Hey everyone, My little "Gayle" (GEHL V400) has been running great up until a week ago when it got really cold and the battery died. Tried a few boosts, but ultimately took the battery out to charge it. Put it back in and all was well. A few days later I offloaded a pallet off a flatbed, started heading back up my driveway, and poof it shuts down. 100% of the time after restarting the engine it shuts down. Unfortunately there is no DTC that's presented in the little GEHL in-cab computer screen. The Engine Malfunction Shutdown Indicator lamp illuminates, but again no DTC shows up. 1. All fluids are good: coolant, engine oil, and hydraulic fluid. 2. I did the interlock module test: no lights come on when the engine shuts down (on my V400 the interlock module has a light for hydraulic over temp, engine over temp, low oil pressure). According to the truth table, when any of those conditions are true an audible alarm will buzz: this does not happen. 3. I checked the fuel water separator, no bubbles, no water, seems like good fuel flow 4. I disconnected the fuel pump actuator; engine doesn't start obviously; got a DTC; reconnected it, engine starts but of course dies again. 5. Checked the voltage across the battery terminals when the engine starts and it jumps from 12.4ish to about 13.5ish. At this point I've exhausted my troubleshooting capabilities. Has anyone out there experienced an elusive engine shutdown problem on a Cummins QSB 4.5?
Not sure how new your unit is, but on the early QSB's.. Is the actuator a dual coil unit? Three wires? If so they usually have a pull in and a run coil, if the run coil is toasted, as soon as you release the starter it will shut back down.
Thanks for the reply! My fuel actuator is a two-wire.
How cold has it been? How often do you use it? Any chance of cold weather resulting in fuel gelling? Did you try priming the fuel system? Maybe it lost prime sitting.
It has gotten a little colder, but the lows have been above freezing up until now. The fuel in the water separator looks perfectly clear to me, and full.
Ok then. Try the simple things, Try priming it with the little manual button pump on top of the fuel filter before you try starting it and/or have a helper continue to prime it while you try start it. See what happens. Or, spin a new fuel filter on it, first, for good measure.
Does this have a fuel return line that will cause this problem?
That's a good idea! I assume I would also be able to see the fuel separator glass empty out as well... Guess my wife will enjoy some troubleshooting in the skid steer ha ha.
Resolution: it turns out that corrosion got into the ECM and it needed to be replaced. I wound up having to take it in to my local Cummins service center and they were able to put some diagnostic tools onto her that showed them erratic voltage.
Thanks for sharing your fix! It is good to hear that you are back running. As per your footer, this must be another step in your corrosion rehabilitation.
I had a bunch of gremlins on a unit this week, eventually wound up cutting a bunch of heat shrink around a Deutsch connector that went to an option that it never had, as soon as we got in there we knew it was the problem, pins were green, wires falling out of the back side, etc. It all looked fine on the outside.
Yep =(.
Yep, I had a bunch of "green" copper as well coming out of the deutsch connectors in the ECM. I won't lie, I'm considering rebuilding the wiring harness using proper marine grade wire if/when I have the thing apart rehabilitating the inside.