Ford 3000 Stalling

[Tronjockey]

Hello all. First time posting to this forum but have read articles on here to help me when I have issues. Now I have one that I cannot seem to resolve. The story……

I have a Ford 3000 gas tractor (guessing somewhere in the 1970’s year). It starts fine and runs for a while (~30-40 mins) then starts to sputter and dies. Then will not restart until I have let it set for 10-15 mins. Then when I get it started again, it will run about 5-10 mins before it stutters and dies again. This happens even when PTO disengaged. Steps I’ve tried:

1. Fuel - checked and cleaned all strainers. Disconnected and blew out fuel line on fuel pump suction side. Removed and checked fuel pump - ok. Fuel bowl full and clean strainer.
2. Cooling system - checked hoses; water pump ~2 yrs old; replaced thermostat; put back together. Seems to work just fine, t-stat cycles, temp steadies out as coolant flows.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mad Farmer]

Could be symptom of coil going bad. When they heat up spark gets weak. Check spark as soon as it dies.

If you had a good coil to swap in for a test that would save buying parts you might not need.

 

[Sean in PA]

I agree that it sounds like the symptoms of the coil going bad. Buy a can of electronics freeze spray and spray the coil liberally when it dies and see if it starts up sooner than if you let it sit. here is one from Grainger:

Link to Electronics freeze spray on Grainger's web site

 

[Tronjockey]

Well……new ignition coil, same problem. Ran fine for about 30 mins then sputtered and died. Wouldn’t restart. Let it set overnight; started, no problem.

 

[Sean in PA]

I didn't suggest buying a new coil. I suggested a method of testing the existing coil. You should diagnose the problem before throwing money and time at replacing parts that might or might not be bad.

The next possibility is a fuel issue, possibly some debris in the tank that eventually gets sucked into the screen on top of the shutoff valve inside the tank. After sitting and not running for some period of time, the debris floats away from the screen. Again, that is just a guess. Another possibility is a clogged vent in the fuel cap, but that usually manifests after 5 to 10 minutes, not 30 minutes, but if it is only partially logged, it might take longer.

 

[showcrop]

Classic fuel starvation. Open the line at different connections and let it run into a container. The blockage is after the last place where it runs freely.

 

[MJMJ]

Check the petcock, the little filter eventually comes off and it will get clogged with debris and bugs.

 

[Steve in IL]

Hello all. First time posting to this forum but have read articles on here to help me when I have issues. Now I have one that I cannot seem to resolve. The story……

I have a Ford 3000 gas tractor (guessing somewhere in the 1970’s year). It starts fine and runs for a while (~30-40 mins) then starts to sputter and dies. Then will not restart until I have let it set for 10-15 mins. Then when I get it started again, it will run about 5-10 mins before it stutters and dies again. This happens even when PTO disengaged. Steps I’ve tried:

1. Fuel - checked and cleaned all strainers. Disconnected and blew out fuel line on fuel pump suction side. Removed and checked fuel pump - ok. Fuel bowl full and clean strainer.
2. Cooling system - checked hoses; water pump ~2 yrs old; replaced thermostat; put back together. Seems to work just fine, t-stat cycles, temp steadies out as coolant flows.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My go to method of diagnosing this issue is to first put some gas into an old spray bottle…. Run the tractor until it quits. Quickly remove intake tube going into carburetor. Spray some fuel into carburetor. See if it fires/starts for a bit. If it does, you have a fuel supply problem. If not, you likely have a spark issue.

Good luck!

 

[Tronjockey]

Thanks. I will give that a try.

I did check all of the fuel strainers (see original post). The strainer on the fuel shutoff came off in the tank weeks ago. I drained the fuel tank; reaffixed the strainer (modifying so it would not come off again) and put everything back together.

 

[Tronjockey]

I didn't suggest buying a new coil. I suggested a method of testing the existing coil. You should diagnose the problem before throwing money and time at replacing parts that might or might not be bad.

The next possibility is a fuel issue, possibly some debris in the tank that eventually gets sucked into the screen on top of the shutoff valve inside the tank. After sitting and not running for some period of time, the debris floats away from the screen. Again, that is just a guess. Another possibility is a clogged vent in the fuel cap, but that usually manifests after 5 to 10 minutes, not 30 minutes, but if it is only partially logged, it might take longer.

Thanks, Sean. I know you didn’t suggest I buy a new coil, but I really didn’t mind. It is an old tractor and I completely rebuilt the engine a couple of years ago. Replaced several of the parts at that time, but not the coil. I felt better just going ahead and replacing it to eliminate a potential future problem if it didn’t solve this one.

 

[flying belgian]

Could be the vent hole in the gas cap. Take the cap off and stuff your old t-shirt in there. See if that helps.

 

[showcrop]

I suggest that you don't stick an old Tee shirt into the gas fill hole. It will wick gasoline and the accompanying fumes out of the tank and into close proximity of various ignition sources.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

My 2000 would go months without doing it then several times close together. Sometimes restart in a few minutes, sometimes overnight. After going through the fuel system I finally took off the sediment bowl. I don't like to do it unless necessary but I found a small, rolled up bit of a dry leaf in the vertical passage.