Towing & Fuel Pump

RickW

Member
Last night the RTV just up and died with no warning. Luckily I was only 50' from the shop and on pavement. I was able to push the RTV to the shop door but not over the threshold by myself. But it got me thinking about towing. If I had been on the other end of the property and this happened, would/could I damage the transmission in the RTV if I had to drag it back to the shop with the tractor for a distance?

As for why the RTV died and will not restart, it appears to be the fuel pump from the limited diagnostics I have been able to do so far. When I crank on it, it appears to be a fuel starvation issue/lack of fuel that is keep the RTV from firing up. Fuel tank is full. Same fuel as in tractor and no problems with tractor and have burned more of this batch of fuel thru the tractor. Fuel filter bowl is full and not cloudy. Filter is clean and only has 5~7 hours on it. Of course it was getting dark, the ground was wet, so I opted not to crawl under the RTV last night. Of course it started raining before dawn this morning. My assistant helped me push the RTV in the shop this morning. Will let it dry out/off and finish diagnostics this evening. Question: how hard is it to get to the fuel pump? Assuming it is on the bottom/front of the motor. So will have to drop the skid plates for access.

I have read the "sticky" fuel pump thread (after I was already leaning towards this being a fuel pump issue). I ordered a low pressure fuel pump off Amazon just to be safe. My Kubota dealer is an hour away each direction. So if further diagnostics still points toward fuel pump I will have it on the way. If not send it back.

So insight on towing (for future reference) and fuel pump access is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
--Rick
 

Alaskanassasin

Senior Member
Site Supporter
There should be a bypass valve somewhere on the pump to release pressure and allow freewheeling. Luckily I haven’t had to locate mine yet.
 

bordercollie

Gold Site Supporter
Gold Site Supporter
What did it do when you turned the key and attempted to start, after it went dead? what kind of Noises?
 
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bordercollie

Gold Site Supporter
Gold Site Supporter
Before I went to a lot of expense, if it were me, I'd make sure nothing was blocking the fuel flow in/from the tank. We had a pebble somehow get in the trackhoe fuel tank and it did shut off the fuel just as well as a plug would have.
 

Westfield

Active member
There should be a bypass valve somewhere on the pump to release pressure and allow freewheeling. Luckily I haven’t had to locate mine yet.

Sorry for butting in on somebody else's post, I am trying to learn as much as I possible about these machines. How come you just can't put it in neutral when towing? Will the pressure in the hydraulic pump not release when the machine is turned off? I Googled how to relieve the pressure in a hydraulic pump, it looks a little more complicated than just pressing a relief switch. So I just want to understand this little more, if you are driving and the Machine would just shut off without you turning the key does this mean everything would be locked up and you wouldn't be able to put it in neutral?
 

aurthuritis

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Sorry for butting in on somebody else's post, I am trying to learn as much as I possible about these machines. How come you just can't put it in neutral when towing? Will the pressure in the hydraulic pump not release when the machine is turned off? I Googled how to relieve the pressure in a hydraulic pump, it looks a little more complicated than just pressing a relief switch. So I just want to understand this little more, if you are driving and the Machine would just shut off without you turning the key does this mean everything would be locked up and you wouldn't be able to put it in neutral?

when in neutral the HST is completely disconnected and the machine will roll freely. at least it will in my 07 1100 and the X1100C. if you need to relieve the HST pressure all you need to do is press on the relief poppet.
 

Westfield

Active member
when in neutral the HST is completely disconnected and the machine will roll freely. at least it will in my 07 1100 and the X1100C. if you need to relieve the HST pressure all you need to do is press on the relief poppet.

Thanks again, you are an awfully smart! Were you a service tech for these machines? I found out the answer after reading some more on the forms.
I should not have to bother you with my questions anymore, I found this forum which is very informative.
RTV HST Adjustments



Third Gen.. has a plunger(poppet) on the bottom right of the valve plate, hooked to brake linkage, which relieves residual pressures to ease shifting.
 

RickW

Member
Sorry for the delayed response. Work, life and everything else got this repair project pushed off until finally Saturday afternoon was able to dig/diagnose it further. It was the fuel pump as I suspected. First I pulled off the hose on the output side of the pump. Pumped the hand pump several times and only a trickle came out. I then placed a wad of shop towels at the output side of the pump and cranked the key. Again barley pumped any fuel into the shop towels.

When I disconnected the input fuel line to the pump and pulled it back down thru the frame fuel ran freely. So no reason to suspect a blockage in the fuel line at that point. So I then decided to hook up the electric fuel pump I purchased on Amazon real quickly and see if that solved the problem. Couple of jumper wires over to the battery, the pump came alive. Turned the ignition key to start and the RTV roared back to life.

Took longer to find a location to mount the electric pump and run the wiring correctly than to actually isolate the problem to confirm it was the pump. Now if I was trying to replace the factory pump then it would have been a different story. Just getting my hand in there to move the hand pump was some work.
 

Alaskanassasin

Senior Member
Site Supporter
when in neutral the HST is completely disconnected and the machine will roll freely. at least it will in my 07 1100 and the X1100C. if you need to relieve the HST pressure all you need to do is press on the relief poppet.

Haha not sure why I over complicated that! Thanks for clarifying
 

FTG-05

Active member
Sorry for the delayed response. Work, life and everything else got this repair project pushed off until finally Saturday afternoon was able to dig/diagnose it further. It was the fuel pump as I suspected. First I pulled off the hose on the output side of the pump. Pumped the hand pump several times and only a trickle came out. I then placed a wad of shop towels at the output side of the pump and cranked the key. Again barley pumped any fuel into the shop towels.

When I disconnected the input fuel line to the pump and pulled it back down thru the frame fuel ran freely. So no reason to suspect a blockage in the fuel line at that point. So I then decided to hook up the electric fuel pump I purchased on Amazon real quickly and see if that solved the problem. Couple of jumper wires over to the battery, the pump came alive. Turned the ignition key to start and the RTV roared back to life.

Took longer to find a location to mount the electric pump and run the wiring correctly than to actually isolate the problem to confirm it was the pump. Now if I was trying to replace the factory pump then it would have been a different story. Just getting my hand in there to move the hand pump was some work.
For those of you who did this, I'm still not clear on how the new Electric Pump is connected fuel-wise:

Fuel Tank >> Fuel Filter >> EP Inlet >> OEM Pump Inlet? >> OEM Pump Outlet >> Injectors?

-or-

Fuel Tank >> Fuel Filter >> EP Inlet >> Injectors

I'm looking at this Messicks diagram for the mechanical OEM pump: https://www.messicks.com/ku/86220?sectionId=228111&diagramId=448785

And the fuel pipe diagram located here: https://www.messicks.com/ku/86220?sectionId=228112&diagramId=448802

Also, for the electric fuel pump, should the filter go before or after the pump?

I'm a visual guy, I do better with pictures and diagrams.

Thanks!
 
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