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I'm going to sit down & have a good cry.

Willie B

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Slime/ algae growth in the tank. New filter, it runs until it sucks enough debris up to plug it. Then it sets while you change filter, debris falls back into tank, it starts runs- runs great- and dies again as it plugs back up.

Shine a light down in the tank and see if you see black / green things floating around. Mine would hang up in a "foot valve" that kept fuel primed on a detroit, but it could be in a banjo or other fitting that you are plugging up.

Bacteria killer and a drain and cleaning of the fuel tank.
A light in the black tank only shows me black fuel. I have no sense of whether it is OK or not. Fuel pouring out of the old filter was clean until it was almost empty, then it changed to black. Maybe 1/4 cup of black.
 

crane operator

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All the black in the fuel filter is a bad sign. How old is the fuel, have you ever biocided the tank?

Honestly, if I suspect algae growth in a tank, I just pitch the fuel, clean the tank out and treat the tank hard with a biocide and all new fuel. New filters and the biocide and treating will take care of it. But you will likely need a filter or two, when it kills the algae it will send it through as residue and somewhat plug the filters, but the active algae will really plug filters and lines hard.

I had a hard time with it in a couple cranes a few years back, I don't mess around with it anymore. At the first sign of it I treat the fuel hard, and I also do some preventative fuel treating- if/ when I remember to.
 

Willie B

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All the black in the fuel filter is a bad sign. How old is the fuel, have you ever biocided the tank?

Honestly, if I suspect algae growth in a tank, I just pitch the fuel, clean the tank out and treat the tank hard with a biocide and all new fuel. New filters and the biocide and treating will take care of it. But you will likely need a filter or two, when it kills the algae it will send it through as residue and somewhat plug the filters, but the active algae will really plug filters and lines hard.

I had a hard time with it in a couple cranes a few years back, I don't mess around with it anymore. At the first sign of it I treat the fuel hard, and I also do some preventative fuel treating- if/ when I remember to.

Same pump, I've fueled four other tractors years now. Bought this one in summer. Put 100 hours on it, never a hiccup.
I've never heard of biocide, I'll look into it. Whatever this is, it came on suddenly. Fuel is never old, I've refilled the skid tank a couple times since I bought this tractor. No symptoms in other tractors.
 

mitch504

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Andrews SC
I stopped at a busy truckstop on I-85 and filled a backhoe with road fuel. You know that fuel didn't stay in the tanks long. It rained, so I left the tractor on the jobsite for a week. When I went back, it was full of algae.

I like Startron. Drain the tank, change the filters, fill it up with fresh fuel with Startron in it. It kills the algae and dissolves it so it will go through the filters.
 

crane operator

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When I was talking about draining the tank willie, I meant the tank just on the truck that has the issues, not your bulk tank you fill the truck from. Just clarifying.
 

stinky64

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java center ny
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Many moons ago I worked in the shop at Consolidated Freightways,and every year we had a program where every tractor in the system was treated with biocide to kill the nasty little buggers in the tanks...not so much the algae but bacteria that lived in the tanks that would eat through the aluminum...it was nasty stuff but it killed everything.....
 

DMiller

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Speaking of Corn Flakes!!
How long has it been they went out?
Is a company running that old CF red and black logo called Contract Freighters around here
I had to double take when first saw the CF
 

DMiller

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Old company names
CF Corn Flakes
Roadway Big R
Garrett Motor Frt Green Barn
PIE Pig Iron Express
IML Is Maybe Loaded
Cambell66 Camel humpers
Were many others
 

Willie B

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When I was talking about draining the tank willie, I meant the tank just on the truck that has the issues, not your bulk tank you fill the truck from. Just clarifying.

The voices this week are many. Most say "Me first!!!" I'll find time this weekend to pull the hood off & go through the fuel system. I'd normally bleed at the injectors top of the engine. This tractor is a BIG deal to get the hood off. 2 feet from 65 MPH traffic on a 50 MPH highway is no place for major tear down. It was dusk & starting to rain.

