MF1030 will not start !!?

So the title isn't completely accurate. My 1030 won't start using the starter. I have been able to start it by pulling it behind a buddy's truck and jumping it.

I started it once a week all winter long and never had any issue even when it was 20 degrees outside. About a month ago I started it up no problem as usual but didn't let it warm up long enough before letting off the throttle and it died. After that it hasn't started since.

It turns over and when you give it some throttle even smokes a little but won't start. It's a brand new battery and has no problem turning it over. After jumping, it runs very rough and has no power. Anything below 1/3 throttle and it will die. RPM accelerates very slowly and will not reach normal max RPM. When I let off the throttle it billows black smoke.

I emptied the tank and put new diesel in it. I've bled the entire fuel system from tank to injectors. I'm getting good flow all the way to the bleed screw on the side of the injector pump. I'm getting fuel to the injectors but I feel like the volume/pressure coming from the pump might be low. I don’t have enough experience with diesels to know by looking. I even tried running a hose directly from the tank to the injector pump to bypass the fuel filter in case it was clogged or letting air into the system somehow. I used a brand new inline fuel filter just to be safe.

I took the injectors out, disassembled them and made sure everything was clean. They looked fine to me but I did notice that the injectors don't match. Parts are very difficult to find for this tractor so I assume somebody worked on it in the past and had to use a substitute injector. I'm not a diesel expert by any means so I don't know how critical it is that the injectors be the same. I'm sure they need to perform the same but is it possible to have different part numbers?

Can anyone tell me what the correct injector is for a 1986 MF 1030 with an 87 cubic inch, 3 cylinder, Toyosha?

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to be thorough.

I really appreciate any advice you guys can offer. I'm running out of ideas.

I"m no expert myself but do you think it could be a timing issue on the fuel pump? I have a massey 470 wheel loader with 4 cylinder perkins and the timing on the fuel pump has to be set right or it will never run right.

I have a local mechanic guru that does all my fuel pump timing and the more complicated stuff.

Is it getting air? Maybe it"s choking itself from no air and running really lean and that"s the black smoke?

Running rough, black smoke, no power, yes that could even be a blocked air filter, we had that problem on a 165 many moons ago.

Thanks for your input, guys.

So after trying the few things that you guys mentioned and plenty more that I found on other sites, everything was pointing me toward the fuel control. I HATE paying someone else to do something I can probably do myself but due to my lack of diesel experience I’m not really comfortable digging into it that far and I don’t have time to teach myself how to do it right now.

I took it to the local Massey shop and they started with all of the same things I already tried (new fuel, new filter, bleeding lines). I drained the tank and put brand new fuel from the pump in just 2 days before as well as a new filter and they’re charging me for both! When that wasn’t the problem they decided to get into the fuel control and adjust the timing but found nothing wrong. This lead to more troubleshooting which resulted in them finding a blown head gasket. I didn’t even really consider that because there wasn't any oil in the coolant or water in the oil but I guess it just blew between cylinders.

Now I"ve got to pay for their duplication of the things I tried and for their waste of time to adjust the fuel control! It seems like they should have done a 5 minute compression test before a 1 hour fuel control adjustment and saved some labor $$$. I would rather have paid for an unnecessary 5 minute test than an unnecessary 1 hour adjustment. So even if I just pick it up and do it myself, up to this point I owe them over $200 just to find the problem!

The owner told me their total labor charge would be somewhere around $400 and the new head gasket is over $200 which I found online for $120 but they refuse to guarantee their work if I don"t buy their part. I’m hoping that if I’m lucky the total repair will stay around $600-ish but knowing how things “pop up” I’m preparing for the possibility of closer to $700-$800.

I understand that they perform a service that they deserve to get paid for. I’m mostly just ranting because I’m mad at myself for not doing a simple compression test before taking it in there. And, as I mentioned before, I HATE, HATE, HATE paying someone else to work on things for me!

Thanks again,
RoHo