I have a '76 J.D. model 544b loader that I bought about a month ago. I've been doing a lot of work to it, which has included r&r of fuel tank. I cleaned out the tank & removed the in line strainer, cleaned it, & reinstalled it. I then realized that there's no suction tube for the fuel to get to the pump! So, how does the mechanical pump (has the hand primer) pull the fuel up-------since the fuel line port is @ top of tank?? Any help given would be greatly appreciated. Thanks----Randy
The suction tube should be inside of that screen that inserts into the tank. Interested in how you cleaned the tank and how well it worked?
There should be two lines, the one at the top being a return - The bottom one should be a short stand pipe to keep from sucking from the bottom of the tank.
When I removed the suction screen, it seems to me there was a bottom on the screen & there was no suction tube for sure. I will remove the screen again tomorrow to verify if there is indeed a hole for a suction tube. This is the only fitting that the fuel line attaches. There is no fitting on the bottom of the tank & the return line fitting is on the other side & 5/16 tubing from the inj. pp. (return) just slips over it. There is also a tube fitting off the neck of the filler pipe, but I don't know what would attach to that. Right now I just have a cap on it. I've rigged a fuel cell temp. & mounted it high enough so diesel will gravity feed to the pump. This keeps system primed & able to run engine. As for cleaning I/s of tank, I removed sending unit (it needed to be replaced anyway) & was able to see i/s pretty good. It was clean enough but I still put a gallon of tank rust remover in & stirred it around good. Then I drained & poured some diesel fuel in & stirred it good & then drained that. After that I put a rag on a stick & run that around & it looked ok. This was done w/tank off of course! After installing tank I put about 15g of diesel along with diesel tank & inj. cleaner. I will run that through the system & continue adding a cleaner for awhile. I did put a new fuel filter in first. I know & have tried a few different methods for cleaning motorcycle tanks, inc. using a battery charger & anode, if anyone needs this info. I'll post what I find w/the suction strainer out when I do it. Thanks-----Randy
That sounds right, the tube is inside the screen to keep the nasties from plugging up the pickup. It doesn't go to the bottom of the tank, cause that's where the dirt and water are. Could try hooking the line up to a transfer pump (or clear vinyl and suck it out) and see if it sucks diesel or air.
That sounds like a good idea. I have a small hand held suction pump I could use. If there is suppose to be a tube I/s screen, it is long gone & should have been connected to the fitting that screws onto the tank. I didn't want to just hook-up fuel line & hope the primer pump could pull up the fuel-----didn't want to chance having to reprime the entire system again! This loader had sat for 5 years w/o fuel or oil! Starts/sounds good now!