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| Put in an irrigation system in 2009 using an Iveco (99hp) engine on the pump. Irrigation dealer purchased engine from one supplier, matched it to a pump from another supplier based on engine salesman specs, and sold it as a unit. Said he had sold several and had good luck with them. Unit now has something less than 1400 hours on it.
After just a few days use, it cooked the battery. By that I mean it boiled all the water out of it. Replaced the battery, after a couple of weeks, same thing happened. Engine mechanic worked on it, not sure whether he replaced alternator or some other repair. Same thing or variation has happened several times since. Either the battery would overcharge, or the alternator would quit charging altogether. Wiring melted off a couple of times. Many times I've left it running only to find it shut off when I checked on it due to a dead battery. As they tell me, the only thing the battery is doing during operation is holding the electric fuel shutoff open. It's had 5 new batteries on it, not sure how many alternators, ammeter and tach replaced several times, so far under warranty. It also burnt out a starter, which cost me $600 to replace. Also has a plastic fuel line from the filter to the pump which cracked last summer, I replaced it, and a couple weeks later, the new one cracked in the same spot, so it was sucking air and not running full throttle. Last time they didn't want to work on it under warranty, but the irrigation dealer worked it out that if I would deliver the unit to the Iveco dealer shop, which is about 2 hours away, they would try to get it fixed. I was still using it at the time trying to finish the season out, but the alternator was not working, (had to take the battery to the shop to charge it) the tach, temp gauge, and ammeter were not working, and I had a patch on the fuel line. The last day I was going to use it, it again had shut itself off, and when I got it started it immediately ran wide open, and the throttle had no affect on it. So I called them and the service manager said to bring it on in. That was last November 16.
I had the mechanics number on speed dial, so I checked with him in late December, and they hadn't yet done anything to it. Emailed the service manager in February, no response from him, so I called the mechanic. Still hadn't worked on it. Called him again early March, said he was just going to start on it. Emailed the service manager last week, told him with the dry weather we have had, I could see needing it in a couple of weeks, since I've got everything planted now. He finally called me back and said the problem with the motor racing was that the injector pump was shot. He said wrong fuel or running it out of fuel were the most likely causes. Said it would cost ~$2800 for a new one, and it would be June before they could get one. They could repair the old one for ~$2400. Asked a lot of questions about type of fuel (same as I use in everything else), had it ever been run out of fuel (no, I keep a log when it's running), what gpm am I pumping (800) at what rpm (1850) and pressure (125)(pump is the one recommended by their salesman for my application, who is no longer there). I did remember that on one visit by the mechanic when it had shut down and I could not get it to start, he took the injector pump off and took it to their shop to work on it. So he said he would check on that and call me back. Haven't heard from him since.
After I got off the phone with him, I checked back in my notes, and found where the mechanic had taken the pump off in July 2010. I also remember that when he was trying to get it started he used quite a bit of ether on it. I remember him saying something like "I hate to use this much ether on one" at the time. He would get it running on ether, then as it would start to die he'd give at another shot. It never did start, and now that I think about it, I believe the reason was that something was wrong with the electric fuel shutoff.
So, long story short, here's the way I see it. Whatever the electrical problem is, it's been there since the beginning and has never been fixed. It's most likely caused all the other problems (batteries, alternators, gauges, starter) and now the fuel pump probably is shot because of the ether overdose, which was a result of the electric fuel shutoff problem. The fact that I took it to them in November and they let it set until April, and now can't get new fuel pump for another 2 months is just icing on the cake. Problem is, it's dry here and neighbors are already watering, and I'm dead in the water, so to speak.
Looking for suggestions as to what the problem might be, what to do if they don't get it fixed in a few days, and should I have to pay for the pump? I should say, it works perfectly when everything is working.
Edited by Iveco 4/8/2012 08:17
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Problem with Iveco engine and service
