John Deere 6430 Tractor

[MnTom]

Hey guys and gals, I have been asked to help get a tractor running again. It is a 2007 JD 6430. The problem started with what is believed to be bad fuel. It had a steady miss and was a bit harder to start. We drained all the fuel and refilled with good fuel, and changed the filters. It started, but had the miss. It progressively got harder and harder to start. Finally it got to where it was backed into a shed to hook up the baler and it quit. Since that time it has not even fired on one cylinder. Another guy started on it and at this time it has had a new transfer pump (think lift pump) and all new fuel lines (the old ones leaked slightly). The closest John Deere dealer is about 100 miles away and now they seem to think it is a solenoid/fuel control on the high pressure pump (we have fuel to the injector (high pressure) pump, but nothing coming out). The only code we get consistantly is for low rail pressure. The solenoid/fuel control is $500+ at one dealer and $600+ at another. I am not going to throw parts at it so does anyone have any ideas?

[JAG1]

Symptoms like that tell me dirt is in the tank clogging the fuel pick up. I've seen it before on a JD and on another one I bought used. Some have small screened pick up tubes that if the tank has any dirt will clog pretty regular  I pulled the tank on one cause of so much dirt.

[flagmanruss]

Another vote for pull the pickup tube & inspect the tank...  years ago, I had a Datsun pickup (remember them?) that would randomly shut off.  It was a lot of work to drop the tank.  Once I cleared the debris, I was good to go.   

[Wild and Free]

We have a JD 6230 at work and it has been the biggest POS on the mine site and fuel system issues and tranny issues have plagued it nonstop, The injectors and HPFP have been replaced several times already 2 times due to bad/dirty fuel not to be blamed on the tractor though.

[MnTom]

The fuel pick up just may be dirty. We do get some fuel out of the line going to the HPFP, but there doesn't seem to be any pressure, just flow. Another thing I found out is there is no restricter in the return line to the tank, so I don't know how much it is supposed to have. JD doesn't seem to want their service info out to the general public.

Russ, I do remember the Datsun pick ups. I used to have one!

Bill, with the way CR engines are fueled it is possible the HPFP may have failed.

[MnTom]

Well, we got it to fire on a couple of cylinders yesterday. If the return was pinched off then the transfer pump forced enough fuel to the injectors to make a bit of smoke, but not enough to keep running. We also discussed the problem with a very knowledgeable tech and he said there is something in the HPFP that is 'not functioning'.

[Buzzinhalfdozen]

Well that sounds expensive. How many hours on it?

[MnTom]

Well that sounds expensive. How many hours on it?

[MnTom]

I never did figure out how many hours on it, but the tractor got home last Friday. It took a new valve/solenoid on the HPFP ($500?) plus four new injectors ($400 ea x 4) and there was some work done to the seat. Now to see how it lasts.........

[dripley]

Ouch!! Glad you got it running though, still love that avatar!