Hi guys I have a new to us 580K at our barn. I have fueled it a few times with a jerry can and once at a pump. The latest time I went to put Fuel in it at the pump the fuel would not go in the neck. The top of the neck would fill up as if it is full of fuel. I know it is not full because the gas gauge worked fine right up until this problem occurred at the pump. It was showing almost empty when I pulled up to fuel it. After this problem with the fuel not going in the fuel gauge reads full. I know this to be incorrect. Is there anything other than something obstructing the neck that could be causing this? I have used the oil dip stick to feel for obstructions but it doesn't go very far down the neck and I didn't encounter anything in there. I am a novice operator and we are all volunteers at the barn so any help would be appreciated. I have never worked on heavy equipment before so if you could explain to me like I'm 5 years old I would be grateful. Thank you Todd
I believe on an early K the hydraulic fill and the fuel fill are in the same general area under the hood. Could there be fuel adding to the hydraulic tank and therefore not showing on the fuel gage? No offense intended by this suggestion; this has indeed happened before. Dont ask me how I know this.
The hydraulic fill has a pressure fitted cap I'm pretty sure. I am putting fuel in the same place I did the first few times with no issues
I ran into this happening quit a few times when I worked for a local case dealer. Also fixed MANY leaks on the frame for the hyd and fuel tanks. I think it was kind of a bad design. K series where strong machines though.
So, what did you do to fix them ?
How many hrs did you think you ran before fueling, you may have a issue with the fuel gauge, dash gauge or wireing. May need to check the fuel against the gauge, the machine holds 25 gallons. Take the lids off six five gallon buckets and drain the fuel out. It's a pain but you have to do things like this at times with new to you equipment to find out what is going on. Sometimes the pump your putting fuel in with flow to much fuel and it will make it seem like it is full with the foams and such. I seem to think there is also a screen in that neck to keep large trash out. There was also some change to the fuel sender, newer ones had a X at the bottom to make sure it was installed correct.
I ran the machine almost 8 hours from a full tank before trying to put fuel in at around 1/4 tank. The fuel gauge showed the fuel going down at a normal rate up until I tried to put fuel into it.Then after it not taking any fuel it reads full now. How far down the neck is this fuel screen? I had the full oil dipstick in the neck and didn't encounter any resistance that a screen I think would give.
For repairing leaks we would flush out tank and then pressurize the tank with air while being welded. I would make sure that nothing was stuck into the tank. The only thing in there may have been a screen in the neck. Usually they get tossed away. I would try to drain tank into clean bucket and see how much you get out? Maybe someone stuck something into it, it's happened before. Try to flush out the tank blow air into neck and allow it to drain out the bottom from that big plug.
Man this is not a course of action that I want to take in -40 degree weather!!! The thought of crawling around under the machine in the snow and wind and draining the fuel from it has me cringing already. If it is a case of someone shoving something into the neck how would I get it out? I am assuming there is no access port to the tank. Correct?
Really need a bore scope with a light to look down in it, the only other place to get in it is the fuel sender at the lower inside frame. I am also thinking there is a baffle up inside the tank to contend with also.
Just thinking…. As you say it is very cold where you are at, and you indicate the vehicle worked fine previously, perhaps your issue is temperature related. As Sheepfoot stated, the fuel gauge sender is mounted from the lower/bottom of the tank. If you got any water in the fuel it would be at the bottom of the tank and no doubt frozen in your temperature, which in theory could cause an open circuit in the sender. An open circuit would result in the fuel gauge being at full. Does your 580k have a plastic buddy fuel tank in addition to the chassis main fuel tank? Some of the “K” series had this additional plastic tank from the factory to allow additional runtime before the need to refuel. If you have the plastic buddy tank, are you attempting to fill the fuel tank through it or using the main chassis fuel cap? I am just thinking the fuel line from the plastic tank (if present on your 580k) may be frozen shut causing your immediate full fuel issue. Again, just speculating, but cold weather can cause all sorts of fuel related issues.
Is there any reason the fuel sender malfunctioning would block fuel from entering the tank? Is there a shutoff when the sensor thinks the tank is full? I have ordered the service manual for the loader so I can't look this up myself, But I fill the tank through the main fuel neck under the hood. There is also an air or fuel return hose about 1/4 of an inch in diameter that returns to the top of the neck. Could this being plugged or frozen make it so fuel can't get into the tank? After a few hours the fuel that backs up to the top of the neck will eventually drain down into the tank.
The “k” series is a wet chassis. Meaning the fuel reservoir is made out of the box structure of the chassis frame. There is no independent fuel tank, unless you have a secondary buddy plastic tank. The filler neck simply dumps directly into the chassis cavity. Therefore, when you fill your fuel, you are simply filling your left hand chassis with fuel. (Right hand side of chassis is your hydraulic tank) Assuming you have a 580k, not a 580sk, then the fuel sensor on a 580k has a traditional float on a metal arm that floats up as the fuel level raises. (580sk has a tubular fuel sensor which is a different design). I would doubt even if the float came off of the sensor that it would completely block your filler neck, but I guess anything is possible. Do you have access to a handheld video inspection camera (small camera on a flexible cable with a video display on the other end)? You should be able to go down the filler neck and see what the obstruction is. As for the fuel level being a full, perhaps the obstruction is somehow causing your sensor float to be held in the up position. The inspection camera might help with this as well. Otherwise, you are back to draining the tank and removing the sensor after the wiring and instrument cluster is checked.
I have the same machine and knocked the wire off the tank gauge. It read full and I ran out of fuel. As far as getting the fuel in, a screen in the inlet would be the only thing I could see blocking it. Mine has always taken fuel as fast as I can pump it or pour from a can. I will look at mine tomorrow and see if I notice anything that would block it.
My 580K is difficult to fuel when temps are cold and fuel is thick. Always been that way. As far as the gauge mine hasn't worked for a couple thousand hours. I have an open station and the wiring in the panel is junk from the factory so any amount of moisture causes mine fits. Your gauge might be intermittent since the machine is fairly new to you.
Unless you are using a heavily blended fuel you are trying to feed Jello/gelatinous mess into your tank at -40, won't flow thru a screen at most any rate! I would check to see how 'thick' the fuel is before I started ripping on the machine.