Let me tell ya about my Bulldozer.......

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

Here's what I got, a John Deere 450B "crawler" as they liked to be called, made around 1983, she's a little beast, six way blade and gets the job done. So I've had this thing for about four years. OH, did I mention this is going to be a story? Well it's not, it's a bunch of fuckin things I learned about Bulldozers in the past few months that some of you might and might not know. But some of it was a real eye opener and interesting to me. So let me get on with it, I was using this puppy out at our property to clear a new road about four years ago, no problems there. Brought it back to our place and used it to clean up our road going down to our creek and flatten out some of the rock bars in the creek to stop some erosion. No problems there, so I parked it and fired it up every few months or so and cycled the hydraulics to keep it happy. Well I noticed one day about a year ago that this big ass bolt was backed out on the side..........nope, it was broke, sheared whatever, it was FUBAR. I can't get to it to get the rest of it out, track's in the way I don't have the tools to get to this thing but my neighbor who owns an excavation company says he'll take care of it for me......................6mths later..................1yr later............."Hey, will that thing run? I'll come over and pick it up". Well guess what? It didn't, muther fu*&%$, nope, as I notice the fuel down by my feet I'm going to pause right here for a few photos before the shit starts rolling down hill.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

Let me point out a couple of other things here.
1. I am not a diesel mechanic. I have been learning this on the fly, buying the service manuals, "operator manuals", and parts manuals, reading and applying common sense approach has done me well .......kinda.......so far.
2. My diesel experience so far has been on two tractors, a 2003 Kabota L3130 and a 1970 Ford 2000. The Ford is where I REALLY learned something (save for another thread "lipstick on a pig")
3. This incident we are talking about right now happened in August (fuel leak) at which time it happened to be two days before I was flying out to Nevada to visit me Ma! So as usual, "Mr. Murphy" raises his ugly head once again.

Well, let's shorten this up a bit, the fuel at my feet. Well that my friends is coming from the return line from the injectors. This section is made from rubber of course and it's cracked and deteriorated.

STOP WHAT YOUR DOING!
Diesels running dry is a bad thing, this is a bulldozer. Don't kill the battery or the starter! Well at least not yet.......aw fuck.....ok, so I did a tractor so far. These are both mechanical diesels. Both have have similar injector pumps but this one's got a wire going to a solenoid of some sorts, hiding in there. My service manual doesn't cover bleeding the system it says, "refer to Operators Manual" WTF? Now I gotta go find some damn book to tell me how to bleed this thing because.......well........it's different. Damn fuel lines are going everywhere, stern to bow, up and over, stbd to port, and forward and up. There's two fuel filters, a hand(knuckle fucker) pump on the fuel pump, plus a solenoid. Four injectors instead of three like the tractor and some how I'm going to have to prime this thing by WHAT procedure? Well kiddies, here's where the fun begins, feel free to chime in. I am currently in "internet time out", step son's here and wiped out all my shit on my provider so I'm down to two cans and a string, over.

[eagle326]

BWRR
DAMN brother!!! In my time (5 years ) in the Army I've never seen that kind of set up. We had a D-6 cable blade and D-5 hydraulic blade but then again I got out in 1973. Never saw a system such as what you speak of. I'd be right there with you in as who designed this cluster fu#!! k. I'm going to look up you model but I can't guarantee I'll be any help. Damn thing looks like an alien hybrid.
Though that wouldn't stop me from fondling & groping it. Keep us posted as this has my mind running in a squirrel cage.

Eagle

[Sniper-T]

I can't say I've ever read a book on bleeding a diesel, but I have done dozens of them... crack them open at all the injectors, hit the manual pump a few times till their seeping, and then get someone to hit the go button while you stand by with a wrench. always start with the one farthest from the tank and close them off in series as they stop sputtering air and spit fuel.

bada bing bada boom.

then light a smoke...

[bacpacker]

Sniper gave my way of doing it. but my tractor only has 2 injectors.

[realist]

Uh so you are not recommending I buy one. I have always wanted to pick on up but they are too expensive. I guess if you by cheap you will pay in the long run. I still want one..........but not yours, I want one that runs......sorry could resist. Wish I could help you but I am the last person you want advice from when it comes to something mechanical...Good luck

[mitunnelrat]

You'll get it 'rat. I have faith.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

Flash forward......I decided to replace fuel filters and I am greeted by this blackish brown oozing tar..........oh it's not just there.

It's in every fuckin part of the fuel system including the tank. I pulled the drain from the tank and let it ooze and bake in the sun for two weeks till it stopped......for the most part.....as far as I can see.

I tried every solvent under the sun to try and cut this stuff and nothing seemed to work. I had plenty of "test ooze" to try it out on that's for sure. Well I finally found something that worked, I tell ya later, I'm not running outside to go read the label, but wallyworld sells it. Soooooooo, I blew out all the lines as best I could, cleaned out the little valve in the injector pump that was stuck so I can get fuel to turn on and off. I cleaned every fricken thing out as best I could. Then I got out my biggest favorite syringe and started squirting diesel fuel into every fucking line and orifice I could find till I thought it couldn't take no more.

Then came the fun part, priming that pump, that's just getting fuel to the filters, well I filled them and I back filled the line to the tank so this should be to hard right? Well I pretty much wore my knuckle down to the bone pumpin that stupid thing.........finally got those primed. Then get it to the other side of the dozier.....right. I put a gatorade jug on the end of the line before it got the the injector pump..........wait for it.............OK I'm bleeding again now......same place........OK, we are squirting fuel, books arrive. Seems I'm on the right track, It says you can't pull start a bull dozier in the "Operators Manual"

OK I'm supposed to start crankin the motor now...........I crack the lines at the injectors. Need to have power to that wire on the injector pump dude...........opens the fuel........Well I can only get a few tries on this monster before things heat up.......battery cable, starter, everything..........so now the fun begins of going back and forth with the battery from the shop to the dozier, re-charging.........more to follow...........oh it gets better.........eventually

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

OH, did I mention the smoke? yeah smoke, "uh well there's like smoke coming out from under the gauges dude." OH, I knew that, fuck, shit, now what? Alright, maybe the gauges do look a little rusty. So I open the back and the ampmeter gauge has a nice color to it. Then the game begins of trying to find one, figured it would be a piece of cake, nope, "plastic piece of shit", "made in china", "gotta order one"..........................LIGHT BULB GOES OFF.........after a few days........NAPA! "Sure what size you want and how many amps he says?"......So I got that and I got temp and oil. So I had to re-wire quite a bit back there once I got to looking a things. Then it went from there all the way to the alternator. Which by the way fried in the process of all this........I think.......don't care........I started replacing wires, the mice were busy but not as busy as they were in the Ford tractor (incidentally this is what caused the smoke, mice ate through the insulation)



So, now I have flushed out fuel system, replaced filters, replaced air filters and pre-filter, freshened up and replaced most wiring system. Oh, did I mention this battery cable I wasn't real confident about? Yeah I shit canned that too.

[Sniper-T]

Ok... now park it again for 2 years, and start over...