John Deere 310 SE Project

[thepumpguysc]

I’m not sure what ur asking.??
The spring on the metering valve that loops over the center rod, just holds the mv down in its bore..
That stuff inside the pump is pretty minor.. and yet it will clog the checkball fitting..
R u starting the engine with the throttle at low idle.??
Don’t do that. BUMP THE THROTTLE OFF LOW IDLE..
Somewhere between 1/2 throttle to low idle..
Good luck

 

[boone]

I’m not sure what ur asking.??
The spring on the metering valve that loops over the center rod, just holds the mv down in its bore..
That stuff inside the pump is pretty minor.. and yet it will clog the checkball fitting..
R u starting the engine with the throttle at low idle.??
Don’t do that. BUMP THE THROTTLE OFF LOW IDLE..
Somewhere between 1/2 throttle to low idle..
Good luck

Thanks, was more curious about the wire than anything. At first look I thought it was just dangling. If it's spring pressure down that makes sense.
I tried swabbing the black stuff out, but it's stuck to the pump. Even the seat of the MV looked a little junky, but it moved ok. At 4000 hours, I'm sure this could use a cleaning.
Yes, have always started at low idle. Has always cranked right up. I can definitely bump the throttle off low idle from now on.

 

[boone]

I put the pump back together. Have put about 25 digging hours on the machine in the last week. Still same hesitation on cold start-up, but it stays running if I set 1/3 throttle on startup - thanks pumpguysc for the common sense advice. Even the user's manual states this. Guess I was spoiled. I'm hopeful this is just a minor air leak on the inlet side. It runs fine once it coughs a bit after startup.

I was stressed about this new issue since a year and half ago I had committed to helping a guy dig through a creek on his property to get a 2" waterline up to his barn/house site. Well, he calls within the last couple of weeks saying the creek is dry enough. His permit expires end of Nov. Was I ready?

I'll post a few pictures on the waterline job.

 

[boone]

This kinda all came about from word of mouth. My wife and I had a get-together, someone saw the backhoe in my barn, they told their in-laws who'd just bought several acres in southern Tennessee which they are slowly developing for a future house. They call and ask if I do work with my backhoe. I've done a couple of jobs a year since I"ve had this machine, but I don't advertise. If someone asks and it's something I can do I'll look at it and do it if I can. I've done neighborly deeds for free. But if it's multi hour and more than a mile away, I'll charge. We agreed on an $75/hour.

The man told me he'd actually bought a Ditch Witch 3610 which has a 12" chain trencher and backhoe on it. When he's telling me this, I'm asking, why do you need me? He needs help through the creek bottom and on the hills which he knew had some rock in them. Not as excited when I hear rock.

My first question was does the creek have a rock bottom? He said, it does have some rock, but maybe not where he's wanting to cross? Wasn't sure.

I go look at it...this is the current vehicle/equipment crossing. His plan is to build a bridge closer to the waterline crossing.

Ugh




I look upstream. Ugggghhhh. Not looking good.





I'm thinking, I don't think this is going to work. He needs someone with a hydraulic hammer.

 

[boone]

But then we go down to where he's wanting to dig through. These pics were taken Dec of last year. Creek had a bit of water in it then.



Ditch bank is about 5 ft high on the road side.





Ok, maybe this is doable. Depends on what's under the gravel. He's asking me about reach and digging depth since we'll have to taper up on the bank. Yeah, no problem I can reach and dig deep as you need to go as long as we don't hit solid rock. Just depends on how heavy God's curse was on the ground here. I'll have to setup on both sides, but reach should be fine - I assure him.





The finish line is beyond the top of the hill. His drive meanders up the hill while the trench will be direct route. It's a half mile total. The dark line on the hill is the proposed path he has mapped.

So a year and half goes by...I get the call couple weeks ago and it's go time.

Call my transport (my brother) and schedule time to make the 15 mile trip into the hills of southern Tennessee. This is off the old historical stage coach road from Huntsville to Nashville. Beautiful scenic place to work. One reason why I was totally interested in working up here. No traffic, no people. Well, except for the curious neighbor or two who wonders over to see how we're going to manage the creek.

 

[boone]

Drop the machine off Wed at lunch across the creek, behind the tree line. Arrive early Thursday morning. Give a bit of throttle and Precious fires off and stays running. Good deal. I head down to where the skid steer is clearing on the bank. I'm mentally preparing myself for what I'm going to say if we hit solid rock. Meter base is off the road. Creek is in the tree line. I'm on the other side of the tree line at this point.



He's used his skid steer brush hog to clear a bit of the vegetation. The trench will be along the dotted line.