Any chance this is a symptom of air between the injector pump & injectors? It has plenty of power for a minute before it gradually slows to a stall.
 

crane operator

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If its down on the side of the road, I'd probably just get it pulled somewhere you can work on it.

Fuel between injector pump and injectors is high pressure, if there's a leak there, fuel should be spurting out , not air sucking in.

Fuel lines are possible, so is bad fuel. If you leave a injector line loose, you can see it spurt each time it fires. Fire it up and see if the spurting dies out, ie it slows and stops getting fuel. The fuel filter fuel level like paul mentions is another clue.

Honestly you're kind of grasping at straws right now, and I don't have any idea what your problem is, I tend to throw solutions at something until it runs right. If you really want to know if its a fuel delivery issue and it always dies in one minute - Eliminate the fuel lines and tank, and run it off a 5 gallon bucket of good fuel. You'll at least narrow down your issues.
 

Willie B

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Mount Tabor VT
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Got the hood off this evening. It drips fuel out of the lift pump whenever I turn the starter. I'm going to begin with a new lift pump, before I do anything else. I know the history of this tractor. 11 years ago it was bought by a stoned hippie with an inheritance. Said he bought a big property, thought he might need a backhoe. 9+ years later, he hadn't thought of a reason to use it.
I trucked it home for a builder, thought he would do his own excavating. He needed a new excavator with a warranty. He didn't own a grease gun. Not the sort who would make a success of owning a 29 year old hoe.
It had a John Deere fuel filter. I'm sure the hippie didn't put a JD filter on. Even more certain the builder didn't. I believe the filter was 11 years old!
 

stinky64

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Mr. Miller, the big Corn Flake bit the dust labor day 2002 ..I started in the shop when I was 23 yrs.old ,would have been retired now too with a full boat pension...worked in the shop for 8 1/2 years then I decided I wanted to be a big rigger and dragged wiggle wagons for about 7 1/2 years and made a lot of loot...they were paying us 52 cents a mile back then,my old man used to tell me..open your pockets and they'll fill em up...still see those wagons everywhere..there were 28,000 trailers in our pool when they went belly up...construction guys like them pups because they're easy to move around job sites...not so much when you hook up that 3rd wagon and drag them down the Ohio / Indiana turnpike in a snow storm...years later I worked in the shop for another little company you may know ,YRC freight the company they formed when they merged the Big R and Yellow Freight..that was a good move,quintupled my machinist pension..but alas **** poor shop manager and too many people walking around with their thumb in their butt when I was busting mine led me to seek greener pastures...can't go through life angry....I know this is off topic but it's nice to reminisce..
 

Willie B

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Mount Tabor VT
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As it was dripping fuel out of the lift pump runs off the cam shaft, I replaced it. Symptoms didn't change. At length the only other line to the fuel tank is from the injector pump with a line from each injector teeing in. Found a glass check ball in the fitting at the injector pump gummed up. Don't know if it's algae, or diesel sludge. Fuel looked good. Second round of new filter.

This John Deere is a nightmare to work on. Not a screw, bolt, or pipe fitting I can get on with a conventional tool.
 

DMiller

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The check ball fitting is to relieve excess fuel pressure in the Injector Pump, that locks closed it overpressures and the system STOPS delivering fuel, Engine Dies. Same problem as happens to 90% of farm tractors with a Stanadyne or light trucks with a Roosa Master pump.
 

Willie B

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Location
Mount Tabor VT
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Electrician
The check ball fitting is to relieve excess fuel pressure in the Injector Pump, that locks closed it overpressures and the system STOPS delivering fuel, Engine Dies. Same problem as happens to 90% of farm tractors with a Stanadyne or light trucks with a Roosa Master pump.
Stanadyne it is. "They" are telling me it is gunk coming from the injector pump in its last days.
 
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