Moloney Posted May 27 Share Posted May 27 I really wanted to love my Ih 260A but I absolutely hate it! I’ve owned it now for 5 months. Bought it for $5500. It ran great for about a week. Since then I’ve replaced the starter $350, the shutoff solenoid $200, the fuel filters $50, the ignition switch $20, the exhaust manifold $425 and the exhaust elbow $375 and all I have is a tractor that starts up, runs good for about 3 minutes, then surges and backfires and shuts down and won’t start again unless I bleed it, which I’ve done at least 20 times now. So I basically have a $7000 unusable front end loader that has caused me nothing but time and grief and nobody in my area will work on it. Can someone please tell me what would cause a tractor to run fine at startup then surge to a really high rpm and backfire multiple times then shut down? Let me guess, there can be 14,000 things that can cause this right? Sorry for the sarcasm. I’m just really frustrated. I have a 10 acre horse farm that I can’t take care of because of this ridiculous tractor! I just don’t wanna keep pouring money into it without knowing if it will fix the problem. What are some things I can try to diagnose this problem? I really need a tractor that I can use for more than 3 minutes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracksbeatwheels Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 Moloney, Intersting problem, From what I know there are indeed around 14,000 things that can cause this problem, ignition timing can be easily checked out and ruled out. Excess fuel delivery is a little more difficult but pull the plugs and see if they are wet. Have you checked compression? Does it have a governor? that can cause surging, I think the surging is fuel related. I would love to play with it if you were in my neighborhood. NW, Oregon. Let us know if you solve the problem. Hope others can pirtch in with more ideas for you. Good luck, Tracksbeatwheels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmi Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 IIRC this is diesel? wonkie brit? fuel starving and/or a leak from when you cleaned every thing dedicated (3x checked for free flow) free standing fuel supply from 2' above dedicated fully unrestricted return to can below, Have a row of cubs here swapping parts to fro,on 1 . PO put alot $$$$ into it and then parked in yard 10 yrs, even the crud carbs will run tolerable on the others,but no matter the combinations of parts, it will not run unless 1/2 -3/4 choke. 19'' vacuum at idle ,cant find any leaks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomorejohndeere Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 have you had a look see at the valvetrain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binderdan Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 That sure is disappointing. You are correct, it could be 1,000,000 things but here is what I would look at first. Are there any wet fittings, lines, or hoses on the fuel system from the tank to the injection pump? If its leaking out when sitting it could be sucking air when running. Is the shut-off valve at the tank not open all the way? This could be a restriction that the pumps are fighting to keep a steady flow of fuel. Water in fuel. If your filters have a drain petcock try draining them and see if it has water in them. Water in fuel can cause erratic engine performance and long term damage to fuel system. Governor issues. The governor is inside the injection pump and would require removal and sending it to a competent injection shop to diagnose, confirm, or repair. Electrical issue. You just had an issue with the power going to the fuel cut off. Could the connections or switch have issues causing power to cut out or short momentarily with vibrations? Causing the fuel cut-off to momentarily cut fuel, and the governor surging trying to compensate? Try putting a test light on the pump and and shake wires, see if the test light flickers or goes out. Food for thought. I hope you find it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moloney Posted May 28 Author Share Posted May 28 32 minutes ago, Binderdan said: That sure is disappointing. You are correct, it could be 1,000,000 things but here is what I would look at first. Are there any wet fittings, lines, or hoses on the fuel system from the tank to the injection pump? If its leaking out when sitting it could be sucking air when running. Is the shut-off valve at the tank not open all the way? This could be a restriction that the pumps are fighting to keep a steady flow of fuel. Water in fuel. If your filters have a drain petcock try draining them and see if it has water in them. Water in fuel can cause erratic engine performance and long term damage to fuel system. Governor issues. The governor is inside the injection pump and would require removal and sending it to a competent injection shop to diagnose, confirm, or repair. Electrical issue. You just had an issue with the power going to the fuel cut off. Could the connections or switch have issues causing power to cut out or short momentarily with vibrations? Causing the fuel cut-off to momentarily cut fuel, and the governor surging trying to compensate? Try putting a test light on the pump and and shake wires, see if the test light flickers or goes out. Food for thought. I hope you find it! Wiring is solid now. Fuel shutoff valve is wide open. I did have some water drain out of the secondary filter, the one furthest from the pump. And now that I think about it, there was a period of time that the rain cap was off the stack during heavy rains here. This could be the problem? Should I drain the tank and add all new diesel? What would be the easiest way to drain the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binderdan Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 I think if enough water got in the exhaust to cause much trouble you would have noticed by now with bigger problems. Although that's not to say there isn't some water in the oil yet, but not part of the current problem. Can't hurt to drain and refill fuel, especially if its low anyway. As I recall there is a drain plug on the tank bottom or rear side but I don't remember where. If not you can disconnect the fuel hose from fuel shutoff and gravity drain into a bucket. It wont get the bottom inch of fuel in the tank, but will get most of it. If its running good again after you bleed it every time I suspect air may be getting into the system. Did you look for leaks that might indicate it is sucking air while running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike newman Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 ....sounds like a fuel / air related issue...which can be very frustrating to track down...... ...the fact that ''it ran great for a week '' gives the clue to the problems...of possible air in the fuel system...or lack of fuel...... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pede Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 Governor weights in the injection pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawleigh99 Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 Try running it with the fuel tank cap loose to make sure that the vent isn't plugged. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Beale Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 A neighbour tells the saga of a problem like that which was caused by a beetle wing getting into the fuel line and sucking shut with fuel flow. Can you jury rig a fuel tank and test along the fuel supply line? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Hillbilly Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 We had a dozer that would do similar. It was a partially plugged fuel return line. I like Mmi's idea of running it with the fuel return line taken loose on the tank side. Put it into some container and make sure there is good flow. Also, as others have suggested, you could try rigging a small test tank for fuel to gravity flow into the fliters (or even the injector pump if the temp container is good and clean) to rule out a fuel delivery issue. If neither of these solve the problem, it could be injector pump related. But I would check other things that are easy first. Try to be patient. Rule things out one at a time. Don't let it get you down. Be methodical and you'll get it sorted out. We've all been there. And it is frustrating. And every one of those puzzles that had me stumped for a while were eventually solved. Most of the machines are still here and still running. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffrob Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 Check the fitting where the fuel line attaches to the injector pump. Often, that fitting has a gauze strainer inside which gets blocked. A real trap for the uninitiated! There might also be a gauze strainer on the inlet side of the lift pump. Your problem also reeks of the fuel system loosing its prime. Check that the o rings sealing the fuel filter canisters are sealing 100%. Also check that there’s nothing floating around in the tank that can block the outlet. Another thing, check that the vent in the tank cap isn’t blocked. Like others have said, be thorough and check everything thoroughly and logically. Make your first job checking for those gauze strainer/s. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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