We talk over the game plan. I setup on the bank, extend out, let the teeth get a bite and fully expect to hear nails on a chalk board and smoke boiling off the teeth. I pull away gravel and dirt. I'm a little surprised. Another bite and another and no rock. Neither of us can believe it. He said that's deep enough. Music to my ears.



The only rock worth mentioning was a table top sized rock. He drug it up the bank out of the way for me. lol



I'm feeling a bit relieved at this point. I know I'm not out of the creek yet, but we're off to a good start.

 

[boone]

I trench out about 20ft. Found a few more easter eggs.



Go over to road side, knock over a tree or two he's cut, pull them away. We kept the tree roots in the bank for erosion control. He has me trench through the corn field to the meter base.

 

[boone]

I dug almost to the meter and then backed to the meter pulling away dirt from it. When tying the two trenches together, I just setup at a 45 with the pivot over the trench and the outrigger on the other side of the trench. This left a little dirt in the trench, but seemed to work well.



He began laying the pipe and sleeved it through the creek bed.



He also put about 12 bags of sakrete on top of the sleeve in the creek. I didn't get a final picture. He backfilled all but the joints so he could pressure and leak test as he laid the pipe.

He sent me over to the bottom of the hill to begin the ascent.

 

[boone]

I start at the base of the hill and trench toward the ridge of rocks, which he warned me would be there. He'll use the Ditch Witch in the field.



I trenched all afternoon. The driveway was the ending point for this day.







Stopped here and went down to help him backfill the creek. Tomorrow will be the hill descent.

 

[thepumpguysc]

Wow.!!! What a kool “job”..
U should set that table top rock up by the creek for a “THINKIN” rock..
Those r the jobs u don’t mind doing..
Thanks for the picture...

 

[boone]

Wow.!!! What a kool “job”..
U should set that table top rock up by the creek for a “THINKIN” rock..
Those r the jobs u don’t mind doing..
Thanks for the picture...

It was all around a sweet gig. I was glad he asked me to help him. LOL, he's got plenty of thinkin rocks to pick from. I'm sure he would share them with aighead.

 

[boone]

End of Day 1 he had Ditch Witched the trench to meet up with the creek and bottom of the hill. More pipe was ready to be laid on Day 2.





I made it to the driveway on Day 1, but didn't cut through. He wanted to wait on cutting the driveway as access to their camper would be limited. So I started at the top of the hill on the plateau. Coming down the hill. I don't think my 2 wheel drive backhoe would've made it up this hill anyway. It was much better going down as I could just let the backhoe ease me down. It was a bit unnerving at first.

 

[boone]

The view wasn't half bad. Too bad my back was to it.

 

[boone]

And the trench keeps going. These are the last pictures though. Finished up the steep section down to the lower drive crossing in the last pictures. The picture below takes us back up to the top of the steep hill plateau. His driveway curves back up and around where we had to cross again where the skid steer is pictured. He wanted me cutting the driveway trenches about 36" so they were trying to get the pipe laid and the driveway open again. The Ditch Witch did most of the flat spots, but he started finding rock again and had me pick up here up to the barn.



Keeps going...



Finished up this run to the barn on Day 3. Lacked about 40 ft. We were at the gravel where the white van sits. He wanted to get pipe in the ground for all the open trench.




With all that - I dug myself out of a job. He was done with me. I wouldn't mind another one of these jobs.

 

[Fred from MO]

Hey Boone, Ive been tied up an off of the forum the past couple of months but jumped back on to see how you wound up with your starting issue and see you have dug a water line from Tennesse to New Mexico! -LOL! That looked like a job! How many feet/yards was the water line dig.? Also was your starting issue really only starting it on low idle and not 1/3 throttle up? I still start mine on low idle. I havent tacked the leaky cylinder yet but have finally got that log splitter re-engineered and beefed up--and it works. I will have to post a pic of that. Good luck!

 

[boone]

Hey Boone, Ive been tied up an off of the forum the past couple of months but jumped back on to see how you wound up with your starting issue and see you have dug a water line from Tennesse to New Mexico! -LOL! That looked like a job! How many feet/yards was the water line dig.?

LOL, you're missing out on the latest news! I was hoping the machine would behave on that job, I was a bit nervous on the starting issue not knowing what might manifest itself after hours of use, but it did great. The owner said it was a half mile of trench, but not sure if that was driveway or as the crow flies. It was a long way though. I'm just thankful we didn't hit bedrock or multi-ton boulders.

I talked to the owner Wednesday night and he said he finished up the water all the way to the barn and has 42PSI of water pressure at the barn. I can't remember what he said he started with on the road. He was thrilled that he didn't have to add a booster.

Also was your starting issue really only starting it on low idle and not 1/3 throttle up? I still start mine on low idle.

