[braun21]

I have a Nortrac 35xt model te354. The tractor starts and runs great. After about 20-30 minutes of cutting grass/weeds, it starts to loose power and will die. After sitting a little while (aprox. 10 minutes) and some cranking, it will start and run fine 20 to 30 yards and die again. If we mess with the hand pump and try to bleed air out of the fuel, it will sometimes start faster and then run a little bit longer. It seems as if it is getting air in the fuel (not 100% but the tractor is 3 hours away and trying to get an idea what may be the issue). Just wondering if anyone has had a similar issue or some pointers where to start.

Thank you!

 

[pogobill]

Welcome to the forum. Certainly sounds like a fuel starvation issue, air or otherwise. Try firing it up with the fuel cap loose to see if you have a venting issue. If no success, check for obstructions in filter screens and make sure fuel line connections are tight. When was the fuel filter last changed?

 

[braun21]

Welcome to the forum. Certainly sounds like a fuel starvation issue, air or otherwise. Try firing it up with the fuel cap loose to see if you have a venting issue. If no success, check for obstructions in filter screens and make sure fuel line connections are tight. When was the fuel filter last changed?

The fuel filter is new and tried loosening the gas cap and still wouldn't start.

My dad ran it the other day and here is a sequence of events. He started it up and drove to the field and mowed with the pto rough cut for 16 minutes ( was about a half hour total run time). It ran great for that 30 minutes. It started to loose power and died. He tried to restart and it wouldn't fire. After about 20 minutes it started and he mowed for another 5 minutes and it sputtered and died again. It then wouldn't restart again for another 20 minutes or so. I took him almost an hour to go back to the yard because it would die and take 20 minutes to fire up again. Now I am an Assistant Mananger/Service Adviser at an auto repair shop and it seems to me something is getting hot and after getting cooled down some it refires. Not sure if its possible for the fuel injection pump to have that issue??

 

[braun21]

 

[pogobill]

I don't know.... Maybe the fuel shutoff solenoid?
Did this happen after you changed the fuel filter? Or did you change the filter because of your issue?

 

[thepumpguysc]

Have u tried using the hand primer to get it started.?? It’s the gizmo between the inlet and outlet lines in your pic.
Simply push it down.. several times..it has its own return spring.
If it’s air bound, u will have to loosen the lines AT THE INJECTORS inorder to bleed all the air outta the pump..
The problem sounds like u have a floater in the fuel tank..
U can also check the banjo bolt below the hand primer... it might have a filter screen in the bolt itself..?
Good luck

 

[Ray Moran]

Have u tried using the hand primer to get it started.?? It’s the gizmo between the inlet and outlet lines in your pic.
Simply push it down.. several times..it has its own return spring.
If it’s air bound, u will have to loosen the lines AT THE INJECTORS inorder to bleed all the air outta the pump..
The problem sounds like u have a floater in the fuel tank..
U can also check the banjo bolt below the hand primer... it might have a filter screen in the bolt itself..?
Good luck

I changed my fuel filter today on this type of tractor and I couldn't figure out why it wasn't priming I did everything until I read this I want to thank you

 

[braun21]

Have u tried using the hand primer to get it started.?? It’s the gizmo between the inlet and outlet lines in your pic.
Simply push it down.. several times..it has its own return spring.
If it’s air bound, u will have to loosen the lines AT THE INJECTORS inorder to bleed all the air outta the pump..
The problem sounds like u have a floater in the fuel tank..
U can also check the banjo bolt below the hand primer... it might have a filter screen in the bolt itself..?
Good luck

Thank you everyone for your help! I finally got up there this weekend and looked at the tractor. That banjo bolt below the hand pump had a filter screen in it that was pretty much plugged solid. I am not sure how it even ran. I got that cleaned out and ran it for over 3 hours straight without any problems. Thank you again for all your help!