John Deere 1020 diesel runs fine then dies

[Doug424]

I have a 1020 that's giving me problems. It start, ran fine for a half hour then starting slowing down and died. It will restart and gets up to speed but after 30 seconds it slows down and dies. It will keep repeating the process many times. I checked the usual things, good fuel flow from the tank, installed a new fuel filter and gets good flow from the filter to the pump. I unscrewed the return line on top of the pump and it makes no difference. When I bought the tractor about 4 years ago it ran and died but I found the flex ring was breaking down, I replaced it and it's been running fine until now. When I remove the check valve from the top of the pump, there is no sign of any particles, just clear fuel. It is a Roosa DB pump. Any ideas? Could the electric shut off be causing trouble? Thanks

 

[Jim.ME]

I have a 1020 that's giving me problems. It start, ran fine for a half hour then starting slowing down and died. It will restart and gets up to speed but after 30 seconds it slows down and dies. It will keep repeating the process many times. I checked the usual things, good fuel flow from the tank, installed a new fuel filter and gets good flow from the filter to the pump. I unscrewed the return line on top of the pump and it makes no difference. When I bought the tractor about 4 years ago it ran and died but I found the flex ring was breaking down, I replaced it and it's been running fine until now. When I remove the check valve from the top of the pump, there is no sign of any particles, just clear fuel. It is a Roosa DB pump. Any ideas? Could the electric shut off be causing trouble? Thanks

A couple things to check.

It might be the electric shutoff. Check the wiring first, to see that it has constant power when the key is on. Keep a test light handy and check for power, without touching the switch when it quits. There may also be a small grounding strap between the pump housing and the second terminal of the shutoff. I have known/seen those crack and break, that can cause intermittent drop out.

Have you looked in the tank? you could have a build up around the pickup that gets pulled up when running and reduces fuel flow, then falls away when the fuel draw is stopped.

 

[Doug424]

A couple things to check.

It might be the electric shutoff. Check the wiring first, to see that it has constant power when the key is on. Keep a test light handy and check for power, without touching the switch when it quits. There may also be a small grounding strap between the pump housing and the second terminal of the shutoff. I have known/seen those crack and break, that can cause intermittent drop out.

Have you looked in the tank? you could have a build up around the pickup that gets pulled up when running and reduces fuel flow, then falls away when the fuel draw is stopped.

I've been thinking about the shut off, I did put a test light on it one of the times it was dying out and it had power. Its hard to figure how it would instantly restart if the shut off failed. Is there a way to manually over ride the electric shut off? As far as fuel flow goes, I think I have that handled, I unscrewed the fuel line going into the pump and while the engine was running and started dying, the fuel kept flowing at a pretty high rate. I'll check better into the electric shut off.

 

[Doug424]

Seems I may have it solved, I'll try mowing for a few hours and see if it lasts.

 

[wore out]

I've been thinking about the shut off, I did put a test light on it one of the times it was dying out and it had power. Its hard to figure how it would instantly restart if the shut off failed. Is there a way to manually over ride the electric shut off? As far as fuel flow goes, I think I have that handled, I unscrewed the fuel line going into the pump and while the engine was running and started dying, the fuel kept flowing at a pretty high rate. I'll check better into the electric shut off.

Have you tried running it with the little "timing window" on the injection pump loose, or the housing pressure control valve removed?

 

[Doug424]

Have you tried running it with the little "timing window" on the injection pump loose, or the housing pressure control valve removed?

I ran it with the return line open and I blew air in the return line to the tank. It still died. But, I think I have found the problem now, when I removed the check valve it kept running. I found some very, very tiny particles of something in the the check valve. I cleaned it and it did stay running. Hard to think what it is, I replaced the flex ring about 2 years ago. Could it be breaking down so soon?

 

[Doug424]

Well, no luck at all. This time it lasted 3 minutes until it died. I took the check valve off and it didn't have any debris in it, put it back on, again 3 minutes is all it lasted.

 

[Jim.ME]

Well, no luck at all. This time it lasted 3 minutes until it died. I took the check valve off and it didn't have any debris in it, put it back on, again 3 minutes is all it lasted.

