Fuel Delivery Problem (314 GT)

[01STrunner 3]

I've been having a fuel delivery problem. I used the tractor to mow a few weekends ago and parked it while I finished with a weedeater. Went to put it back in the shed and after ~15s it sputtered and died. No restart.

 

After digging into it I could get gas out of the fuel line from the tank (once I pulled it all the way back through the tractor so that it was lower than the outlet). However no gas was in the line leading from the pump to the carb. Fuel bowl in the carb was still full but after emptying hasn't filled back up. 

 

Flash gorward to today and i installed a replacement pump. Same issue as before. No fuel north of the pump. I pulled it out and could see the fresh mark from the cam hitting the pump lever. 

 

So now I'm kinda stumped at this point. Any insight from the group? 

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 10,478]

Do you have new fuel hose on it now? If the hose is hard they won't seal on the nipples good enough to stop air from being drawn into the hose at the connection. These pumps don't draw enough to overcome the air - the bubbles just get bigger. Even the biggest and best pumps in the world struggle if air can enter the suction side. You could try pressurizing the tank a bit as you are cranking. Your lungs should be enough to force it through.

 

Garry

[953 nut 51,499]

    Have you considered going to an electric fuel pump? Your tank and pump are about the same height so filling the tank to the top could help. Also, you should use non-ethanol gas, the ethanol can crap up the fuel system.

[01STrunner 3]

Thanks guys. I've thought about going electric but I like the simplicity of the mechanical pump. Heck the last one lasted 25 years. I replaced the fuel line from pump to carb but not tank to pump. I just got more tonight to try replacing the section between the tank and the pump tomorrow. 

 

The tank is about 2/3 full and has non ethanol in it. This tractor rarely sees anything other than that. 

[01STrunner 3]

After not working on it for about a week, I finally went back to it. I cleaned the carb and made sure I was getting fuel through the pump by manually pumping it. Mounted it on the tractor and the pump doesn't pull as much as when I manually pump it. Almost seems like the cam it follows needs to be bigger to push the lever through it full motion. For the heck of it I connected everything and tried to fire it up. It fired up almost immediately and I had it idling the whole time I was picking things up. Not going to lie, I was pretty excited to have my tractor back at this point.

 

Went to move the tractor and it seemed to move really slow, almost as if I was in Low range. I put it in low range and it went even slower. About 5 min of driving and it started sputtering and died again... Turns out no fuel coming from the pump again argh...

 

My thought is to listen to the pros (you guys) and go ahead and try an electric pump. From everything happening, does that sound like a logical step, or am I looking at something else besides a fuel pump? The screen in the tank is clean and like I said if I manually pump it, fuel comes out as it should.

 

Thanks, Patrick