Some time ago, my son came over and helped me to figure out how to change the fuel filter. It was a struggle, but we finally did it. After changing it, the tractor would start, but it kept stalling. I asked at the Tractor repair shop and I was told that it probably had air in the line and that I should drain the fuel. I tried it and it worked.
In 2018, I had a year with heavy snow, I couldn’t use my tractor because the battery was dead. When it melted, my son came to help me put in a new battery. It started up perfectly, and then it stalled. My son had to leave and I was left to think about what was wrong with my tractor. A week later, when I had a day off, I thought to check the fuel filter and that is when I found it full of thickened diesel. I found out that this is called gelling. I drained it a couple of times and it didn’t stall anymore. It had been a while since I had changed the fuel filter, so I was not sure how to take the fuel filter off. I did finally figure it out and had to drain it out one more time this year before today’s video, so I am becoming quite the expert.
When I arrived at the tractor on March 23, 2020, I was hoping that I would be able to start it up and get to work. I had had some freezing nights, so I wasn’t so sure that I would get away without having to do it. When I started it, it didn’t sound quite right and sure enough, it stalled when I put it in gear. If only I had gotten the additive that a friend told me would prevent the gelling. You can watch the video so see what the tractor does and how the engine sounds.
It is very important to learn simple tractor maintenance. If something goes wrong, read the manual or call the tractor shop to ask questions. Even search out YouTube videos. Unless you have a trailer to haul it to a mechanic, you will have to rent one. Then there is the cost of repairs. I can’t imagine paying for something this simple to fix.
I have gotten engines to go by heating the fuel filter with a blow torch. I do not recommend this for the average person but if you can power up a hair dryer you could then heat the fuel lines, fuel injection pp and the filter. This should get you running. Then add some kerosene to your fuel to resist gelling. The amount of kerosene added would depend on your volume of diesel. If you use metric volumes it would be easier to figure out the ratio.
Thanks, Glenn, that is interesting to know. So you can actually make the gel melt with heat kind of like coconut oil is solid in the cold. I don’t think I would be able to use a blow drier since I don’t park my tractor near the house, but thanks for the idea. How do you keep from melting the plastic or the rubber with the blow torch?
The filters I did were metal. However that would not stop me . You just have to be very careful. You do not need the heat too close. You need to take that extra time to warm the area. Especially plastic, with a blow torch. Kind of creating a hot / warm air environment. In my case the filter was very easy to get at, so a quick more direct heat could be applied. The rubber seal between filter and the filter housing would be ok. Also you have to take precaution for a fire. Like have some water near by , or a extinguisher.. Also a bucket of dry sand would be nice if for some reason you started a fire. Of course this is not a normal procedure. It would be a emergency procedure only. Depending on the size of the fuel tank a liter or more of kerosene would help resist the gelling if you could get the system running. I know guys [ not me] who years ago had to light fires under heavy machinery way up North in extreme cold to get them going. That would be rare today. I noticed a few years ago that after leaving my ATV out over night it would not go. I suspected cold was the problem. I pushed it in my shed and applied some heat after having it sit in there for a few hours. It fired right up. This was a gas machine. Today a carberator is unusual on ATV’s so its a electric fuel injector. They seem to freeze up more often then a carb. Saw it happen back in early march on a skidoo left on a hill for a night.