Good evening guys. So I got it to a local mechanic after the place that it got towed to screwed me for almost $400... and didn't do a damn thing and told my mom and dad too different things (don't ask why they called because I have no freaking clue). Just really frustrated. He told my mom he KNOWS it was rotted fuel lines. Then he told my dad it was injector lines. But when I spoke to him he couldn't give me a quote on how much it would cost and charged me $95 dollars for looking at it even though I never asked him too... Could these two things be possible. I was not low on fuel or anything. But could that of been the reason it didn't just stop on the spot and slowed down like it was running out of fuel? I will be calling the local mechanic tomorrow to see if he took a look at it. But I have a feeling I am going to call the guy it was called to and go off on him for charging me for a bunch of BS. Thanks again. Also is his opinion about whats wrong valid? Thanks you guys rock!

 

i doubt it .. but a new set of injector return lines and o-rings only costs 5 or 10 dollars ..

and is a once a decade maintenance item anyways .. easy to do .. so you should just do them anyways .. or have your mechanic do it ..

probably the fuel filter plugged up

good you got if away from the wrecker man .. many are honest .. but many are also dishonest and will try to screw you if they can .. looks like you met the latter .. good luck .. keep us posted

 

Pictures would help, but on this truck there is a good chance of low-pressure supply fuel line being cruddy and falling apart(this runs from the tanks to the tank selector valve on the frame rail, and from there up to the passenger side of the engine and the lift pump mounted just behind the vacuum pump)

Or, if your tank was anywhere near 1/4 tank, the fuel pickups like to rot off inside the tank, so it'll start sucking air around that point.

One easy test is to get a gas can and fill it with fresh diesel, get about 6 feet of 3/8 fuel line and run it from the gas can to the lift pump on the engine(there is 1 rubber hose coming off of it, that's what you take off and replace). You can strap the can to the front bumper and take it for a drive if you wish; this will bypass all the tanks and lines.

If you still have trouble, might be time to replace the fuel filter. The filter light only comes on when there is a vacuum on the injection pump side of the filter, which generally only happens when the filter is totally clogged.

The high-pressure steel injector lines on top of the engine aren't likely to rot(being steel), and if one cracked, you'd simply be down a cylinder(meaning loping and shaking) and spraying diesel all over the top of the engine from that line... but very unlikely.

 

You won't drive very long with that fuel can without running the return line back to the fuel can. The injection pump uses tons of fuel for cooling

As Macrobb said it's probably a fuel line from the tank. The elbows at the sending units can rust, the lines can rust, the fuel selector valve can be stuck on both tanks pulling from am empty tank, the oring fittings at the hard line connections can leak.

The fuel return, or injector cap lines are probably leaking and they could be called injector lines. Do some reading on air intrusion here. Not sure why the truck over heated. Was the coolant full when you picked it up? Did the clutch fan ever engage?

Was this regularly driven or did you by a truck that sat for a while and assume you could just drive it home?

 

Well I just went to go bring it home because the mechanic said he fixed it and said he had changed the fuel lines because they were rotted. Not even a block away the truck died on me again. He said he charged the battery. I had filled the gas tank up with fuel so I don't think it's empty but it could be low. It was leaking fuel but I think that was from the fuel line. I really just want it home and done with. I am going to do the fuel filter next. That's what most seem to suggest. Not to mention that the new fuel line he put on is leaking fuel. When i poured in from the gas can. Could it be that the fuel filter is clogged? Or something? He didn't have it sitting too long because he was using it for moving his dirt bikes and leaf removal for landscaping. Could the clogged fuel filter cause other problems? I can get the car to start but only for like 2 seconds then it craps out. When I go to start it again it just doesn't wanna start but it's turning.

 

Just strap the gas can to the front bumper, put like 4 gals of diesel in it, and hook it up. Depending on how far home you need to get, you probably want to hook the return line up to it as well. It's a quick easy fix, to get you home.

 

I think your metal fuel lines are rusted out. Maybe even at the elbow at the top of the sender.

 

Sounds almost like sucking a vacuum and then dying? Or possibly sucking fuel and crap and plugging it up?

If it was me. I'd spin on a new fuel filter. Check out the old filter and see if it looks crusty.

