M8540 3 pt and one other issue

[duck]

The tractor is an M8540D 4x4 bought new and has 199hrs on it now, its been a good tractor but lately I think mine has become haunted also.

Firstly, I've had problems with the tractor losing rpm after about an 1 hour of use. I've changed the filter, blown the lines out, cleaned the cap, and have good fuel volume at the injector pump. At this point I suspect the injectors but am not sure if I want to tackle that just yet?? got any ideas what might cause this to happen other than fuel issues. to me the tractor act like it starving for fuel. doesn't matter if its under a pto load or not.

issue#2
I went out to give it another try bush hogging this morning and now the three point wont work?? the auxilary that operates the up/down bush hog rear end works but not the tractors 3pt.

I had another auxiliary block added a couple weeks ago to operate the multiple angles for a straight blade attachment,...would that have anything to do with it?

I will post the results...thanks

 

[duck]

Well the 3 pt problem was dumb...knob behind the seat got turned almost completely closed.



However, the fuel or rpm/power loss issue continues. After about 30 minutes the thing bogs down but does not quit. With the tractor shut off, I pulled the line between the filter and water separator and just a little fuel came out of the hose but I 'm pretty sure I heard a vacuum sound. While turning the motor over and the line still disconnected there seemed to be plenty of fuel pumping out from the tank side.

After hooking the line back I started the motor and bled the injectors. The motor smoothed out and idle fine and also revved up. Does this sound like its sucking air somehow?

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Daren Todd]

Well the 3 pt problem was dumb...knob behind the seat got turned almost completely closed.



However, the fuel or rpm/power loss issue continues. After about 30 minutes the thing bogs down but does not quit. With the tractor shut off, I pulled the line between the filter and water separator and just a little fuel came out of the hose but I 'm pretty sure I heard a vacuum sound. While turning the motor over and the line still disconnected there seemed to be plenty of fuel pumping out from the tank side.

After hooking the line back I started the motor and bled the injectors. The motor smoothed out and idle fine and also revved up. Does this sound like its sucking air somehow?

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

A few folks have posted about having similar symptoms. Ended up being the vent in the fuel cap was clogged.

 

[duck]

thanks Daren, I have cleaned the cap and read through a lot of the archives here the last several nights looking for something that might help. I haven't drained the tank or removed and clean the injector lines yet, not something I 've ever done before...

for what its worth, "Goss" the outfit I bought the tractor from is long gone...out of busines

 

[Bulldog]

Have you checked the vent lines for the fuel tanks? Might be worth looking at.

Goss Tractor, I think they priced themselves out of business after they built their new location. They sure were alot better to deal with when they were out in the woods at the old store. Have you ever talked with the guys at Mason Tractor at Blue Ridge? They have always been good to me.

 

[duck]

to be honest BullDog I don't know where the vent lines are.....


Actually, I was blown away when I heard they went out of business. I thought it a sign of the times....crap economy

 

[Bulldog]

I know yours is a different beast but on my 9000 the vent lines are off either side of the hood support framing. One line off each side and they hang down just below the frame. My experience, dirt dobbers just love to plug them up. I make it a point to check mine and sometimes have to run a piece of wire in them to break the crap loose. At least once or twice a year this happens.

 

[duck]

thanks again Bulldog.
I'll look it over in the morning. I know what you mean about the mud dobbers, I keep the tractor under a leantoo.....that could be it!

 

[Tx Jim]

Check to be sure the fuel return line from inj pump to fuel tank is not plugged or there's a bad check valve.

 

[duck]

Well I crawled around and found what I believe is the return vent, traced it back to a port on the side of the air filter housing. There are little inline 1/4" filters with check valves, one at the filter, and one tees off to the right side of the injector pump. If this is in fact the return, then its a closed system and mud dobbers are out.



I've been getting filters and stuff from James Short Equipment, they're now a Kubota Dealer. They don't have a service truck and would have to have the dractor delivered to their shop about 10 miles from here. They seemed to think its an injector pump and that it would cost around $4,200 bucks to fix it, plus the hauling. Did I mention this tractor has only 200 hours on it...



There might be just one other thing that's a possibility. The fuel level in the water separator is chaotic, either full or half full and sometimes bubbly when running. Is that normal? I was thinking of bypassing the separator and see if that works.



again...anyone reading this that can shed some light on this problem would be great.

I know this seems to be sort of a common problem based on the archives here, but a bit strange how folks don't follow up on the result whether they worked or not.



Tx...sorry, I just read your post and I did in fact remove and blow out both check valve/filter. Thanks!

 

[Tx Jim]

hose on filler neck is called breather which I'll bet is supposed to be open unattached on one end

 

[duck]

Thanks Tx for thinking about this. My cap looks like its vented from the hole molded into the cap. Here are some photos.
Do you think the water separator should be at one level all the time or is it supposed to fluctuate?



thanks..

 

[Tx Jim]

I think water seperater should stay full of fuel. Several yrs back I owned a M4900 I bought used and it would act as if it was running out of fuel. Fuel level in bowl fluctuated. Local Kubota service manager told me to check for a plugged tiny screen in fuel cut off valve. Sure enough it was plugged. I cleaned screen then engine ran fine until I traded it for my M7040

 

[duck]

Ill check it out..and let you know

thanx again

 

[duck]

okay, so after having thought the 3 pt hydraulic failure was corrected I went out to work on the water separator only to find the 3pt dead again.



long story short,,,I removed the bush hog so I could carry it up to the dealer, but had a hard time removing the pto drive shaft. Here's the deal. last time I hooked the BH up I spaced the arms as far out as I could to get the best leverage/stability, but this shortened the distance from the pto drive to the BH. When raising the BH all the way up it, it put the drive in a bind that wouldn't allow the implement to lower. In other words the drive was too long for this set up and happened to be just long enough to pass center and wedge the 3 pt in the up position....you know what they say...YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID!!! I cut a couple inches off the shaft so it won't happen again.



tomorrow I'll try the water separator deal...........

 

[Magee Farms]

Hey Man, I am having the same fuel related problem with my 8540...did you ever get it fixed?...if so,what was the problem?

Thanks

 

[duck]

I’ve done everything but the tank cleaning. Today I bush hogged for about 2 hrs with no problem. a couple weeks ago I changed the filter again and ran the tractor for about 30 minutes before it started acting up. If I continued running the tractor the time interval before failure shortened.
While cleaning the water separator filter and reinstalling the cartridge and canister I believe I have fractured the cheesy pot metal casting the thing is made of and have caused it to suck air. Like I said, today 2 hours with no problems. Maybe its a little early to claim a victory but this thing was crashing after 15 minutes with a brand new filter. I simply bypassed the separator.

I think I over tightened and cracked the housing and the warmer the tractor gets the more the crack opens up and sucks even more air.

Hope I’m right about this, cuz I’m damn sick of worrying about it.

 

[Magee Farms]

Hello,
Sounds like I am the same problem with my 8540...did you ever get yours fixed?

 

[duck]

Hello,
Sounds like I am the same problem with my 8540...did you ever get yours fixed?

I think so. I haven’t had time to play with the old water separator/filter to confirm if it was a cracked housing or not. There is a check valve inside the housing too that could've been screwin up causing the fuel starving problem….donno.

its running