Ditch Witch Sk850 “skipping”

JoshR

JoshR

New member
Location
Alabama
I’m having a time figuring out what’s going on here. I’ve not really been an engine guy most of my life so, a lot of this is somewhat new to me.

The mechanic at the dealership said it sounds like I may be getting some air in the fuel system.

I haven’t figured out the rhyme or reason as to what triggers this skipping, it seems rather irregular.

Sometimes it seems like being on hills in all different orientations could be triggering it, sometimes it seems like the jolting could be triggering it, and now I’m wondering if working it in 90+ degree temps contributes to it. I DONT KNOW!
I’ve been messing with it a little this evening but it only did it once.
It was really bad the other day, It started out doing it pretty soon after starting the machine up and then it just got worse. At one point it almost quit, then another time it did quit.(Both of those times the machine was idling while I was off doing something else. (Usually it just skips though). I started right back up.

Any thoughts?
Should I replace my fuel lines? I’m not sure where to start. If it’s a pin sized hole sucking air then I’d never
See it with my eyes.
 
In general fuel lines except the return line would be pressurized and would leak diesel that would be visible.

If you can temporarily replace a fuel line with a clear hose you will see bubbles.
 
The lines from the tank to the lift pump won't have any pressure. That's where to look for a pin hole.

I've also had pieces of a stick get stuck in the fuel pickup weight that holds the line down in the fuel. That caused a lot of headache. Also got another small piece stuck in the 90 that comes out of the tank for the line to the lift pump.
 
treegongfu said:
In general fuel lines except the return line would be pressurized and would leak diesel that would be visible.

If you can temporarily replace a fuel line with a clear hose you will see bubbles.
Click to expand...

I was thinking that too. I got to wondering though, just as a counter thought, that if the high pressure pump is pulling all of that fuel through the system, then could it just be sucking in air and not actually blowing it out?
 
Fivepoints said:
The lines from the tank to the lift pump won't have any pressure. That's where to look for a pin hole.

I've also had pieces of a stick get stuck in the fuel pickup weight that holds the line down in the fuel. That caused a lot of headache. Also got another small piece stuck in the 90 that comes out of the tank for the line to the lift pump.
Click to expand...

Ahh...maybe I should check that 90. I did just have to replace the lines in the tank bc the originals dry rotted and fell off in the tank.
 
Definitely make sure nothing is in the tank getting sucked up. We had a rental lift randomly shutting down on us recently, come to find out there was a dust cap from a gas can in the fuel tank getting sucked up by the pickup tube intermittently.

I would consider changing the filters and making sure the seals on the filters and their mating surfaces look good. If the filters are clogged, this can happen, although usually a clogged filter will just leave you with no power.

And I’ll second replacing a section of a fuel return line with clear tubing temporarily to look for bubbles.

And one more thought - water or other contaminants in your fuel can cause this problem. You can have your fuel sampled and analyzed to check for issues there.
 
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