Tractor Repair: tractor hard to start, clear plastic tubing, banjo fittings
Questioni have a 5500 landini 1984 tractor with a Perkins 3 cyl. diesel 48 hp. and it is hard to start, when not used every day. sometime plug it in for a day, but doesn't always start. run on either but when you stop spraying it stops. change filters, lots of cranking power.
AnswerHello,
I am not an expert on European tractors, but this can be a common problem with any brand.
When it's not used every day, the fuel is slowly bleeding back from the injection pump to the fuel tank. There is probably a small air leak in a fuel line or fitting that is allowing the fuel to drain back. This may or may not allow fuel to leak out, but will still allow air to leak in. When everything is air tight, the fuel can't drain back. Check any rubber fuel hoses between the tank and the injection pump for cracking. The rubber tends to crack with age. Even a 2 year old tractor sometimes needs the fuel hoses replaced. If it has steel lines instead of hoses, check all the fittings for tightness, and replace any sealing washers on banjo fittings. Replace rubber sleeves on compression fittings. Check if the lines have rubbed against something and have worn a small hole in the lines. If it has a spin-on fuel filter, make sure the sealing ring is in perfect condition and not pinched in any way, and if the filter head has check valves in it, that they are working OK. Don't forget the return lines from the injectors and pump also. If it has a mechanical lift pump, check that also. If it has an electric lift pump, make sure it runs when the key switch is turned on. This can be a difficult problem to find sometimes, and on really difficult ones, I have put a piece of clear plastic tubing on in place of the fuel lines. Then you can see where there are air bubbles developing in the system, how fast the fuel drains back with the engine stopped, and how fast it pumps fuel back up when you try to start it.
Good luck,
Arnie
