4340 dies hard start battery disconnect switch messed up

[nhans180]

The fuel screen is clean and I replaced the secondary fuel filter element about a month ago. Today it just died. Tried to start it and it turned over but would not start. I took apart the primary filter and it was clean. Tried to start again and the instrument panel died. I played with the battery disconnect and the display flashed on and off. I hand primed it and it finally started, but it was a hard start. It ran for another 5 to 10 min and died again. Tried hand priming, did not work. Instrument panel went out again. I took apart the battery disconnect and it looks fine but it must not be, I had to play with it a lot to get the panel back up. After playing with it and leaving it sit for awhile I got it started and put it in the shed. Any ideas? Could the battery disconnect cause the tractor to die? Or is it likely that I have two issues (battery disconnect and a fuel related issues? Or plugs?). Any ideas would be helpful. I am not near a parts store, so is it possible to bypass the battery disconnect until I can get a new one? I tried doing that, and all I got was lots of sparks and no power until I hooked up the disconnect again. Thanks!

 

[hala]

I think you have two differnt problem. A bad conection anywhere between the battery to the fuse-box. The second problem seems to be an aitleak in the fuelsystem. Did you pumped out all the air after inspecting the filter? Air- leaks in the system and fuel flow back to the tank is a very very common problem on 4340. I almost went mad in trying to solve this problem on my 4340 until I finaly solved the problem using a Tigerloop. ( Read my topics)
Hazze

 

[nhans180]

Well I have started it and had it die a few times now. I can not find any leaks, but it occured to me that I ran it nearly dry a few days ago. I just got the tractor two months ago, so who knows what is in the tank. I am going to drop the tank and see what is in there before I start trying to mess with the lines.

The electrical issue is interesting. The battery cables are slightly exposed and I noticed welding around the negative cable. I replaced the battery disconnect and it occured to me that there is very little clearance between the battery terminals/exposed cables and the top of the metal box that holds the battery. This occured to me when I pulled the battery out and it sparked on the top of the box. So I taped the cables up and put cardboard above the battery now. I hit lots of bumps and the battery is not tied down by anything, this is not doubt in my mind that the battery has been shorting out inside the box. Hopefully this fixes my electrical issues, if nothing else I am sure it has been a problem.

 

[hala]

When taking down the tank check the 90 deg bend dieseltube coming up from the tank. This can be clogged. Blow and se if you have a free passage for the fuel .
Air leakage is extremely hard to discover. Check also the return hose from the nozzles to the pump that also can give this effect if leaking air.

Hazze

 

[nhans180]

Ran great for about 5 hours, and now is dead in my field. My fuel filter keeps filling up full of fuel, so I am assuming that what ever the issue is, it must be after the filter, right? I see some of my rubber lines are not clamped on by anything, so I am going to clamp those. When I pinched one of those a little, a little bit of fuel came out, so I would guess it takes in air there. You might be right about the tigerloop. I also wonder if the pump could be plugged too. I am not used to diesel systems, have done a ton on regular gas. In the past when I have pumped the pedal it has helped get it running again, but no go this time. I checked the oil and nothing is in the oil. I would assume if it was flooding it would go to the oil (but again, I am used to gas, not diesel). Thanks for your help . I am going to guess it is an air leak issue.

 

[hala]

Have you pumped out all the air by using the primer pump and then opende the breathing screws one on the filter and one on the injection pump. Is the teractor hard to start after standing a couple of days? (fuel is running back to the tank and the lifting pump has to work for seconds to fill the system with fuel) My trctor worked for hours and then stopped and this was caused by air leakage. Try to breathe the system very carefully first. If the original rubber hoses is still there replace them with new. The hose going from the nozzle return to the back of the injectionpump is very tricky to replace due to hardly no space between the pump and the engine block.
Hazze

 

[nhans180]

Found a bug in one of the banjo bolts, cleaned it out. Put hose clamps on. Primed the heck out of it and got it started and moved out of my field, but it died again outside of my shed. Bled the system, and in the process I busted a hose barb, now I have to try to find one of those fittings

So I figured out that all of the hoses were replaced and some kind of fittings were put on, I did not realize that the original hoses were crimped. So I have to hunt around for another fitting.