750 Massey fuel problems Day 2

Left work at 11 and came home and checked fuel at the tank, runs out good, not there. Took lines loose from the primary pump and checked the fittings, looked good. Took the pump and check valve off, and drove to MF dealer ( 40 miles ) and had them look at it. Pump and fittings were all good, said it had to be in the line from tank to pump. They didn't have a new fuel line, so I stopped at Napa and got 16 foot of new fuel line and came home, took old line off, went back to the shop and ground off the pressed ends and then went back to the combine and put on the new line and hose clamped it tight. Bleed the lines, and it started and ran good. Finished filling hopper and came to the house and emptied it and went back to the field and cut about 4 rounds and it died again. Tried to bleed lines and got all air. Cracked the line from pump to filters and was geting fuel. Tightened every fitting on it again since it was hot and was able to tighten all of them a little bit. Bleed the lines again and got fuel and got it running. Came home and unloaded what I had in the hopper and quit for the night. Supposed to rain tonight or tomorrow, and I didn't want to get caught dead in the field in the dark again. I'll come home from work tomorrow and try to start it, if it starts, I think it's fixed, if not? Chris

We put an electric transfer pump to alleviate that situation on our 760. It is possible there is something in the tank blocking off the line.

Hmmm,I think,now I say think,you still have a problem maybe.Since you changed the line and it did it again.If you turned the fittings just a little its doubtful that was the problem.I dont know what your pump looks like or your lines.Whenever I found a problem with a fitting loose it was loose most always.Metal lines can crack right in a flare if you have a flared fitting and its hard to see that since its under the nut.One good thing is to look at the whole system and see if any dust is sticking to a line or fitting,that might give you a clue where the problem is.Filters,if they are spin on can suck air around the gasket,and sometimes you can even get a bad filter.I have seen housings crack right where a fitting screws in,and lines plug up.Stuff like rubber lines last a long time,but can break down inside and cause a problem like that,and you cant usually tell by looking at the outside of a line like that.It could be stuff in the tank,but you changed that screen.I would look real close for a leak,it wouldnt take much on the suction side.If nothing there,rubber lines next if you didnt replace all of them when you put the new one on,then filters,probably pull the screen in the tank just to see what it looks like again.I also think I might consider putting that electric fuel pump on there too.Even if I just hooked it up temporarily until I saw if it would fix it or not.The new fuel line could have fixed it too.

check all elbows with a wire for rubber bands and old plastic that was in the tank one rubber band stopped us for many days years ago they swell up big time but shrink when cooled

I have a Massey 550 with the 354 Perkins. Combine might start and run 30 minutes just fine and quit. Let is sit for 5 minutes and it might start and run 3 minutes. I worked a day or two before I found the problem. I even had put a new fuel transfer pump on the back of the engine.

Anyway, after 24 hours of not running I was working on it at night. I had just put a new fuel pump on and was connecting the line to the fuel pump. There is a check valve on the fuel line which hooks to the fuel pump. By chance I looked into the fuel line check valve. The steel ball didn't shine like metal should have. I tapped it on the combine and a big wad of soybean chaff came out. End of problem.

Here is what happened. A bunch of soybean chaff and dust had blew through the fuel tank screen filter. Yes, the screen was pulled down into the sediment bulb. Eventually the wad of soybean chaff would work its way up to the ball in the check valve and plug the hole. The wad was too big to pass through. Sort of like a calf being born breech. After the engine died and some time had passed the wad would float away from the check valve (downward) and the engine would start. Eventually when the engine was started it would be sucked upward again against the check valve and the engine would quit. Once the fuel line was clean the engine ran normal. The problem was the check valve hid the chaff blockage. Goodluck.

When I worked for Massey we had an 1135 tractor that would run a while then die, after some time we finally found a dead spider lodged in the valves of the lift pump.

I would place a $5 bet that you have a fuel restricton near the tank inlet/ fuel tap. I had a International B250 that came in here 3 days ago did the same thing. It was sucking so hard it created a vacuum and was sucking air from the top of the fuel level. Kinda like pulling the plug on a sink full of water...remember the little tornado it would make?