Oliver 1955 gravity fuel issue

I accidentally posted this on the Oliver crawler page. I copied and pasted it to the right page, let me know what you guys think.

Long story short, tractor has been sitting. Drained the fuel tank, cleaned the shut off fitting on bottom of tank. Blew air through the line to filter. New glass type fuel filter, blew air through the line to injection pump. All good and clean. Added 5 gallons of fuel and gravity will now flow it through the filter. Take filter off and fuel runs good on the ground, why would this tractor not have a lift pump? Looks blocked off from the factory. Surely I dont need to add more fuel? I have the tank cap off so I know its not a vent issue. Any other ideas? Tractor runs great on a separate tank of fuel. New injection pump and injectors. Add more fuel to the tank is easy but surely you would think the tractor should run until the tank is empty. Should I put a lift pump on this tractor? If so does anyone have the factory 310 fuel lines from the filter to the lift pump? Nice original 3,300 hour tractor would hate to rig up some rubber hoses. Let me know your thoughts! Thanks
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LOTS of LARGER diesel engines than yours run fine without a feed/supply pump long as the filter/supply system is in good shape. AC,IH, MM, WHITE/OLIVER are a few that don't use a feed pump.
 


Interesting. So what was the initial symptom after the work was done? Crank no start? Starts/runs/dies? Was the return line check valve replaced on the injection pump? Is the return line clear?

I'd be checking the tank and everything connected to it if it was my tractor and it runs just fine with an external tank plumbed into the line prefilter.
 
Yeah it started and ran great and then just ran out of fuel and
died, put some pressure in the tank and it will run again for awile
and die
 

"Put some pressure" meaning you put air to the tank or just added fuel? These tanks are known for developing pin holes in and around the bottom of the tank/water trap. Did you pull the tank to clean it out, pressure test and boil it?
 
If it has dual fender fuel tanks, plus the regular fuel tank, are the fender tanks full or empty?
 
Did you check the return line from pump thru the injectors back to the tank? Is it returning fuel to the tank while it runs off the auxiliary tank you mentioned? They went away from mechanical lift pumps on some of55 series tractors. If you do add the pump, the lines can be made very easily. I make all my own lines usually the originals are bent, broke or cut up at this point. Nice looking original tractor though.
 
Yes I blew through the return line and even unhooked it and ran it right off the injection pump. Same thing. Definitely not a return issue
 
Yes it has fender tanks and they are empty. I believe everything is all still hooked up, but Im just putting diesel fuel in the main tank under the hood.
 
Yeah I just put a little air in the tank to force fuel through the
filter and to the pump. Then I had fuel and it would run for awile
until it ran out of fuel. No leaks at all. No I have not removed the
tank. I think I want to though. That way I know its super clean
and wont cause future trouble. I just have to get the cab up a
bit I guess?
 
Are the valves if equipped ,to the fender tanks closed or could fuel be going to the fender tank/lines?
 
You say that with the filter off, fuel will run on the ground, but will not run through the filter, correct.? Perhaps you should try replacing the filter with a different one. There are some differences in those types of filters. Agco number is 20-0006803. Seems odd it won't run through the filter without assisted pressure in the tank. The other thing you had mentioned earlier was that the injection pump was reworked? Do you know what was done to it? Or why it was done?
 
Did you fill the fuel tank, if not how much did you put in it?

Sorry I didn't read your post correctly.

This post was edited by J.Wondergem on 03/22/2023 at 04:18 pm.
 
I would eliminate the fender tanks and try it. It sure sounds like a venting issue. I know your supposed to move the vented and nonvented caps around for which tank your using.
 
I think youre onto something with that fuel filter and yes injection pump was totally rebuilt and resealed several years ago and put on the tractor and started but had a misfire so then it sat even longer so then I bought it got it running then later put six injectors in it, and now it runs really really good but will slowly run out of fuel in a couple minutes
 
I don't know what your using for a filter, but if I were you I would either try a differant brand that matches or an Agco filter. The other thing to do is check the base of the filter, make certain all of the ports are open.
From rereading all your posts, I firmly believe your issue is in that filter assembly.
 


So what's the exact timeline? When was the injection pump work done and how many years ago? And then how long did it sit? And what work did you do and when? And exactly what did it take to get it running?

For what it's worth (and I'm not discounting the other members' experiences) I fail to see how it's a filter issue. You've said it runs fine with an external tank hooked up pre-filter. A filter issue would be constant, factory tank or otherwise.
 

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