Help with abalky diesel?

[fish hook]

I have a kubota G3200,fuel pump shorted and ran the fuel line dry.Fixed that,bled the lines and have fuel feeding now,but it wont crank.When i add ether,it acts like it is kicking back.This mower has a small 2 cilinder engine.Could it have jumped time?If so can someone tell me how to time it?

[ddearinger]

what do you mean by won't crank? the engine will not turn over? will not crank means the strater will not roll the engine over. that is generally starter or in the cranking system. if that all checks out and it still won't roll over you may have a cylinder hydraulically locked up with fuel or coolant etc. keeping the piston from being able to compress it. if you mean it cranks but will not fire that is probably fuel related. you must have the lines bled very well. crack them loose at the injector nozzles and use the hand primer if it has one...until you have good fuel coming out of the lines where you broke them loose. using either on a small diesel like this you can easily create a hydraulic locked cylinder. you will need to wait for the either to evaporate.

[fish hook]

Sorry to have mis spoke,engine will turn over normally but will not run.

[Doc1]

Ether can be very, very dangerous in a diesel. You can use it -and I do - but it needs to be applied in the most sparingly tiny amounts. It's easy to get over confident with it and squirt too much...then you can have MAJOR (and expensive) mechanical damage.

If you replaced a fuel pump, you almost certainly have air in the system somewhere. This is a big PITA, but the only way to fix it is to crack each fitting to bleed them and crank the engine. You may have to do this repeatedly. Doing this will make your starter get hot. Allow it to cool off between sessions. If you don't, you'll fry the starter. Best to have two people doing it, with one cranking the engine and the other bleeding the lines.

BTW, this is one reason why I always recommend that people get diesel-powered bug out vehicles with standard transmissions. You can pull or push start a standard, making diesel fuel issues SO much easier to deal with.

Hope this helps.

Best regards
Doc

[ssonb]

If you have an air compressor, get someone to help you by taking an air nozzle, remove the fuel cap and have your help poke the nozzle into the fuel tank neck and wrap a rag around the nozzle to help seal the light air pressure in and to help keep the fuel from blowing back.then do as dd said and crank the engine over.The air will force the fuel thru the fuel rail to the injectors and while you crank it will self bleed.I have used this process on fire engines and other over the road larger diesels that have completely run out of fuel..............looks good works fine last long time.

[BUF]

I'm not a mechanic, but sometimes running low/out of fuel can suck trash from the tank and clog inline filters. My Zetor tractor has a fuel bowl with a mesh net similar to the old gas engine tractors. I crack the fuel line at the injector as I'm rolling the starter till diesel starts coming out, then move to next injector and repeat.

And I use WD40 rather than ether if needed. Hope that helps.

[Thunder]

Kubotas do not like ether, breaks piston ring lands. loss of compression will lead to hard/non starting.

[Doc1]

Kubotas do not like ether, breaks piston ring lands. loss of compression will lead to hard/non starting.

Thunder,

Which is why I said "in the most sparingly, tiny amounts." Some diesels handle ether better than others, but it can be a threat to even the most robust designs. In our current stable, the Ford 6.9 and the old Mercedes are pretty good with ether; the Isuzus much less so.

As with many other tools,the correct use is the key...or as toxicologists might say, the dose makes the poison.

Best regards
Doc

[screamedat2much]

Air in the fuel line, definitely. Bleed the injectors, most likely a bleeder after them in the line....should cure you problem. Ether? Saw a guy dump a whole can of ether in a Mack once, and yes, it started, the RPM got so high it spit the rods through the block, put a piston through the head. Sure was exciting....from a distance.

[screamedat2much]

Duh. Meant to say bleed the line AFTER the pump, some pumps have a bleeder on the housing (looks like a brake line bleeder) after the pump and before the injectors. Maybe best to pull the injectors out first, let them dry out to get rid of the ether.

[dreadstalker]

another vote for air in the lines.

and another devotee of WD-40 instead of ether. ( about the only time I use ether is for the occasionl hard to seat tire.)