Crazy

[Reds Skid Steers]

My 742b was running just fine. Loaded it on the trailer and parked it for a few days. Went to start it. Won't fire-. it will turn over and over. But will not start up. Put new fuel filter in, checked all gas lines to se if they are delivering fuel, Put in more fuel, checked spark - got spark. Now let me ask what this is.... 2 wires going to this little device that goes to the line going to the fuel filter - is it a PUMP???? I'm not a frickin mechanic so I'm not gonna act like I know, so hoping somebody can help. Is the fuel pump the one connected to the engine head by two bolts? Help out a non-mechanic. Thanks

 

[flyerdan]

It sounds like you have an inline electric pump, that would be a small cylindrical can like thing with two wires and a fitting on each end for the fuel line. There should be an arrow on it to show the flow so it can be installed correctly.
It also sounds like you also have the stock mechanical pump on the engine. If the fuel line path goes from tank to filter* to electric pump to manual pump to carb, chances are that someone just spliced in an electric pump when the original one failed.
The electric pump should be wired into the switch so it runs when you turn the key on. There could be an inline fuse on the hot wire to the pump. You should hear it click or pulse when the key is on; it will start out rapidly then slow down as pressure builds up as it's a demand pump. If there is no sound from it, that would indicate an electrical problem somewhere .
As an added note, if the mechanical pump on the engine isn't being used, but still has fuel routed through it, you should take it out of the flow path because if the rubber diaphragm gets a hole or rip it can allow fuel to enter the crankcase, which isn't good. You don't need to remove it from the engine, just splice in a piece of hose that bypasses it.

*the filter, and electric pump can actually be anywhere in the line, but are usually not in close proximity to the engine heat.

 

[Reds Skid Steers]

It sounds like you have an inline electric pump, that would be a small cylindrical can like thing with two wires and a fitting on each end for the fuel line. There should be an arrow on it to show the flow so it can be installed correctly.
It also sounds like you also have the stock mechanical pump on the engine. If the fuel line path goes from tank to filter* to electric pump to manual pump to carb, chances are that someone just spliced in an electric pump when the original one failed.
The electric pump should be wired into the switch so it runs when you turn the key on. There could be an inline fuse on the hot wire to the pump. You should hear it click or pulse when the key is on; it will start out rapidly then slow down as pressure builds up as it's a demand pump. If there is no sound from it, that would indicate an electrical problem somewhere .
As an added note, if the mechanical pump on the engine isn't being used, but still has fuel routed through it, you should take it out of the flow path because if the rubber diaphragm gets a hole or rip it can allow fuel to enter the crankcase, which isn't good. You don't need to remove it from the engine, just splice in a piece of hose that bypasses it.

*the filter, and electric pump can actually be anywhere in the line, but are usually not in close proximity to the engine heat.

Great and you hit my it right on the head. Not saying that is the problem but very detailed and something I will check out. One thing more. I went out to start it this morning after I tried a hundred and twenty seven thousand times yesterdayn with no luck. This morning I tried starting it with a half choke. It turned and turned over and tried to start. I held the key on until the sucker kicked in enough to let go of the key (Yea I know, I'll burn out a starter that way) BUT, I got it started. It ran like a kitten purring from rolling in catnip. I let it run for a half hour or so. Didn't miss a beat. Then shut it off, held my breath and WALLA! it started again. It started the rest of the day with no problem. So I went out and did some dirt leveling and it ran beautiful. Don't get it. Think my machine is a woman. I didn't say that!!! What the heck. This has done this before where I had to hold the key down and let it get going enough to start. What could that be???? I'm thinking timing ? but.. it wouldn't run well if that was the case. I'm getting spark, getting gas everything. What do you think? Thanks for your response. I do appreciate an adult response and not some.... just get rid of it, it's old. Duh

 

[flyerdan]

Great and you hit my it right on the head. Not saying that is the problem but very detailed and something I will check out. One thing more. I went out to start it this morning after I tried a hundred and twenty seven thousand times yesterdayn with no luck. This morning I tried starting it with a half choke. It turned and turned over and tried to start. I held the key on until the sucker kicked in enough to let go of the key (Yea I know, I'll burn out a starter that way) BUT, I got it started. It ran like a kitten purring from rolling in catnip. I let it run for a half hour or so. Didn't miss a beat. Then shut it off, held my breath and WALLA! it started again. It started the rest of the day with no problem. So I went out and did some dirt leveling and it ran beautiful. Don't get it. Think my machine is a woman. I didn't say that!!! What the heck. This has done this before where I had to hold the key down and let it get going enough to start. What could that be???? I'm thinking timing ? but.. it wouldn't run well if that was the case. I'm getting spark, getting gas everything. What do you think? Thanks for your response. I do appreciate an adult response and not some.... just get rid of it, it's old. Duh

It sounds like you have a fuel delivery issue where the line is draining back into the tank the longer it sits. When it takes a looooong time to start, that's because it has to pump fuel all the way up, and when restarting after a few minutes it fires right up because it has fuel available.
Since air has to be getting in somewhere for it to drain back (much like when you put your finger over a straw and lift it out of a glass of water, water will remain in the straw until you lift your finger), it's likely that there will be a slight leak under pressure as well, so after running it examine all of the fuel line, fittings, etc. to see if there are any wet spots or drips.
Also, pull the oil dipstick and see if it smells like raw gas. The mechanical fuel pump can fail and it dump fuel into the engine so there won't be any external sign.
Since it runs good when you get it started, you don't have any timing or spark issues, just the fuel issue which is relatively simple to sort out.
There should be at least a couple of good 742-743 series books in the manual thread, since you say that mechanics aren't a strong suite I'd recommend getting one to read up and familiarize yourself with how the systems work.

 

[Reds Skid Steers]

It sounds like you have a fuel delivery issue where the line is draining back into the tank the longer it sits. When it takes a looooong time to start, that's because it has to pump fuel all the way up, and when restarting after a few minutes it fires right up because it has fuel available.
Since air has to be getting in somewhere for it to drain back (much like when you put your finger over a straw and lift it out of a glass of water, water will remain in the straw until you lift your finger), it's likely that there will be a slight leak under pressure as well, so after running it examine all of the fuel line, fittings, etc. to see if there are any wet spots or drips.
Also, pull the oil dipstick and see if it smells like raw gas. The mechanical fuel pump can fail and it dump fuel into the engine so there won't be any external sign.
Since it runs good when you get it started, you don't have any timing or spark issues, just the fuel issue which is relatively simple to sort out.
There should be at least a couple of good 742-743 series books in the manual thread, since you say that mechanics aren't a strong suite I'd recommend getting one to read up and familiarize yourself with how the systems work.

Flyerdan, Awesome response. I've got the book. And you gave some great ideas. Thanks, I will check them out!