Tried to start my mower yesterday and nothing. JD 332 with a newer 22 hp yanmar. I have a feeling its gelled up. Anyone have any experience with this? I've had diesels for years and this is the first time I've had anything do this. I put some PS additive in it a few months ago, I guess I didn't get it right. Looking forward on suggestion about how to get her going. I hate to have to break everything apart.

 

If it is jelled, get some power service 911 and dump it in. More isn't always better. Follow the instructions for the amount to use and pull the fuel filter too. The best way is to warm it up. If you can't get it inside, cover it with a tarp and put a space heater under the tarp.

 

dump some kerosene in the tank to dilute the fuel

 

It may just not be turning over fast enough to fire! Does it have a decompression ****? Glow plugs?

Make sure you have batteries charged, heat glow plugs, pull decompression ****, crank engine, after 20-30 second of engine turning over push in decompression and she should fire off.

Isn't it too cold to mow?

 

No decompression **** that I know of. The glow plugs drained the battery after several attempts. I'll get it jumped to the truck tonight and try the 911. Not sure how the 911 gets to the pump if its gelled in the pump. Yeh theres too much snow on the ground to mow. I needed to move the mower to put my motorcycle in. I managed to get around it. This mower has never failed to start on the 1st attempt, so I am a little surprised.

 

Put some 911 in the fuel filter that you should be replacing

 

If you've got your motorcycle in I'd try covering the mower with a tarp of some kind and use some heat. Won't take long, especially if you're in out of the wind, to get it warm enough to start without adding anything or replacing filter.

 

The injection pump isn't the problem, the pump isn't getting fuel because the filter is probably packed with wax crystals.

Like D2Cat said, do you have a small torpedo heater? Take the side panel off the left side and point it at the heater fuel filter and pump.

Make sure the little electric pump is running, you should be able to here making some noise, sits down by the frame on the left side, I think ahead and below the injection pump.

Is it putting out any smoke? They don't start very well in the cold if one glow plug isn't working, even worse if 2 are out, only got 3 to work with. In fact our 330 won't start in the dead of summer if you don't glow plug it.

That's how you get the 911 to the pump.

 

A nice new warm filter full of nice warm 911 will usually do the trick. Put the new filter full of 911 in and let it sit for a little while so it can work itself thru, and crank her up. A lot of times, though, if extremely cold, you have to somehow warm up the oil. I've seen where guys have hit the oil pan with a small torch...if very very careful this can work ok. But I've gone out on service calls for oil leaks where the guy says he just warmed up his pan, and the gasket is burnt to a crisp.

 

Good tips there guys. I couldnt get in the garage last night lock was frozen. It was 8 degrees out when I got home. We had 50 MPH winds and my light pole snapped off even with the ground. I sure hate the prarie. I'll give it another shot tonight when I get home. Thanks for the help.

 

Well your 8 above zero is 20 degrees warmer then my -12 below BTW that temp was at 8:00 AM when I thought to look and see just how cold it was after being outside.