors and give them a clean up , see how it goes , thanks for your responses and taking an interest.

I would change fuel filters and run it before I pulled the injectors. One step at a time for logical elimination.

 

[JS300]

We had a skytrak doing this same thing and ended up being a hydraulic relief valve. The valve was plugged and loading the pump which stalled the engine.

 

[rustyd]

We had a skytrak doing this same thing and ended up being a hydraulic relief valve. The valve was plugged and loading the pump which stalled the engine.

thats what i been thinking it might be ,not that as yet i know where they might be or how its set up. it feel s like the whole thing is getting overloaded . i do have a shop manual for it so i think I'm going to have to really get studying the plumbing set up on it. unfortunatley I'm stuck with being my own mechanic with this one.

 

[JS300]

Skid steers are difficult because everything is so compact and hard to look at. A good shop manual is a must but some of the drawings are hard to decipher. Good luck and let us know what you find

 

[Delmer]

What you're looking for in the exhaust is if there's an unusual color, but also if there's no color. Something this new, maybe you need to look at the volume and temperature also? In the good old days, if it was blowing black smoke when you loaded it up and lugged the engine down, then it obviously had enough fuel, right? if it's blowing white smoke, then there's air in the fuel problems. If the engine's so clean that it never blows any visible smoke, then you can still go by the volume a little. A turbo boost gauge is a better way to measure total engine power, not that hard to hook up temporarily either. Then a fuel pressure gauge tee'd in somewhere after the filters to show what pressure the fuel system maintains, in the old days (on the junk I putz around on) an old tuneup vacuum/pressure gauge works nice.

Turbo boost pressure and fuel supply pressure are the two things I'd check before pulling the injectors. Then probably a few other things also, injectors would be way down the list.

 

[rustyd]

What you're looking for in the exhaust is if there's an unusual color, but also if there's no color. Something this new, maybe you need to look at the volume and temperature also? In the good old days, if it was blowing black smoke when you loaded it up and lugged the engine down, then it obviously had enough fuel, right? if it's blowing white smoke, then there's air in the fuel problems. If the engine's so clean that it never blows any visible smoke, then you can still go by the volume a little. A turbo boost gauge is a better way to measure total engine power, not that hard to hook up temporarily either. Then a fuel pressure gauge tee'd in somewhere after the filters to show what pressure the fuel system maintains, in the old days (on the junk I putz around on) an old tuneup vacuum/pressure gauge works nice.

Turbo boost pressure and fuel supply pressure are the two things I'd check before pulling the injectors. Then probably a few other things also, injectors would be way down the list.

thanks for your reply. she runs pretty clean with no real exhaust colour. i had a check and it does`t seem to show anything when its stalling either. my new hyd filter showed up yesterday so ill fit that ,but I'm sure its more than that. i was going to check the injectors as was trying the easy stuff 1st, and when i bought it it came from the dealer supposed to be all serviced but it was running on 3 cylinders when we got it off the truck, we cleaned the suspect injector n never had another prob with it until now.

 

[old-iron-habit]

Have you changed fuel filters? You may have but I don't see it mentioned in the posts.

 

[rustyd]

well guys I'm sorry to tell you its fixed. Sorry as was it a major hydraulic failure or impending complete engine meltdown, no , and I'm sorry (and abit embarrassed ) to say it was a $10 inline fuel filter that had been installed backwards before delivery to me. Thank you all for the replies and your interest in my problem, I'm sorry to have wasted your time especially if your guys are slow 2 finger typers like me. I'm sure it not the 1st time including for myself that one of those things have stopped the show. its been a bit of a lesson for me as this has been happening over a period of some weeks now and I've spent many hours pondering over what could be wrong while not just attacking it, found it and fixed in about 10 minutes. i started with the fuel /water filter and emptied it and not having a small amout of deiesl handy to fill it i just put it back 3/4 on and turned the key to fill it with elec pump- just a dribble, that when i noticed the inline filter backwards. it must have let enough fuel though for couple years until it started getting clogged. i had myself so convinced it was a major breakdown coming on that i was just about ready to say stuff it and have it trucked 3hrs to mechanic in brisbane so i did`t have to think about it or look at it anymore. its also a lesson on just how much power a hydraulic system needs to move and especially skid a machine. thanks again to all who viewed or replied, it was really just reading the calm straight forward suggestions and the thoughts that it was the fuel system that fixed it, even the wife kept saying do the simple stuff and change thew filters but i was so caught up that it was something big that i could`t really listen or push myself to try these things. i hope anything further i can do on the forum isn't so simple ( like me

 

[franklinute]

Great news. Glad you found the issue. It is a good but humbling feeling to find a simple
answer to a problem that could be major. This helps all of us when we have an issue to
check all possible causes before tearing into an engine. I had a similar issue years ago
and it turned out to be the vent in the fuel cap was packed with dirt and not letting the
fuel flow like it should. Definitely a head scratcher.

 

[old-iron-habit]

Great news. Them inline filters are hard to find on some of the skidsteers. In my own dumb things I have done, I pulled the blower off a 4-53 Detroit once out in the middle of the woods at -15 F, carrying tools a 1/2 mile from the landing thinking the fiber drive gear had sheared. Turned out field mice had built a nest in the air cleaner intake pipe plugging it solid. Nothing but a bit of pure white smoke and it would run at very low idle only. I had checked the air filters first which were clean but never started it with the air cleaner end cover off. A simple opening of the side cover on the blower and and trying it would have proven the blower to be good and saved cold fingers taking it off and re-installing it. We all live and learn.

 

[Delmer]

Please tell us that you did replace the inline filter, instead of putting it back in RIGHT direction

 

[rustyd]

yes i always keep a couple new ones in my spares kit, think i should get the old one from the bin and wire it to a board on the shed wall as a trophy and a reminder.

 

[mountainlake]

Good that its fixed, always start with the easy things. Reminds of one time I was down by a boat landing and a dealer was delivering a new boat which wouldn't start after cranking on it for ever, I asked him if the primer bulb was in the right direction. He turned it around and it started right up.. Steve