Might pull fuel line off lift pump and see if it flows clear looking diesel. Or separate it under the drivers side seat on the frame rail where it transitions to the metal line on the crossmember. Frame mounted fuel lines on these trucks always **** fluid when I mess with them. If you have a clog or rusted out line it shouldn't flow.

I might even buy like 10' of fuel line and set the gas jug in the cab and basically do what macrobb's talking.

Definitely get it home and throw up some pictures. These trucks are pretty simple to work on, but they are picky on the fuel system and glow plug system.

 

Just some extra advice when you throw a new fuel filter on her, fill it with ATF, run it for 30 seconds (If you can) and let it sit for 24 hrs

 

Sheesh, you truck guys are so picky. Just pick a tank you think is full. Pull off the hoses at the tank fuel pickup. Put a hose on the supply side of the fuel pick up. Suck on it. If fuel comes out, good. Don't drink it.

Pull off the hose on the lift pump. Run 15' of 3/8" hose from the tank to the lift pump.

Put a 2nd 15' 3/8" diameter hose from the return tee bib after all the injectors. Connect the other side to the return bib on the tank.

Start the engine just like LeRoy said. Don't overheat your starter.

If that don't work, then you know it's either your lift pump, or after the lift pump. My guess is a stuck metering valve or a malfunctioning intermittent Fuel Shut off.

 

On the parts truck i got i did exactly this, except with an elctric pump and i still had air intrusion, with a completely full tank. I listened all around and found a pinhole leak in the metal elbow leaving the fuel sending unit. I could only hear it sucking air once very 10 seconds with an electric pump. you'd never find it with the mechanical lift pump. I slapped some quick steel on it and its fine now but still without a temporary electric pump it would have never been found.

 

Thanks a lot guys for the help. So I got it home last night. They replaced the fuel lines. What had happened was the fuel gauge is broken. I had just filled it up before I left but I guess because the fuel line was rotted I must of ran out of fuel (?). When I went to go start the car after it broke down when I turned the key the temperature gauge went to hot and it never turned over so I guess thats why I had thought it was overheated. So now I just have a few questions: is there a way to fix the fuel gauge without taking off the bed and going into the gas tank to look at the float? Also the neck of the fuel tank leaks. My dad had mentioned a plastic liner but don't know how plastic would do with diesel fuel. Is there a special liner that goes in the neck so it won't leak fuel? One last question. I need a few parts for the car such as mirror tailgate a rear fuel tank and a bunch of stuff. Does anyone have a website I could buy parts from for this year truck? Thanks again guys!!

 

Undo the big fuel nozzle hoses, then drop the tank. It's not that hard if the tank is empty. You can siphon out the diesel with a hose and few pails.

If you want cheap parts and have the time to wait for them, go to RockAuto.com

 

Get it away from that shop as fast as you can. The trucks are stupid easy to work in n compared to the new stuff

 

FIRST narrow down the fuel gauge problem. If it's failing on both tanks, it's more likely the gauge head and/or wiring than either/both senders/floats. It could be the senders are fine, but both floats are fuel-logged and sinking in the tanks.

This diagram - http://userpages.chorus.net/elephant...nkSelector.pdf - is for OBS, but electrically is pretty-much the same. Same wrt. resistances, etc. So if you disconnect the FSV connector and turn the key to RUN, the gauge should peg way past full (infinite resistance). If it does, then the gauge head is probably good, and you should focus on the wiring, FSV, senders or floats. If the gauge does NOT peg with the FSV disconnected, then the problem is most likely in the gauge head.

You can also check the resistance of each sender at the FSV connector, following the diagram. "Sanity check" the resistance against how much fuel is in each tank. That will shed more light.

Fuel neck leak - is it a rust hole? If so, clean it up and repair it with a binary epoxy like PC-7. I've repaired three fuel necks this way (have a fourth one to do soon), and it holds great. Common leak issue - there's a clamp that holds the neck onto a tab that's welded to the bedside, to support its weight. Metal-on-metal (worm gear clamp around the neck), + moisture, + time, = rust. After I repaired mine, I cut some bike innertube rubber and wrapped the neck with it where the clamp goes around it. 'Course, I DIDN'T do the rubber wrap on the remaining necks on the other trucks , and sure enough, another one sprung a similar leak. If I'd wrapped it BEFOREhand, I'd probably be fine.

(BTW, you don't have a gas tank.....)