1490 just quit and now won't start

ratface

Member
Hi all, I was mowing just fine with my 1490 and as I started up a slight incline she just died. The fuel gauge has never worked on this tractor so I thought maybe I ran out of fuel. I put 10 gallons in and she fired up again for a few seconds and died again. I then put another 10 gallons in but no start. She cranks real strong but it just won't go. This occurred after about two hours of mowing knee high grass. Stuck in the pasture now, where do I go next, I don't want to leave her in there alone in the dark.
 
If you ran it out of fuel, you'll probably have to bleed the air out of the fuel system to get her running again. Don't know what injection pump a 1490 has but usually you open a bleed screw on the pump and operate the hand pump till the fuel is free of bubbles coming out of the bleeder. After that you may also have to loosen an injector line at the injector and crank the engine to bleed the air out of the lines. Running out of fuel is the only time I prefer a gas over a diesel.
 

Hi:

Had a similar problem on a different tractor. I was on a slope and tractor died. Not knowing at the time that the fuel was slanted away from the fuel line I tried restarting and it did but quit again.

Finally decided to put more fuel in and got fuel flowing to the filters. Opend the bleed screws and got fuel going, but tractor would not start. Long story short, tractor was real hard to restart. After several failed attempts I decided to apply pressure to the fuel system.

I took an old inner tube with a good valve stem and cut a large enough section to wrap around and clamp to the fuel fill tube. Applied about 5 psi and re bleed the filters. Add more psi to rebuild pressure and finally got the tractor to start. It took a lot if intermittent cranking and 2 charged batteries, but it eventually worked.

Since then I have added an electric fuel pump to the fuel line. Now when I run out of fuel I turn on the electric pump, bleed the filters and then try to restart tractor. Usually if I put fuel in before trying to restart it is easier.

Trust you will get the tractor going soon.
 
PCRH, that's a novel idea but to clarify you rigged the valve stem to the fuel tank filler tube using the surrounding rubber to make a seal by clamping. How did you regulate your compressor to only work at five psi or did you use the full air pressure but only added five psi?
 
I tried to follow the procedure on pages 142 and 143 of the owners manual titled, "Removing air from the fuel system. Sitting on the tractor the fuel pump is on the opposite side of the injection pump and filters. I can find and identify vent plugs A,E &F. I cannot get past vent plug A because no amount of operating the hand priming lever gets enough fuel flow up to the filter housing. I get a dribble and spurt every ten pumps or so but after hundreds of pumps my fingers are raw and that pump is never going to move fuel up to point A. The pump lever has a very short stroke and I can feel the stoke thru the motion but it's just not moving much fuel. Again there are 20 verified gallons in the tank. I thought I ran out of fuel but is it also possible I have a bad fuel pump, my neighbor said every time he has bled one within 30 pumps or so has good fuel flow. It was his opinion that we followed the procedure correctly but the hand pump is just not working. Lastly we are both curiois as to why engine cranking does not advance fuel thru the lines?
 

Hi:

Yes, that is correct, I used the surrounding rubber to make a seal by clamping. A bit of a challenge to remove the creases. Another option is to use a radiator hose close to the fill tube size and then use a screw on valve stem. Just have to make a seal for the other end of the hose.

Then I used a hand pump. You could also use the air compressor (I was not close enough) and the 5psi is approximate.You just want enough pressure to push the fuel thru. Electric fuel pump puts out more psi and the excess fuel goes to the return line.
 

Hi:

If the hand priming pump does not deliver fuel then it could be the seal in the pump. Like a hand pump when the leather seal is cracked or torn and air leaks past. Another possibility is a blocked fuel line. So, can you disconnect the fuel line to see if you have good fuel flow?

Just more thoughts.
 

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