955 12A stalled, fuel filter change?

I’m looking for some opinions and advice here.

So, last weekend I was working the 955 for a few hours. After a short break, I hopped on it, oil pressure and temp were perfect. About 20 minutes later, while backing up for another sweep, she idled down and stalled with no input from me :Cry:, no strange noises worth noting. By the time I looked at the gauges (including my nice new temp gauge😖mile😊, the engine was stopped, the temp was ok, but OP was down (again the engine was stopped). When I checked the oil, it was low, off the stick. It took about a gallon to get it back into the safe operating range. It turned over with the pony engine, but wouldn’t start. As it was getting late in the day, I called it quits until Monday. Monday morning, I was able to pull start it, but it seemed to sound different (could be my paranoia). I tried to work it, but it had very little power, OP and temp ok. I decided to drive to the barn to check things out, when it didn’t have enough power to turn itself around I proceeded to back it downhill to the barn, made a quarter of a turn to get it pointed downhill (driveway takes a hard left turn) and kept going. When I got to the barn, the tractor stalled as soon as I hit the slight incline by the building.😛uke:

I don’t want to sway anyone’s theories, but I’m hoping/thinking it’s the fuel filters clogged. What are the Pros thoughts?

I happened to have the filter cartridges in stock (picked them up with the temp gauge). Is it necessary to drain the filter housing? I’m thinking yes due to contamination issues, but how do you keep any crud from getting into the feed to the injection pumps. Upon reassembly, Can I pre-fill the filter housing with fresh fuel before installing the new cartridges to save on priming time & effort? This isn’t exactly like the spin on filter for the E200! I would appreciate any procedural tips & tricks.

As a side note, this machine also has had a skip of sorts, I believe it to be either a stuck exhaust valve or broken exhaust valve spring, so its not making full power already. I plan to take that on next, but I need to get the current yard project completed before I move on to that.

I can’t believe the way things come apart on this machine, it makes it a joy to work on, even though I’d rather be operating than wrenching it.

if you suspect a fuel problem, crack the injectors and open the throttle up and crank it over. This should produce fuel coming out of them. if nothing, then probably changing filters would be good.

I have a 955-12A and it has a very subtle "miss" when it is idling, my neighbour/heavy equipment mechanic said it was nothing to worry about....

i assumed that you have lots of fuel.... I know that if my pony motor doesn't have a certain level in it's gas tank, it doesn't want to start... something about the gravity feed....

good luck

rod

You mention everything but fuel pressure gauge reading....it's there for a reason. Need to get yourself some manuals and study up on them.

Yes, you can top off the housing with clean fuel to reduce cranking.
Yes, you need to clean the filter housing and will most likely find a significant amount of crud in the bottom. There is a drain plug provided on an extension just for that purpose.

Get everything cleaned up with new filters and gaskets. If your concerned about contamination you can temporarily plug the discharge passage while working.

One other place to check is the fuel pressure bypass/relief valve as crud can (and does) get into it, and that alone can account for low fuel pressure. When I got my last "new" D4, running fuel pressure was way down and it almost couldn't get out of it's own way. After replacing the fuel filters, cleaning the tower and replacing the poppet and spring everything was back to normal once again

I would except the gauge is illegable and the line is broken, need to fix that too

Have them, studied them, was looking for tips/tricks which only experience would gain.

[quote="Old Magnet"]Yes, you can top off the housing with clean fuel to reduce cranking.
Yes, you need to clean the filter housing and will most likely find a significant amount of crud in the bottom. There is a drain plug provided on an extension just for that purpose.[/quote]
Thanks, OM!

Once I find it, I'll check that too.
Thanks!