Plugged fuel tank pickup? L2550 issues...

[Stinger23]

A few days ago my L2550 stayed sputtering and stalled. I restarted without issue but it was still sputtering and stalled again after about 15 seconds. I realized the fuel filter housing was draining every time it would run and once it got empty it would stall. Filter looked dirty so I removed the filter and cleaned it and the housing. Pics attached of what they looked like.

The fuel gauge doesn't work so I suspected that I'd ran out of fuel but by sticking a rod in the tank I found that there was about 4 in of fuel remaining. I filled it anyway and it only took about 4 gallons when it's apparently a 7.7 gallon tank so it was almost half full. I'm still guessing it got low enough that it sloshed some sludge from the bottom of the tank to the pick up in the tank.

I reinstalled the filter assembly and turn the fuel lever back on and it filled up and the engine started just fine. I did. The procedure for getting air out of the lines just to be sure there wasn't any air and then proceeded to use the tractor for another hour or so without issues.

Tonight I grabbed the tractor and used it for about 15 minutes before it started sputtering and stalled again. This time the filter and housing look perfectly clean, but after it sat for about 15 minutes there was only about half inch of fuel in the filter housing. So fuel is not flowing from the tank to the filter housing.

Does the fuel flow to the housing via gravity or is there some sort of pump involved?

What time does the stuff I found in the filter and housing look like diesel microbes or just general contamination from a 30-year-old tractor?

My plan was to pump the diesel out of the tank and then inspect the tank with a camera to see if I could determine whether it needed, removed and flushed or if it could be done while on the tractor.

Does anybody have a picture of the fuel pickup in the tank So I can see how far off the bottom it is and whether it's cleanable and without removing the tank?

Is there a drain on the tank? I looked but couldn't see one but visible access to the tank is limited on this tractor so I could have missed it. Thanks.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

That looks like bacteria slime, you need to treat the fuel.
You still might have crud in the tank besides the slime.

 

[Stinger23]

That looks like bacteria slime, you need to treat the fuel.
You still might have crud in the tank besides the slime.

I wondered about that after doing some googling and comparing photos of slime to what I saw in mine. Thanks for confirming.

Does the treatment break down the slime and make it flow through the fuel system or do I still need to suck out what's in there to remove the blockage and then treat it to prevent it from continuing to grow?

If i'm trying to get the fuel treatment locally, is it only sold at places like tractor supply or is it something I can find at a gas station or auto parts store?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

It will break it down and let the filter do the work.

Yes you can get biocide for diesel at any auto parts store.

 

[Stinger23]

Perfect, I'll grab some on the morning.

Do these tanks have a drain in them?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Nope no drains on these tanks.

 

[Stinger23]

Yesterday I treated the fuel and shook the tractor around to make sure it was mixed well. I tried to siphon the gunk out of the bottom of the tank but after removing about a half gallon of fuel I didn't see any contamination in it. So I gave up on that and just waited for the treatment to do its thing.

I also noticed that after sitting overnight the filter housing only had about a half inch of fuel in it. So I took the housing off and clean the filter again which didn't really result in much because it seemed pretty clean. I then tried to get fuel to run out by turning the fuel knob to on while the filter housing was removed and no fuel ran out. So I removed the hose from the filter housing that runs to the tank and no fuel came out of it either. So I blew through it backwards and the tank gurgled and then fuel came rushing out. So my suspicion that the pick up was plugged with something that's true.

After knocking whatever loose from the pick up I tried to siphon out the bottom of the tank again and still didn't get anything out. So I waited until today and then use the tractor for about a half hour and it seemed fine. Filter still looks clean so we'll see how it looks over the next few weeks.