Ive got a TD-20 that is extremely hard to start. The previous owner said it was running poorly so he had the injector pump rebuilt. After that it ran great but it was really hard to start. I'm thinking the rebuild guy got the timing wrong maybe? Is there a way I can mess with the timing while it is still on the dozer and see if I can get it to crank easier? By hard to start Im talking about two sets of batteries and an entire can of starting fluid to get it going. And on cold days I dont even try. Thanks in advance, Justin
sounds like multiple things could be wrong. one thing to make sure your not losing fuel prime to the pump. two, did they put new injectors in anytime recently? if it runs fine after it starts and no strange smoke i would not think its injection timing.
Not sure about injectors, PO didnt mention anything. I hadnt even thought to check prime to the pump. Would bad injectors cause a hard start problem but still work great at running speeds? I thought it would be the other way around.
Hard starting could be a coincidence after changing the pump. A lot of mechanics have torn their hair over after that kind of thing. Since the pump was changed the first place I would look is the lines and fittings and see if you're pulling air in somewhere. That would be a classic result of the change. Easy way to tell if that is the problem is to pull the secondary filter after it has sat and before starting the machine to see if it is completely full of fuel. If not that would tell you you're either pulling in air or losing prime because of a bad check valve, etc.
checking the filter sounds like a good idea. I work alone so I wasnt really sure how I was going to check for prime. After it gets warmed up it cranks fairly easily, I always thought it was just because it was warm but now that you mention it a bed check valve might be the problem. Ill take a look next week and report back.
Not sure about your machine, but I have worked on a number of I-H/Dresser machines that use fuel supply lines that have a rubber compression seal inside each fuel line nut connection. When previous owner repaired injection pump, they might not have replaced these rubber seals. Age and heat causes those seals to get hard as a rock. If you try to reconnect a fuel line connection without replacing those seals you could be sucking air at that connection.
If when you are cranking it over is it puffing out white smoke or nothing at all, cause if its got nothing then would kinda look like its not getting fuel to the injectors. We got a Cat IT 18 loader that is doing the same, if it sits to long it wont start and you need someone to pump on the hand primer to get fuel to the pump as you turn it over, once it starts it as good as gold so looks like a non return valve is allowing the fuel to drain back to the tank. Cheers RDG.