C-120 ran out of fuel and now won't start

[Konrad 5]

Hi there,

 

We recently became the proud owners of a 1976'ish C-120. When we purchased the tractor it wouldn't start but the previous owner believed this was due to a faulty solenoid.

Anyhow, I finally had time today to see if it would run. On initial inspection, there was a definite 'click' on attempting to start. And after a few attempts, the starter turned the engine over and it fired - so I think we actually have a 'sticky' starter, rather than a dodgy solenoid? Anyhow, I then took the tractor for a 'spin', and not knowing how long the fuel I had put in might last, after about 30 minutes the engine spluttered to a halt. Oh dear out of fuel

I filled the tank with what fuel I had left in my can, but on attempting to restart, the engine turns over but refuses to fire.

 

Having run out of fuel, is there some sort of 'priming' process that I need to go through before I will be able to get the engine to fire again?

 

Any advice gratefully received.

A newbie

 

[953 nut 56,694]

  You may want to remove the incoming fuel line from the fuel pump and hold it over a can until some fuel runs out. Seems the fuel pumps do a better job of pushing than pulling.

[Konrad 5]

Thanks for the advice. I will give that a try tomorrow.

[KC9KAS 4,742]

@Konrad 

[Howie 899]

On mine when it was ran clear out of fuel seems like one would have to crank forever to refill the carb. Then would have to run with choke on part way

for a short time. Was probably the fuel pump hard to re-prime.

[Tonyp 285]

13 hours ago, 953 nut said:

   Seems the fuel pumps do a better job of pushing than pulling.

 I totally concur, My 310-8 ,( Kohler Mag 10)  if it runs out of fuel may or may not start, mostly NOT.  The issue for me is always the fuel pump loses it's prime and the incoming check valve on the fuel pump becomes partially unseated from the PULLING of fuel.  Of course it is 30 years old  as well.   I will replace the fuel pump while I can still get one . 

 

Sometimes I shut off the fuel supply of my machines and let them run out of fuel if they are going to sit. The 310 doesn't like this, the other machines don't mind. 

[buffaloman 295]

same thing happened to me just Friday , it wouldn't start after running empty , I pulled the air cleaner and gave it a few shots of starter fluid and she was good to go

[953 nut 56,694]

@Konrad, don't keep us in the dark, what did you find?

[can whlvr 993]

I do like buffalo man but I put gasoline in a spray bottle,spray it into the carb as you crank it,helps to have another person but I do it on my own

[Konrad 5]

Hi everyone, thanks for all the advice. I should have posted back sooner, but we were too busy enjoying the tractor

From the responses, it was apparent that 'pressure' may be a problem, so I decided to go with simplest option of filling the tank to the top, and waiting half an hour.

Given that it was a warm day here, I reasoned that some degree of pressure would build up in the tank.

The result - after a couple of long cranks, it fired and we then spent an enjoyable couple of hours (checking the fuel level on occasion), topping a paddock.

 

Thanks for all the advice - I'm sure we will have many more questions over the next weeks and months.