Just a reminder or maybe a lesson to new owners. If your tractor goes into loss of power, stumbling, and smoking mode, you will want to perform a couple maintenance tasks to get them running correctly again. First, change the fuel filter on the right hand side of the motor. This is sometimes called the secondary fuel filter. Why you may ask? Well, there is a strainer in the fuel tank. This is often over looked. I have read and seen where some who experience this symptom change the secondary and everything seems to work fine for a while then the problem returns. I use "on road diesel" as I pump my stock into my trucks also. Don't make the mistake of thinking if you use "on road" it won't gum up.
I recently ran into this issue with mine. Got so bad it wouldn't even start. I pulled the strainer out of the tank and it was completely plugged. I drained the tank and with a very bright flashlight I inspected inside the tank. I had a garden growing in the bottom. lol Upon further inspection I was finding a ton of rust bits in there also. Yep, you guessed it. The little chain they put on the fuel cap rusts away in about a year and all that crap drops right into your tank. I managed to rig up a swab on the end of a metal rod and wipe the inside out. I then took an extendo magnet and got the rest of the rust bits out. Get both pieces of that old rusty chain out of there and replace with a heave cord of some type.
This is after only 450 hours of use but my tractor is over 4 years old (yes, I have other tractors). I have used the diesel additive and my storage tank has a Napa fuel filter on it.
So, just a heads up. If you plan to use it and can't afford the down time. Try this routine maintenance and save some aggravation.
Do you think it was humidity that rusted the chain? Or the fuel? My manual states to keep the tank, full, but I don't always have fuel on hand to do that.
Thank you for the reminder. I have a 2015 5075e and I have not been able to figure out how to drain my sediment bowl? The manual states "Loosen plug (B) and retighten as soon as sediment and water have been bled off". For the life of me I can't figure out how to loosen the plug.
My 5310 did just that last week ... loss of power, smoking and shut off. I was ready to call JD for a svc call, but remembered a post on here that loss of power was due to water in the fuel. I drained the fuel filter and saw a lot of water being drained off. I ended up putting on a new fuel pump ??? (which I may or may not needed). The problems persisted. I had previously found the drain on the fuel tank, but could not get anything to drain off. This time, I got a wire and poked it thru the drain hole, and it finally started draining. I drained off about 3 gals of fuel until it cleared up completely. Added new diesel, and it is running like its old self now. thanks to the greentractortalk community for providing info to us rookies. I just knew I was going to have to rebuild an engine!!!
I've been pulling my hair out trying to troubleshoot this when a buddy of mine told me about this forum. Did a quick search and viola my answer appears. Now to go do the work and actually see how it goes. Thanks for posting this.
This is after only 450 hours of use but my tractor is over 4 years old (yes, I have other tractors). I have used the diesel additive and my storage tank has a Napa fuel filter on it.
So, just a heads up. If you plan to use it and can't afford the down time. Try this routine maintenance and save some aggravation.
May I ask what additive you use and do you use it in your main tank or only when you fill up your tractor? I've been trying to find something that will work with a 500 gallon tank without much luck except to buy a bunch of 25 gallon additive bottles and dump them all in.
Also, after my post I changed out the filter, it was the original with 224 hours on it. It looked fine and no junk came out of it but I replaced it anyway as I had that on my list of troubleshooting things to do. Went out to bush hog and as usually, about 20-30 minutes in it starts running rough, belching out white smoke and I have to floor it to keep it going to get it back to the shop. I haven't drained the fuel tank yet but thought I might see if you had seen something like this before.
most auto parts, farm stores etc will carry several good fuel additives (your preference) .....most will have a big bottle option for 250gal tanks ......thats all i buy since its cheaper that way ...if i need less i just measure it out appropriately
While you are re-vamping your fuel system, look closely at the fuel line hose from the tank fitting (that has the nylon in-tank filter on it) -- to the Secondary Fuel Filter above the starter. JD installs a very low quality fuel line hose. Replace with a Gate diesel fuel line to avoid other common fuel problems.
I use the Stanadyne too. They build fuel injection pumps, so they should be the authority on what works & is safe for your fuel system. Maybe some Power Service white bottle when temps drop below 15*F during winter snow plowing/blowing operations. I know the Stanadyne says it protects against gelling, but there's nothing worse than being out in sub 15* temps with the wind blowing up your backside, hands soaked in diesel fuel, in the dark, trying to get a tractor going to get you back home.
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