Deutz Agrolux 60 (SAME 1000 engine) problems

Hi, first post here, from the USA. Deutz tractors aren't very common here except on large commercial operations, which I am not, and the closest dealer is several hours drive away. I have a 2008 Agrolux 60, with the SAME Series 1000 3 cylinder engine (no turbo) that is giving me trouble. It will start right up and idle just fine. Once brought up to PTO speed, it will continue to run fine, anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute... then it starts to run rougher and blows white fuel smoke. It never dies, or loses enough power that it can't move itself. Just runs rough, and smokes everyone with unburnt diesel. If let back down to idle, it will go back to running well, and the cycle starts over.

I've flushed out the fuel tank and the pickup screen, replaced lines from tank to glass fuel bowl, replaced fuel bowl gasket and machined the gasket surface of the housing back to flat, vacuum tested all connections from tank to shutoff solenoid, checked shutoff solenoid for contamination, disassembled and washed out lift pump, replaced main fuel filter, and disassembled and ultrasonically cleaned the injectors. I am a home Mechanic and don't have the tools to work on the injection pumps or governor, so have left those alone.

Despite vacuum and pressure checking all connections between the tank and the glass fuel bowl, I am still seeing air bubbles in the top of the bowl. This is improved if the screen filter is removed from the bowl.

Other ideas? I appreciate any responses. I'm curious whether the governor could be malfunctioning and retarding the timing. The problem started on a very cold morning (minus 17 C) and has been present since.

Thanks,
Andy
 

box

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
NZ
Being 2008, I'm guessing it's got an electronic governor with a 2 pin plug? It's just a simple inline system with a rack and a control rod driven by an actuator. Off the top of my head you can see the rack through the oil filler cap. The rest of the system is mechanical and relatively simple provided no one has been playing with it.

Has it got a cold start injector in the intake manifold like the older 1000 engines had? Could be leaking.
Dumb question but how's your air filter?
Does the fuel level make any difference?
 
Last edited:

Wisconsonian

Member
Trade
I'll ignore the complicated stuff. You have air bubbles in the fuel, that's the obvious problem. Bubbles could be air flowing in with fuel, or they could be sucked in at the bowl, or they could be fuel vaporizing under vacuum. Sounds like you've made a good attempt to make sure the bowl is not leaking. The next things I'd check is eliminating any return flow from that bowl, run it back to the tank temporarily. And add a tee and a vacuum/pressure gauge to see what the pressure is when it's idling, and when it's running rough.
 
It's an all mechanical governor. No cold start injector. Filter is good.

Should have mentioned the tractor hasn't seen much use... just over 1000 hours now.

What pressure should I see from the lift pump? Neither manual mentions that, or I couldn't locate the information anyway. Pressure at the main filter head (after pump) is 5-6 psi at idle.

I will get some clear hose and run a line direct from tank to lift pump (bypassing glass bowl filter) and see if any air is visible in the fuel.

Thanks,
Andy
 
Fuel level in the tank doesn't seem to make a difference. The tank was pretty low when the problem started, so I filled it (with fresh fuel) to try to eliminate a variable.

I removed the oil filler and actuated the fuel rack... no stickiness or other problems, as far as I can tell. The governor has not been messed with (factory paint and anti-tamper wires on screws).

Here are shots from the manual of the fuel system layout. The stop solenoid depressurizes the injection pumps when the engine is shut down.

A: lift pump
B: fuel tank
C: stop solenoid
D: main filter
E: injection pumps
Red circle (added by me): glass bowl water separator/prefilter. This is where I'm still seeing air bubbles, though I can find no leaks in the fuel path from the tank.

20220207_063827.jpg


20220207_063845.jpg
 
Not the same pump, but appears to be the same primer button. I didn't know you could buy them separately. What's your diagnosis of how it's causing the problem?

20220207_071404.jpg
 

Deerefarmer

Member
Location
USA
By all means replace your primer button. They can be bought for 20 to 40 dollars typically. They just go bad,rubber orings crack whatever. See if there is a part number on it and you can Google search and buy one online
 

Wisconsonian

Member
Trade
The primer pump is an easy and obvious issue. And one that can fail at any time, even with low hours. If you can get the cap off the piston, you could grease around the seal and see if the issue changes.

Is there any fuel return from the injectors to the glass separator bowl? or does it go to the tank? That's what I was thinking of as the return flow.
 
Would air from a leak in the lift pump show up in the separator bowl? I was thinking not, since the pump is downstream, but with the bowl being the highest point in the system maybe the air will migrate against fuel flow. Either way, I will order a new primer pump. Cheap way to eliminate one variable.

Return lines from the injection pumps go through a check valve and then straight back to the tank.

Thanks,
Andy
 

Wisconsonian

Member
Trade
Or a plug will cause the bubbles, the 5 PSI sounds good to me, the important thing is that the pressure stays the same when it's sputtering, not drop or go into vacuum.

A small piece of plastic, foil, leaf etc. in the wrong place can restrict enough to cause this. It should show up in the fuel pressure, or it's not that hard to inspect all the fittings and blow out the fuel supply lines, compared to all you've done already. Maybe you have already?
 
Line from tank to separator bowl is new. I had the fuel pickup assembly out of the tank, blew it out and tested for leaks with a Mityvac. Tested the separator bowl assembly as well, then put it all together (pickup, new line, separator bowl, line from bowl to solenoid) and tested as a unit. Holds vacuum fine. Either I am overlooking something simple, or there is a weird leak or restriction that only shows up when the engine is vibrating something.

I'll make a video of what's happening in the separator bowl when the engine is running.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.
 

Jim B

Member
This may sound silly, but does it have a glow plug button/switch?

On 1000 series SAME engines you need to press and wait for the glow lamp light to go out on the dash before starting, otherwise there will be loads of white smoke, even when it's not cold. Sometimes this needs to be done twice.

Realise it runs fine at idle and initially at PTO speed, but thought it was worth mentioning just in case.
 
It's a SAME "Type 1000.3 W 3E" engine. May have some differences from Euro engines as it was sold in the US market. Has a stop solenoid mounted on the right hand side of the block. No glow plugs, just an intake air heater controlled by a dash switch.
 

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