1755 Running Weakly changed Fuel Filter, now what?

First winter running this 1755 in need of some TLC.

I've kept it plugged in to a block heater and such. It's had hydraulic leak/freeze up issues all winter that I have managed by topping of the fluids and letting it warm up every day for about thirty minutes.

Fuel ALWAYS treated with Power Services antigel.

About two weeks ago, It started to lose power under load. Just barely noticeable.

The next day, It started OK; but smoked more than usual and acted as if the throttle was non-existent. If I opened the throttle, instead of rpms, I either got skipping, smoke or nothing...just sat there and idled.

I put it back in the shed. Later that day, I added some diesel 911 and fresh fuel. It started and now had throttle response. There was some skipping and smoke; but it at least ran well enough to move a couple of round bales for the day. Albeit still no real power. If the engine got taxed, it would lose rpms rapidly and start smoking. Did my chores in low gear.

So, I changed the fuel filter. It was the glass NAPA 3370 style. I warmed up the tractor, filled the new filter with fresh fuel, shut off the tractor, quickly made the swap and then started her up again. Started easily and ran OK. I added more fresh fuel to the tank, up to about three quarters full. Fuel straight from a pump at a station, no risk of contamination.

I took the old filter inside and drained it into an aluminum pan. Holy crap! There was maybe a cup of fluid in there. In the pan, it separated out into about a half cup of clear fuel floating on top of about a half cup of what looked like gravy. The gravy appeared to be a mix of water and these little needle shaped, rust colored particles about as long as a grain of rice.

I now start OK. Idle OK. Revs OK without a load (maybe spews a few sparks). Still no real power though.

My next thoughts are:

Air? If the fuel filter looked like that, what does the air filter look like?

Fuel contamination or water damage somewhere else in the system? When I removed the old filter, it had a slug of that gravy looking crap hanging out of one of the bottom holes of it. That stuff must have been in the fuel tubing at that location. A little bit of clean fuel poured out of those tubes on the block before I put the new filter on; so I was hopeful that it was cleaned. Is there another location that water could have accumulated?

Obviously, I may have a bigger issue (injectors, valves, loss of compression, etc.)

I'm just trying to see if I missed anything obvious.
 
I don't mean this to be rude, but it always irritates me to see someone buy a tractor that old and not do a complete service(all new fluids and filters). Sounds to me like you had better drain and flush the fuel tank and line to the filter housing, then change the fuel filter again and change both the inner and outer air filters.

Don't remember if you changed the Hyd filter when you were having hydraulic troubles, if not do that and give it new fluid.
 
I don't consider that rude to me; since I'm not the owner.

Without going into partnership structures and what not, I'll just say that I use the tractor to take care of its owners' and my animals. It seems that I have taken over the tractor's care from its owner.

Seems that I can troubleshoot the air issue by inspecting the air filters and running the tractor for a short while with them removed to see if performance improves. I can still get new filters for it; but the real issue here is diagnosing the loss of power. If I spend a hundred bucks on new filters for a machine with bigger issues, that's a hundred bucks that I could use to pay the neighbor to move bales for me while this tractor is laid up for other repairs.

Completely removing fuel and purging the system will take some doing under our circumstances. Any good hints on how I can shut off the fuel at the tank and places to connect to so that I can get the fuel cleanly into containers without spilling all over the place?

OR...

Is it better to get one of those tank siphoning rigs at an autoparts store and take the fuel out of the top of the tank; then remove the filter and let the rest run out of the filter mount and catch it with a drip pan under the tractor?

If I do that, is that the lowest point in the fuel system? Should I try to bleed anywhere else to remove accumulated contaminants? At the injector pump? Elsewhere?

Yes, I also understand about the hydraulic filters/fluids, etc. Those problems are being diagnosed as well.

The main constraint here is that the animals have to be fed everyday; and good, warm, dry facilities to perform major repairs are a couple of months away. So much of the troubleshooting is being done with an attitude of figuring out if resources should be spent on this machine now to get it through the winter or if it should be mothballed until then, while we make other arrangements to get the bales moved everyday.
 
some of those filters are 10 micron some are 5 micron. It is harder to push or pull fuel thru the 5 micron units. You didn't tell s how cold it is there, if its below 32F you need #1 fuel in the tank, not summer fuel with additive in it. Somehow I don't think this your problem, it does sound like a fuel housekeeping problem. Is there a storage tank there with out a filter on it? If you have a storage tank is the filler cap in good shape? If you dohave a storage tank, I think I would ck that for contamination too. Good luck.
 
Just start at the tank and work towards the injector pump.
Make sure you have fuel flowing at the bottom of the tank,
then the filter, then at the pump.
Josh
 
You said: Completely removing fuel and purging the system will take some doing under our circumstances. Any good hints on how I can shut off the fuel at the tank and places to connect to so that I can get the fuel cleanly into containers without spilling all over the place?
Shut the fuel off at the tank, un-hook the fuel supply line at the lift pump, put a length of hose over the end and drain it in buckets. Then take the fitting out of the tank and flush the crud out of the tank.
AIR CLEANER ELEMENT: Don't tell me you have not thought about removing the cover of the air cleaner, removing the element and inspecting it!. Tap it on a solid surface and see how much dirt falls out of it!. If you decide to blow it out, blow the dirt out from the inside to the outside. Inspect it with a light bulb to make sure there are no holes in it.
 
Thank you.

Also thank God for Saturday. I usually do my chores in the dark, go to work, come home in the dark. Did the fuel filter in the pitch black at 9PM the other night.

Anyway, with some time and sunlight, I pulled the old girl out of the shed and checked the new filter in the sunlight. All good fuel in there. The crap went with the old one.

While it sat there idling, I lifted the bucket and located the side cover mounting bolts. When I took off the wing nut holding the outer air filter, I heard a strong hiss and the filter has SO much suction that I couldn't pull it until I shut off the engine.

I pulled the outer, loosened the inner and started back up. It ran like a champ. Asked the owner when the air filter was changed last. Maybe three or four years ago. Mystery solved.

Now to figure out how to service the transmission.
 
Could be crud in the tank blocking the fuel out let.unhook the line from the filter to the tank at the filter and blow back with compressed air.
But first open the water drain on the tank and let the water drain out.
There's also a small last ditch filter in the injection pump fuel inlet.
It may be plugged also.
 
Easy way to fill it is to remove the breather next to where your beer can was. Now I need to check where the check plug is located. Sounds to me like you may also have moisture in your hydraulic fluid and is your gear shift boot cracked or damaged? If so replace it!
 

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