Okay... Well for starters this truck has been through all sorts of new parts recently. New Alternator... New Vacum Pump... All New Battery and Starter Lines... New Batteries... And about 15 quarts of oil in the last 3 months of owning this thing...


Enough about that, Here is the main problem I've been having recently.

I started my truck up after it was off for 5 hours or so (Unplugged), I let it idle for a few minutes and then took off to go home (15 Minute Trip). I got the truck up to 55mph and after a mile or so, I was flooring it and the RPM's sounded like they are in the lower 1000's... Then the truck just died around 20Mph.

So I pulled off the road, tried starting it a few times. It started up and then died. So I held my pedal to the floor and started it again... It died after less then 10 seconds of being on, I continued doing this for 20-25minutes.

I finally switched to my rear tank, finally.... It started... After a few tries! Made it home and ran inside to figure out what the hell is wrong!?!?!

Keep in mind I have a plow on the front of the truck and 3500 pounds of weight in the back, sand, salt. Extra weigth, ect... So 55-60mph is about the fastest my truck goes....

Thank you,

Andrew

 

If the tank was around 1/4 full, your pickup in the fuel tank may have broke off. It's a common problem with the diesels. It looks like a plastic shower head, and it falls off, and then you can't pick up the rest of the fuel in the tank. Most people take the sending unit out and put a short piece of fuel hose on the end with a "v" cut in the hose so it picks up the rest of the fuel.

 

I had the same problem again today.

I started the truck right up, let it idle for a few minutes and took off.(This time with 2 full tanks)

I drove it about a mile @ it's top speed of 45-55 mph and the truck died literally feet within where it died last time! I pulled into the same neighborhood and sat there for a good 30 minutes cranking the engine over. Finally it started, thank god i have practically 4 batteries. It made it all the way home with no problem, whats this all about? I need a reliable truck!

Extra Info: I burnt/ leaked through 2 quarts of oil while plowing for 11 hours today, does this have anything to do with it? I'm also a little low on anti-freeze! The truck ran all day with no problems.

 

The next time it dies on you, check to see if you have fuel. On my 89 I have a schrader valve at the fuel filter (like a tire valve) that I can poke and see if I have fuel.

 

Without more information the problem could be as simple as water in fuel, fuel beginning to gel to injection pump needing replaced.

Common problem of an injection pump when worn is when the pump warms up it can't push fuel hard enough to pop the injectors, cools off and truck will run again.

How cold has it been? Do you use fuel additives? How many miles on the truck and what kind of work if any has been done to the fuel system?

 

I was using fuel additive the first time this happened, it was only 23-25 Degrees.
The second time this happened, I was not using fuel additive. It was around 28-30 Degrees.

I have no idea how many actual miles are on the truck, we are assuming around 300k+

I'm not sure what work has been done on the truck, I just got it 3 months ago. These problems started last month and have been getting progressively worse. An aftermarket turbo was installed 2 1/2 years ago, and the spark plugs were replaced 2 months ago. Thats all the information I have...


Like the other day I was on the interstate doing 60 mph and it slowed down to 20 mph but my foot was still all the way to the floor??

 

You could also tee in a pressure guage to the fuel supply line to the injection pump, run it up and tape it to the windshield for testing. If you have plenty of fuel pressure feeding the pump, then it's going to have to be the injection pump that is failing.

I am assuming the glowplugs were replaced 2 months ago, not the sparkplugs

 

Silly me, haha.
Yes, I replaced the expensive glowplugs 2 months ago. Haha!

I'll stop by autozone and buy a pressure gauge. Could my injectors be going bad?

 

It would be unusual for all the injectors to go bad all at once. And when you get one or two going bad, the engine will lope because that cylinder is not contributing to the engine running.

 

I added a pressure gauge in the line after my fuel filter head to be able to see what it was pushing. Get the carb pressure gauge kit, and a few pipe fittings from a hardware store.

Question: have you tried replacing the fuel filter? Could well be plugging. Had one act like I was driving against a hard wind, unhooked the trailer headed back into town, and still could hardly get going. Replaced the fuel filter, and it was back to its normal hard running self...

 

It's not loping at idle, I made the same drive, once again today.

I took out 1,500 pounds of weight out of the bed of my truck and added 2 quarts of oil. The truck made it all the way home, it was 33-35 degrees out today. I think it's either my pump or fuel filter not being able to push the fuel through the injectors while it's colder... When I would slow down from 50-55mph it had a weird loping sound, like it was about to die. It went away when i returned to 30mph...

I dumped in a bottle of injector cleaner and some more anti-gel liquid into the tank when I got home. Napa and autozone closed early, so I'll go in tomorrow and buy a pressure gauge kit and new fuel filter.

Should I wrap something around my fuel filter, to keep it from getting so cold? Would that do anything? It's supposed to get down to 5-10 degrees this week.

Also would it hurt to go ahead and replace/ upgrade my fuel pump? If so, what kind would you suggest I purchase?


Thank you guys so so so much!

~Andrew

 

It would be less likely to gel in the filter than in the fuel lines to the pump, if that is what you are thinking. I am simply referring to the filter condition in general. You should see around 5 psi to the IP all the time. Only true upgrade would be to switch to an electric pump, but I am having to rework mine. Had a Holley on it, but it seems to have failed, and now I have to change it out. The vane type pumps apparently don't take well to pumping diesel. I picked up a Carter a while back, now just have to remember where I put it... Having to try to get it back going after a friend was using the truck, had power loss issues, and his uncle, trying to help, pulled the top gear over off with the pump, so messed up the timing. I have limited time, so it gets worked on as I have time. Sure miss my good trailer puller...

As far as the temp, as long as it has the winter blended fuel, with no bio, those temps will not be an issue. I have had some problems with bio blend and low temps, pouring it out of jugs that are stored outside, the bio was settling out of the fuel already at 0-5 degrees, while non-bio blend does not. I have no issue with bio typically, except when it comes to cold weather. Fought too many gelled tractors when we bought from a bio blend source (didn't know it at the time, to make matters worse) and do not fight gelling when we by from a non-bio blend source. Having a tractor die in the front yard due to gelling is not a fun thing, or on the side of the road 1/2 mile from anything...

Another possibility, with it being warmer, and no troubles, it may have water in the filter. You need to follow the fuel line on the driver side, as it comes up the frame rail, and goes across to the fuel pump on the passenger side. From the factory, it should go to a water separator that commonly is bypassed due to high failure rates of the separator. This makes the filter have to do the filtration and water separation duties both. If the water froze in the filter, it would limit the fuel passing through, causing fuel starvation.

 

I buy my diesel from Speedway surely it's the winter blend.
I'll check for water and replace the filter tomorrow, thank you so much!

So a carter electric fuel pump? An electric pump would sure help on these cold starts.

 

Another possibility here. Stopped up fuel tank vent(s). I'll admit, I'm not that familiar with the vent system on the diesel's, but there has to be some form of vent, somewhere, or the tank will create a "vacuum" as fuel is drawn out. The end result would be fuel starvation, until either switching tanks, or the pressure equalizes inside the tank.

 

Mr. Gasket 12D for an electric pump if that's the route you choose ...

When Auto manufactures were in the business of making quality cars to last, there was no electric pumps, they used mechanical for a reason.

In today's 3 year warranty 3 year life span, 5 year warranty 5 year life span vehicles, it doesn't matter, an electric pump will live about that long ... Maybe!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~