trying to help out my neighbor with his 510B we have been working and working on the darn thing and its pulling air into the fuel filter, i dont see any fuel leaking anywhere nor fittings that seem loose. Could the fuel line from the tank be sucking air thru the aged rubber line, its like a hydraulic hose with metal pressed fittings on each end. Also, what about the fuel pump, could a fuel pump pull air like that and not leak into the crankcase. It pulls a lot of air after a few minutes of warming up and if you run it WOT it will make the fuel almost foamy in the glass fuel filter. at idle you just see a bubble every few seconds pop in from the inlet line to the filter from the outlet of the fuel pump ideas? thanks in advance, R
What appears to be air in the glass filter could also be vacuum bubbles form trying to suck through a restriction. Try running with the fuel cap loose to see if the bubbles go away. If that doesn't change anything then check the suction strainer in the bottom of the tank for debris clogging it. Otherwise check all your hoses for cracking by flexing them and check that all fittings are tight and sealed properly. And yes a fuel transfer pump can allow air entry.
interesting - i have ran it with the fuel cap off actually - had that happen to me on a lawn mower once upon a time and it wasted a lot of time on me so my pride still reminds me of that one HA!!! i did notice the flow from the hose doesnt seem great if you ask me when i pull the line off at the fuel pump it doenst run what i would call a full amazing stream, it is kind of slow and when you pump the primer on the side of the fuel pump you only get 3 pumps out of it then have to wait about a minute before it gets enough fuel in it to pump things, so maybe there is debris in the bottom of the tank that is causing an issue and they are indeed vacuum bubbles. I will try those things tonight when i get home from work and see what i get, thanks for the tips, i will let you know what i find.
After following mg2361's advice and if the problem persists, remove the fuel cap and put an air gun on the hose and blow some low pressure air into the tank. I am not a big fan of blowing crap back into fuel tanks but sometimes it is necessary. If the hose is leaking that may show up then also. But, the fuel cap may need to be on the filler to enable a small amount of air pressure to build in the line.
got it will do, i thot about that last night but ran out of daylight and got cold standing outside
problem solved.................slime in tank, restriction causing vacuum bubbles it appears, i back flushed the tank via hose about 3 or 4 times, about 20 lb bursts on my regulator, I noticed slime come out of the fuel line hose, evidently it was causing the pump to overwork and create the vacuum bubbles, i put in some power service slime/cleaner let is sit for about 30 minutes, ran it for 15 WOT in drive, drove it about 1/2 down the road and back and it never missed a lick, then i let it idle for about 10 minutes, then shut it off for about 45 mins then ran it about 2 miles down the road ( I got more brave LOL ) and 2 miles back and its not drawing any bubbles now. Seems that was the problem!!!! thank you guys, we experienced this on our tractors on the farm about a year ago and it never dawned on me slime would create a vacuum and make bubbles like that our tractors all quit completely, the station we get our red dyed off road diesel from admitted to buying a mix of bio diesel but only @ 10% and that is when we started having issues. We went to another station where we get it near another farm and they DO NOT use any mix/grade of bio at all and we said please dont every unless forced to, its causing nothing but problems with the slime/algae. No problems since on any of our tractors or our neighbors since we switched, so i will advise my neighbor to get his fuel elsewhere, not sure where he got it just yet.
Glad to hear it is resolved. Thanks for the update.
so why is it after 50 yrs of using diesel fuel I have never had this problem and now in just over a year this is happening far too often, is the new ULSD the problem or something with Bio mixtures in diesel now?
Microbes love biodiesel. So microbial growth happens a little faster with biodiesel which might be the black sludge you referred to. Also ULSD and biodiesel both attract water, a double whammy of sorts. Neither good for injection systems, especially the newer HPCR systems. I would recommend a good biocide like Killem (aftermarket, for microbial growth killing) which can be bought at many retailers and dealers and Fuel Protect (Deere, which is for control of water and microbes) for regular treatment, especially if your machine sits for long periods between use. https://fppf.com/product/killem/ https://jdparts.deere.com/partsmkt/document/english/pmac/5496_fb_SummerWinterDieselConditioner.htm
fyi i dont see where the jd stuff helps with microbes/algae it only says it reduces water/oxidation of the fuel. I also ran across power services new product diesel kleen i am sure howes and lucas will be on this as well if they arent already.
If your 510 has very much fuel in the tank, the large amount of slime may be overwhelming anything you put in the tank to get rid of it. You may have to drain the tank and clean it to eliminate the problem you are having. Also I do not have an on site storage tank where the algae can begin to grow. I buy fuel when I need it. I add conditioner to my own T/L/B fuel tank every time I put fuel in it. I have never had a problem with algae.
yea the neighbors 510 doesnt get much use so after i got it running when i drove it back over to them i talked to them about putting in a biocide as well as the Clear Diesel product from power service, they also are having problems with their kubota bx2300 from sitting over the winter so sounds like the same batch of fuel/sitting issues from the ulsd fuels. I will be putting those products for our tractors on the farm. I personally havent experienced this in my own tractors but my buddy that i help with his farm and our neighbor did and we found both to be issues with the slime. They are both using products to help with that since they have multiple tractors that get used seasonally depending on the work required so they sit a lot. my dad and i only buy fuel when we need it like you and since we only have on large tractor and one small tractor they both get used pretty frequently at our north farm and down here at my place i have two as well and one does sit quite a bit so i will be putting stuff in its tank/fuel so i dont have these issues going forward.