Tractor turns over,tries to start

[SLR]

Ok my lady friend's tractor is expierencing a 'tries to start/almost starts condition. She almost a decent half mechanic & claims she drained all diesel lines,cleaned injectors etc. She works nearly 24/7 so i don't even know brand name yet,just know it is a 50HP-ish,red in color, medium duty tractor. I'll be going over there one of these days to look,i think she has air in the line or a dirty filter..anything else i could use before my venture.

I never worked on a diesel before,but her telling i can have her 1988 1/2 ton if i get it going is a hard to pass up deal!
Of course all of YOU now know i NEED a '88 rear window AFTER that space debris smashed my other one :))

[AceFinish]

Check the fuel filter air filter and electrical connections first. Then put some starting fluid to it if you have to.

[SLR]

Thanks muchly AceFinish!

[Breezmister]

Ok my lady friend's tractor is expierencing a 'tries to start/almost starts condition. She almost a decent half mechanic & claims she drained all diesel lines,cleaned injectors etc. She works nearly 24/7 so i don't even know brand name yet,just know it is a 50HP-ish,red in color, medium duty tractor. I'll be going over there one of these days to look,i think she has air in the line or a dirty filter..anything else i could use before my venture.


SLR, I'm not a diesel mech, but I have done alot of work on them. It does sound like air in a line some where. On some diesels,, there will be a primmer, some time it will look like a squeeze ball, others will just look like a little lever, about an inch long that should be connected to a fuel line, that you have to move up and down. It may take as many as 30 or 40 times doing the lever kind. If you check the fuel filter,( the kind that looks like a oil filter) make sure there is fuel in it, if not, add fuel to it. If you can find that fuel shut off solenoid, make sure it is working, turn the key on and that it moves to open the fuel shut off valve. There are a few other things you can check if these don't work, but you need tools for them.......one more thing, when you go to turn it over, make sure it has enough speed, cranking fast. I've seen old batteries and dirty connections that will get it turning but not enough amps to get starter turning fast enough.
Hope these little tips and checks help......:drinkup:

[SLR]

Now that is superbly helpful!! I'll post some pics of it whenever they get here.

[Dirt Digger2]

make sure it is primed...a lot of times in cold weather your diesel will turn over but never "catch", this is because it just isn't turning fast enough, especially if you crank a few times and nothing happens...you are wearing down the battery. you can try a little starter fluid first, but you'll have charge the battery....the quickest way to start a larger diesel with a jump start is to use two sets of jumper cables as opposed to one. when my IH 886 is slow starting i have to do it this way because 1 set of jumper cables doesn't deliver enough juice to get those big luggers running.

if you can post a picture i can tell you what the tractor is and maybe be a little more of assistance

[SLR]

I am still waiting on her to get back to me,she says she bought a new battery and it was trying to do it's start thing after it was hooked up. How many Cold-cranking-amps would be sufficient you guys figure for -15C type weather?

[Breezmister]

. How many Cold-cranking-amps would be sufficient you guys figure for -15C type weather?

-15C is like 5 degrees F ;) Is there a block heater or glow plugs ? Is there any way to warm the tractor up ? I'm hoping that you are going to tell us that she put anti jel in the diesel and a 5W type of oil in the crank case....
For something that cold I really don't know what kind of CCAs you would need to fire that tractor up. But I would be going with the biggest battery I could fine in the CCAs for -15C
I really think you need to warm that baby up some how, that may be your whole problem right there......

[SLR]

Fustrated! she's much too busy to get decent help i guess,whenever i get a response out of her busy self i will be here to update you all 1st & foremost..i bet that 'anti-gel' is probably the ticket though Breezmister!

[ffemt1271]

if you can't get it to start, undo the injector lines where they go into the injectors, prime the system, then turn the engine over and :usflag:watch for fuel to spurt out of one, put bolt back in it and crank again till it comes out of another one, re-bolt it and conntinue till all are done.

[john_bud]

SLR - you have been given some dangerous advice. Just thought you would like to know that if you blindly follow it, you can destroy the tractor's engine.

1) Starting fluid when misused (or used by a novice) often causes the piston ring lands to blow out. If too much is used or at the wrong time, it will explode as the piston is going up - that's bad. It's correctly used ONLY when the engine is cranking over and for no more than 1/2 to 1 second spray time. Aim across the top of the air intake, not straight down it. Always crank for 5-10 seconds AFTER spraying. It is NOT one of those "more is better" deals.

2) If you have glow plugs (all modern tractor have them and nearly all are automatic), you can't use ether. The ether will ignite when it hits the glow plugs and can do "bad things". Mostly it will just blow the air cleaner apart and scare your undies dirty.


3) correct way to bleed the system varies. Older tractors you had to fill the tank, loosen the injector nuts to finger tight and crank until fuel dribbled. Then slightly tighten all but the one farthest from the pump. Crank with that one slightly loose so it can bleed out the air. Too loose and it will suck air back in!!! Tighten and repeat on the others. You should let the starter rest 10 minutes after each injector and have a big azz charger on the tractor.

4) Some newer tractors will self bleed. There is a lever on the filterh housing (usually) to flip and you crank until it starts. Then flip back and off you go.



My guess is that the fuel has frozen. Either with water in it or it gelled and clogged the filter. Buy some "diesel 911" in the red bottle. Follow the directions and either reuse the current filter or better yet install a new one.

Hope it works out. (Post back with a picture of your new truck!).

jb

[ffemt1271]

remember whenever bleeding injectors, it will come out of the line that is the shortest first. a set amount is injected into each line on each revolution, the shortest one fills first.:usflag:

[Breezmister]

Ok my lady friend's tractor is expierencing a 'tries to start/almost starts condition.


So is your lady friend indebted to you for getting it started or what ? :waving: