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GT235 Not Getting Any Fuel!!

6179 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  inspectorudy, 
T
Good morning all! My JD is sick.... for some reason or another, it is not getting any fuel, and yes, the tank is full. You can see the filter is empty, and when you turn over the motor you can see the filter itself pulse, so I dont think it is a pump issue. Something is just in the way of the fuel making it from the tank. Any thoughts? The way the tank is situated in the frame, it is very hard to see where the fuel line even connects to it. If there is any tricks or known issues with this, that would be great info! I am really hoping I dont have to deconstruct a whole bunch of things to get at the tank......

Also, while I was fiddling with this fuel problem, I noticed that the transmission has a small leak towards the front of the tractor.... I cannot tell where exactly it is coming from, so if anyone has insight as to possible culprits to that as well, even better!

Thanks everyone!
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KATT
Well first I would disconnect the fuel line @ the filter and use my compressor to blow back the like and listen for the bubble in the tank.

I still don't think the fuel pump is off the hook, since lately, they have been the guilty party this year.

Does it run on a quick squirt of starter fluid ??
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Tom-machinery-idiot
Remove the inlet-side hose from the filter and fit a loose length of hose and a clamp to it. Drop the end of that hose into a coffee can half filled with fuel and crank the engine. See what happens.
Sometimes those pumps get weak and fail to pump at cranking speed, but will work well enough with the engine running. You can test for that by priming the engine. Like KATT said, starting fluid is good. We have a Dollar Store near my house. They sell a plastic Catsup/Mustard bottle set for a buck. I use one bottle for brake fluid to bleed brakes and the other for gasoline to prime engines.(or steal one from the kitchen)
If it pumps with just the hose but not from the tank you've got a clog or pickup problem.
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T
KATT said:
Well first I would disconnect the fuel line @ the filter and use my compressor to blow back the like and listen for the bubble in the tank.
Click to expand...
Brilliant idea, would not have thought to try that before attempting to get at the tank itself. I will give that a go and see what happens, and also see if I can get the pump to suck up fuel from a can.

As far as the other questions, I do not have any starting fluid, so cannot say yes to that, but I am pretty sure it would. The tractor did start and run for a min or so before it died on me, which led me to this problem.
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KATT
Since you don't have any starter fluid ( couple of bucks @ Wally World or parts store ) leads me to believe you have never used it. …DANGER..Know what you are doing.
First it's not too good for the engine, so a couple of light squirts into the carb, will tell you what you need to know. Sometimes it's best if someone else is cranking the engine.
It will fire right up and either die after the fluid is gone OR keep running helping the pump to prime. A couple of tries is OK but DON'T keep using it to run the motor.
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P
Also just because you see the fuel pump pulsating doesn't mean that the pump is good. I had one like that once and the rubber diaphragms inside the pump got too brittle to move the fuel.
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T
Paul7 said:
Also just because you see the fuel pump pulsating doesn't mean that the pump is good. I had one like that once and the rubber diaphragms inside the pump got too brittle to move the fuel.
Click to expand...
10-4, thanks for the info. I will test out these suggestions and report back when I can.
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T
So I tried the idea of pulling the fuel line off the filter and blowing air back into the tank. When I did, I heard the bubbles, and fuel started flowing back out of the line. I hooked everything back up, and the tractor ran!

So seems to be fixed for now, but how much fuel should you see in the filter? For me, there is only a tiny little bit at the bottom, so little in fact that I am surprised that I was able to mow the yard. But if it works, it works, right?
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inspectorudy
There is only a trickle at the bottom of the filter and it never fills up as one would imagine. It sounds like you had an accumulation of debris in the tank at the fuel line port that was dislodged by the squirt of air. If that is the case then it will come back. At that point taking the tank out may be the only option you have. JD made fuel tanks hard to get to on the newer models not like the old ones where there was only four bolts to remove the rear fender pan without removing the wheels. I just had to remove the center section on my 455 to get at the height adjustment and it was an hour to get to all the little screws on it that attached to the rear fender. I have a FEL with rear wheel weights on it so that made it a lot harder since I did not want to take the weights off to remove the wheels.
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