The snow blower ran great yesterday, however this morning it ran for about 1 min before it stalled. It restarted immediately and ran for about 20 seconds then stalled. Now it will not start.
The 40hp Yanmar diesel cranks over fine. Plenty of fuel in the tank.
This engine has never given trouble before, it always runs. Unfortunately the snowblower is outside and cannot be moved into the warmer garage. Should I just say berkeley it or is there some magical trick I could try. Diesel engines confuse me.
Water in fuel? Dead injector pump?
How do I get the water out of the fuel?
fujioko wrote:
How do I get the water out of the fuel?
New filters and draining the tank.
With diesels you have to have fuel, heat, compression to make them work. With what you are describing is a fuel side problem. If you have never changed the filter, that's #1. Then if the bowl is full, it's beyond that, if empty, it's before....
And if you changed the fuel filter be sure you didn't get air on the line. I once operated a Kubota tractor and it had beig warnings about this. I changed the filter a couple of times and never had any issues with it, but apparently it's more of a problem than I understood.
Welp, the filters ain't never been changed. It's to cold to berkeley with it right now.
If it gets warmer someday, what are the chances that it will start?
Have you been using a fuel additive? That stuff jells in the cold, you know, especially summer mix diesel. You might try a bottle of Diesel winter fuel additive and de-water-ifier.
Seems the only time I put fuel in this monster is in the winter. Right now its running a mix of last years fuel and fresh fuel.
Anyway the sun is shining and I'm bored.... so I'm using a heat gun to warm up the fuel filters.
Is warming up the filters with a heat gun a good idea or am I just wasting my time?
I'll grab some fuel additive when I go into town latter.
NOHOME
UltraDork
2/2/15 1:28 p.m.
Diesel fuel can be a bitch since it is seasonal and does not like to be stored. As any sailboat owner will tell you, E36 M3 actually grow in the stuff.
Oh boy, this is a huge learning curve. re-prime? I guess I need to find the manual or see if the internet has some info on the engine. As I recall this snow blower is from the late 70's. It used to be a lawn mower/snow blower for a golf course or something like that.
At one point I did have a manual and I recall seeing that it was a 40HP Yanmar engine.
I'm just rambling. I guess I go out and berkeley with it some more.
My experience is with mechanical injected MB Diesels. Those have a priming pump built into the injection pump. I don't know about others, but I imagine they all have some way to remove air from the line. Look at the manual and see what it says about how to change a fuel filter. If it needs priming, it would be included in the destructions for that.
jstand
Reader
2/2/15 2:28 p.m.
Many times you can bleed air out of the lines on a diesel with a mechanical pump by loosening the lines at the injectors and cranking until fuel leaks out at the injectors.
Does the travel pedal (for forrward/rear) travel sit on the right side of that machine?
I had one at work that looks surprisingly the same and the neutral safety switch got "sticky" I first jumped it with a 2 plug wire. its in a bugger of a spot, on youre back in between the front and rear tires. Look up, try jumping it and see what happens
Cheap fuel fix. Kerosene.
You are having the same symptoms I had with my diesel generator a couple of years ago. I would also check and see if you have algae growing in the tank. Like was said above, diesel grows E36 M3. It will have black crap floating in the tank if it does.
If so, flush the tank and lines, replace the filters, fill with fresh fuel and add an algaecide. Bleed the fuel system and it should fire right up.
Disconect the fuel line from the injector pump. Run a line to a fresh clean gallon of diesel out of a jug.
You might have to crack the lines to get the air out of the injectors.
If it starts you will know what the problem is.
DO NOT USE STARTING FLUID ON A YANMAR!!!! IT WILL NOT END WELL.
What about letting it wheese some WD40?
In reply to warpedredneck
All the safety switches are MIA. 
Just for giggles I poked around the engine and noticed that this thing doesn't appear to have glow plugs. WTF?. Apparently it uses an electric intake air warmer. The switch for the warmer has been broken for years ... so I guess I have been lucky that this thing has always started.
So I figured what the heck, and took the intake tube off and jammed the heat gun down into the manifold.
My buddy cranked over the starter and the engine coughed back to life! It ran for about 15 seconds and stalled. At this point I applied some more heat to the fuel filters and a shot of hot air into the manifold.. after a few attempts the engine continued to stay running!
So...I guess that is now going the be the starting procedure until The filters get sorted out.
A bottle of winter fuel stabelizer/un-jeller will go a long way to making your snow blowing easier.
I question the wisdom of using a Diesel engine in a snow blower. Oh, also, the MB manual said that if you couldn't get winter Diesel, you could mix in gasoline at a ratio of 1:10. It wouldn't provide the same performance, but it would get you by.
There's a waxy component to summer fuel that collects in the filter when it is too cold. It's not worth the work to try and get it warm enough to get it back into solution.
New filter, filled with winter diesel additive, then pump the hand priming pump until it's up to pressure. Add the rest of the bottle of additive to the tank and give it a try. Usually that is what it takes with my tractor if summer fuel stays in too long.
Dr. Hess wrote:
I question the wisdom of using a Diesel engine in a snow blower.
I agree, seems masochistic in a way.
Anyway, the engine is running great now and I just got done cutting a path to the main road. I scored a slice of apple pie, some upsidedown cake and some hot coco from the neighbors.
Sounds like summer blend fuel. My limited experience with Yanmar diesels is that you really just have to keep the valves set, and oil full and fairly fresh, the fuel filters clean, and it will be more or less indestructible.