It may be time to send it to someone, like Dieseltech, for a proper rebuild and calibration.

 

[Doug424]

It may be time to send it to someone, like Dieseltech, for a proper rebuild and calibration.

I can't do that, can't justify the cost right now
I still think it's a back pressure issue on the return lines, maybe a hose broke down inside? About all I can do is start testing the return lines off and see if I can find anything.

 

[Tramway Guy]

If you have a deteriorating cam ring in the injection pump, you could eventually have even more damage ($$$) than having it repaired now.

 

[Jim.ME]

I can't do that, can't justify the cost right now
I still think it's a back pressure issue on the return lines, maybe a hose broke down inside? About all I can do is start testing the return lines off and see if I can find anything.

In post #6 you said you found "some very, very tiny particles of something in the the check valve", and you cleaned it. The three minutes for it to quit in post #7, may not have gotten anything to the check valve but there might be some elsewhere in the pump.

Run the return into a bucket and see what happens.

Clean the side of the pump well. With a white rag under it to catch anything that might wash out, open the timing window on the side of the pump and see if there is material behind the cover plate.

 

[Doug424]

I changed the flex ring 2 years ago. Hard to think it's going bad already. Plus when I took the top off the pump, there was no sign of anything in the fuel, completely clear.

 

[Doug424]

In post #6 you said you found "some very, very tiny particles of something in the the check valve", and you cleaned it. The three minutes for it to quit in post #7, may not have gotten anything to the check valve but there might be some elsewhere in the pump.

Run the return into a bucket and see what happens.

Clean the side of the pump well. With a white rag under it to catch anything that might wash out, open the timing window on the side of the pump and see if there is material behind the cover plate.

I can try that. When I took the top of the pump off, didn't see any foreign material
Looked clean and clear

 

[Tx Jim]

Have you checked strainer in inj pump? I think for a test I'd temporarily disable the electric fuel control solenoid.

 

[Doug424]

Have you checked strainer in inj pump? I think for a test I'd temporarily disable the electric fuel control solenoid.

Not yet I'll check it

 

[Tom in Mo.]

Hope you checked for clogged fuel line at the tank before blaming the pump. I had one act this same way and there was a leaf inside the tank that would drift over and block the tank outlet. After it sat a minute it would drift off and run good for a bit and drift back and block the fuel. Just sayin'

 

[Doug424]

Hope you checked for clogged fuel line at the tank before blaming the pump. I had one act this same way and there was a leaf inside the tank that would drift over and block the tank outlet. After it sat a minute it would drift off and run good for a bit and drift back and block the fuel. Just sayin'

I'm not having a fuel delivery issue. I even unscrewed the line going into the pump while the engine was running well and I had plenty of fuel running out while the engine still ran ok. I think at this point I have some restriction on the return side. If unscrew the check valve and let the fuel run free, the engine keeps running. Next step is check out the return lines better. I blew air threw them, but that might not have been enough.

 

[M-MAN]

Does it have a standpipe?

 

[Doug424]

Ok, after not bothering with this tractor for about a month, I got back to it and found the problem. As discussed earlier it was an issue with the return side back pressure. It would run with the timing window open. I decided to remove the check valve and it did stay running, but it wasn't right. It had too much rattle or knock and idled rough. So, I decided to take the check valve apart and I found some junk packed around the spring. When I bought this tractor, maybe 3 or 4 years ago it had the flex ring problem, which I replaced and it ran fine until last month. I'm figuring that crud was in there all along. I did blow air though the check valve when I worked on the pump. I guess that just bought me some time. Anyway that's the story, now I'm going to put the check valve back together and hope that will be the end of my problem.

 

[Doug424]

I hate to report that the junk on the check valve was not the answer. It seemed fine for about 2 hours, them started the same thing
I limped back to the house and took off the check valve, and more crap in it. Hard to believe that flex ring has gone bad already, but that's all it can be now. I replaced it about 3 years ago, these parts must be junk these days.