The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Ran my SM out of fuel. Went through bleed procedure. couldn't get lift pump to bleed through inlet. Lift pump is 2 years old.
What now?

Hi, did it definitely run out of fuel? A blocked pencil filter in the bottom of the tank would have the same effect as running out, and if it's been run very low then any sludge could have been stirred up and caused a restriction / blockage.
Might be worth starting by removing the fuel tap and see if you have a clean tank filter then work along the system checking for a good fuel flow at each pipe union along the line.
The fact that the lift pump has been replaced relatively recently could indicate the old pump was starting to struggle with a restriction and the new pump coped better until it blocked completely.
It's going to be messy, but worth a try!

If the camshaft happens to be holding the lift pump in tension, then the hand lever won’t do anything. Give the engine one turn, and try primer again.
Incidentally, before removing complete tap from tank and dousing everything in diesel, simply remove fuel line from tap. This should help pinpoint any blockage.

Old Hywel wrote: ↑

Sun May 24, 2020 9:51 am

If the camshaft happens to be holding the lift pump in tension, then the hand lever won’t do anything. Give the engine one turn, and try primer again.
Incidentally, before removing complete tap from tank and dousing everything in diesel, simply remove fuel line from tap. This should help pinpoint any blockage.

Good point about the camshaft.
When removing the bleeding screws of the fuel filter, you should be see the fuel coming.

My old power major drove me nuts with a similar problem several years ago. I would be driving it, usually down the highway between properties, to do topping, and it would quit. I'd get off. Tickle the pump lever and it would start and run again. Well, one day while sitting in the shed it refused to run. I could not get the lift pump to pump. I removed the fuel line from the tank and nothing was coming out. I got several cans and a hose and siphoned the fuel out while moving the hose along the bottom of the tank around the tap area. I removed the tap and there was no blockage to speak of. Puzzling situation. When I put the fuel back in it I ran it though a paint filter in a funnel. Low and behold out came a leaf. It must have finally got logged enough that it would stick to the bottom rather than float around and stick occasionally to the inlet hole when it passed over the suction. When the tractor quit it would release and float just up out of the way allowing the fuel to flow again. First problem solved.
Last year while topping I had the after market fuel pump fail. I ordered a new one and have it on hand. The one that failed I repaired so I could keep going. The lever that works off of the cam was not doing its job so I welded it and got it working. I've found that even though it may be only several years old these aftermarket units are, to quote Brian, "from the land of nearly right" and will not outlast an original. Dandy Dave!

I just went through this myself.
No fuel out of the tank, to the pump basically.
The petcock on the tank was clogged.
It was a mess, trying to get the petcock out, with about 5 gallons of fuel in the tank.
I should have siphoned the tank !
After I removed the petcock, I screwed it back in, just to use as a plug.
Then added 2 gallons of new fuel, and removed the petcock again, and let it all pour into a funnel and bucket.
I strained the fuel and did this a total of 4 times.
I was amazed at how much small debris came out of the tank.
Has ran great every since.