825i was rolled and will crank but not start... help!

[roboman]

Hey guys,

I work for an organization with a large fleet of Gators and somebody just rolled a nearly-new 825i, and I don't know how long it was flipped before they got it back on all fours. I went to rescue it, and it will crank but not start up. The door is shattered and the mirrors are busted, otherwise the cab is unharmed and there appears to be no other obvious damage. I didn't have any tools with me so I wasn't able to check the spark plugs to see if perhaps oil is in the cylinders, but will do that after I finish this as well as check fuses. If that's not the case and everything inside the engine is fine, is there some kind of fuel pump reset switch that kills the fuel supply in case of something like this that I should check? Or is there anything else to look for? Thanks for any suggestions!

[2011Raptor]

Be careful cranking it if there is oil in the cylinders. That can damage things, because oil won't compress. Is the fuel pump priming when you turn on the key?

[roboman]

I should have updated this sooner, but better late than never:

All the fuses that I checked were all good (including a hidden 10A bastard tucked under a wiring harness behind the gearshifter area - not sure what it goes to). The plugs were dry of any fluid - gas or oil. The fuel pump will also not prime when you turn the key, so that's where the problem may lie. I called the local JD dealer and they said there is no fuel killswitch that would activate during an accident, so I should check all the wiring connections to make sure the fuel pump is receiving voltage. That will be tomorrow's project to see if the pump somehow died during the accident or if there's a wire that came lose. Any other ideas to check for in addition to those things?

[Deputy347k9]

How did the individual roll the machine and is he OK? Keep us posted.

Larry in NC

[roboman]

First of all, from what I do understand, I'm not sure if there was anybody in it at the time or not. If there was, he or she was unharmed since I feel as though that there would be more information going around. I actually haven't heard the entire story. The bits that I have heard, though, was that they were at a football stadium and had a lot of weight in the back. They parked somewhere on the side of a grassy hill (not very smart) and it started to slide down, when it caught something and flipped it. The driver side door shattered, the mirrors were both busted, and the driver side of the box was all scraped up. The cab was totally unharmed and no other damage was done, so despite the door probably being $700, it could have been a much costlier and dangerous accident. Now the engine will crank, but doesn't want to fire, so once I can square this issue away, the other repairs will not be difficult at all.

[roboman]

Update: checked the voltage at the connecter terminals for the fuel pump wires, and was getting voltage. I proceeded to taking the fuel pump out to check the other terminals on the pump, which also checked out fine. That made it appear that the pump was burned out, so I plugged it in to another Gator, and the theory was proven: dead fuel pump. The Gator could have been running while it was flipped, so the pump could have sucked in air and burned itself out.

[jakerator]

Glad to hear nobody was hurt, and great diagnosis. Hopefully a new pump will be the cure.
Jake

[MBDiagMan]

Hey guys,

I work for an organization with a large fleet of Gators and somebody just rolled a nearly-new 825i, and I don't know how long it was flipped before they got it back on all fours. I went to rescue it, and it will crank but not start up. The door is shattered and the mirrors are busted, otherwise the cab is unharmed and there appears to be no other obvious damage. I didn't have any tools with me so I wasn't able to check the spark plugs to see if perhaps oil is in the cylinders, but will do that after I finish this as well as check fuses. If that's not the case and everything inside the engine is fine, is there some kind of fuel pump reset switch that kills the fuel supply in case of something like this that I should check? Or is there anything else to look for? Thanks for any suggestions!

robo,

Something you need to research is for a fuel pump relay that trips on rollover. Many cars have them and since the injection on these are very similar to a car that might very well be your problem. I would start by checking the owners manual.

Best of luck and I hope everyone is okay.
Doc

[Deputy347k9]

Doc, great advise! I am also going to look into that just for another safety feature!! Thanks

Larry in NC

[roboman]

robo,

Something you need to research is for a fuel pump relay that trips on rollover. Many cars have them and since the injection on these are very similar to a car that might very well be your problem. I would start by checking the owners manual.

Best of luck and I hope everyone is okay.
Doc

I actually called the JD dealer and talked to the head mechanic about a feature like that, and he said that Deere used to have something like that on some of their lawn tractors, but did away with it (probably to save costs) since rollovers were not common. Thanks for bringing it up, though - I would have forgotten to post that.

[roboman]

Alright, final update. All of my parts came in yesterday, and I finished up everything today. Hooked up the new fuel pump with a new filter and the Gator ran like new, which was a huge relief. The grand total for the door, two mirrors, fuel pump, and fuel pump filter: $800.19

[jakerator]

Thanks for the update, damage not bad over all, most important nobody hurt.
Merry Christmas
Jake

[Deputy347k9]

Very happy you got her fixed! And, as already stated, NO BODY WAS HURT, just a little pride and pocket full of money.

Larry in NC

[Dane]

Your whole story brings up an interesting point. How much harder it is to fix a machine that you yourself was not operating when it died. I'm usually running my stuff so I get to hear the odd noise and know the situation that killed the machine which really helps track down the problem. It's got to be twice as hard when someone just hands it to you and says "fix it" without much clue of exactly what happened.

[MBDiagMan]

I understand perfectly what Dane is saying. I feel that I have a good "feel" for machinery. I've been around people that don't. If they hear a noise or feel something not right, they just keep on running it until it totall fails, when a simple bearing replacement or hose tightening might have cured the problem.

Robo, I'm glad everything turned out okay, with the worst damage being only to your money clip. Thanks for posting and giving us the update.

[CaptDan]

roboman....glad to hear that everything worked out, just curious ...if you don't mind....what part of the world you from and if you can say ....what di you do with a fleet of Gators ? I need a retirement job driving around in a Gator :-)

Dan NJ/PA

[Deputy347k9]

Dan, I will be your driver too!

Larry in NC