Yes, the issue still is that it will not start at idle - well it starts fine, it just want stay running after a sec or 2 when it has sat for a day. It's still a mystery. I thought it was electrical, thought it was the pump, and now I'm thinking it might be an air leak on the inlet side. Not sure if you've noticed, but the fuel line is a hydraulic line. $180 OEM online. Mine is a really corroded at the top of the tank, but it's not flaky. I also primed the pump yesterday listening for air, but all I could hear was fuel going back to the tank - I presume from pressure at the pump to return line.

I'm not sure what I'll do at this point. Part of me wants to drop the tank and inspect the pickup tube and the tank and replace the inlet fuel line. I've thought about just running rubber fuel line with a hose clamp to see if it's the line.

The other part of me just says to run it the way it is and fix it when it gets worse.

I haven't tacked the leaky cylinder yet but have finally got that log splitter re-engineered and beefed up--and it works. I will have to post a pic of that. Good luck!

Did you beef it up yourself or did you have the fabricator do this? I'd be interested to see it. Did you ever get your shop finished?

 

[Fred from MO]

LOL, you're missing out on the latest news! I was hoping the machine would behave on that job, I was a bit nervous on the starting issue not knowing what might manifest itself after hours of use, but it did great. The owner said it was a half mile of trench, but not sure if that was driveway or as the crow flies. It was a long way though. I'm just thankful we didn't hit bedrock or multi-ton boulders.

I talked to the owner Wednesday night and he said he finished up the water all the way to the barn and has 42PSI of water pressure at the barn. I can't remember what he said he started with on the road. He was thrilled that he didn't have to add a booster.



Yes, the issue still is that it will not start at idle - well it starts fine, it just want stay running after a sec or 2 when it has sat for a day. It's still a mystery. I thought it was electrical, thought it was the pump, and now I'm thinking it might be an air leak on the inlet side. Not sure if you've noticed, but the fuel line is a hydraulic line. $180 OEM online. Mine is a really corroded at the top of the tank, but it's not flaky. I also primed the pump yesterday listening for air, but all I could hear was fuel going back to the tank - I presume from pressure at the pump to return line.

I'm not sure what I'll do at this point. Part of me wants to drop the tank and inspect the pickup tube and the tank and replace the inlet fuel line. I've thought about just running rubber fuel line with a hose clamp to see if it's the line.

The other part of me just says to run it the way it is and fix it when it gets worse.



Did you beef it up yourself or did you have the fabricator do this? I'd be interested to see it. Did you ever get your shop finished?

That is a long run to dig a trench and to run a water line. I hope the guy used at least 1inc or bigger pex? Glad you got the job done though. That is weird that precious has that problem on starting. I will keep thinking on it. You have tried all the logical steps I would have taken as well... That is strange.... I just posted my log splitter experience here on the forum. I wound up beefing it up all myself. I had an old plow laying around which was junk and a plasma cutter and a welder so I finally had the time to tackle it. I will keep you posted but it split just fine on the first few large rounds. I will give it a workout this winter though! Good to see you going still with this machine.

 

[boone]

His Ditchwitch helped with probably 500 or more feet. He could've done a good bit more with it, but he just wasn't sure where the rocks were. Yes, he used 2" schedule 80. I forgot the brand, but it had the built-in gasket.

Nice to see you splitting wood. Too bad you nearly had the rebuild the whole thing. Enjoyed seeing the pictures in your thread.

 

[boone]

Haven't cranked this machine in about 3 weeks. Even with added throttle - this time, it failed to start. It finally started after about 20 sec off and on the starter. Between cranks, I checked the lift pump and it was pegged out with pressure. I could also hear fuel going to back into the tank from the return line. So I'm fairly confident the IP was getting fuel.

To recap from the last page - new lift pump, new fuel filter. I cut the old one apart and found no hint of trash. Removed top of IP and checked the glass ball, blew compressed air thru it, it seem to be working. I blew air thru the return line - could hear bubbles in the fuel tank. Did find the shut-off solenoid housing was cracked, but seemed to be working.

SO...I removed the injectors today. They were DIRTY. I'm planning to remove the IP pump and have it rebuilt. It has the tapered shaft with a woodroof key. The service manual on the engine says nothing about timing the engine or the pump on removal or install...only to ensure the timing mark is on the front plate and the pump flange. I scribed a second mark as insurance. Just wanted to confirm no timing or locking needed before I remove this Stanadyne DB4429-5303. Thanks.

In case anyone references this in the future, no need to remove the exhaust or the air box.

 

[Tinkerer]

I have the John Deere CTM331 technical manual in pdf. format.
If it is the correct one for your fuel system I can make it available for you to download.