When starting my 7.3 in the morning (warm temp), I wait for glow plugs to do their thing and as soon as I hit the starter, she comes alive. The problem I have is she runs for about 3 seconds and dies. She does this about 2 or 3 times before staying running. If I had a return line problem, I would have problems starting. It sounds like air between the filter and injector pump. There is probably enough fuel to start but not maintain. I also notice lately I have to let it run 4-5 mins or it will stall as soon as I put it in gear and start to load the engine. It will instantly start again after every one of these stalls. You would think I would have to crank it enough to get more fuel but not the case. Maybe it is something with the injector pump/advance timing. It's fine after warmup.

Thanks for your help
Tom

 

thats a strange one. normal air intrusion starts like yours does the first time, then leaves you cranking until the batteries are almost dead, then starts and runs normally - unless you have an electric fuel pump, then its no problem at all.
are you running straight diesel, or some alternative fuel blend?
whats the history on the IP? 200k and never been changed or ??

 

Could be a weak lift pump.

 

I have 190K on engine now. I replaced lift pump @ 151K and IP @185K

Something else I noticed, if I keep the throttle down (past 1K) it doesn't stall.
Thanks
Tom

 

Are you pressing the pedal while starting to engage the high idle solenoid? And does the high idle solenoid work?

Not sure that it would entirely solve your issues, but you said if you keep the throttle up, it won't stall, and the high idle solenoid is meant to keep the throttle at ~1,000 rpm's while the engine warms up.

 

The advance works good (rattles a lot at first start) and the high idle solonoid also works good (1000 RPM). I think by holding the throttle so the engine comes alive with about 1200-1400 RPM, I "push it past" the possible loss of fuel that is causing it to stall. What puzzles me is it starts instantly when I restart it. If it is a fuel problem, it must be between the IP and the injector because it only runs 1 second (not 3 as I stated earlier). My next check will be to see if I can just continue to restart it without the added throttle (just high idle solonoid) and will it eventually continue to run. I also noticed after letting it run about 3-4 min, I backed out of the driveway and it stalled as soon as I put a small load on it to get out of the gutter. Again, it restarted instantly. If there is a fuel shortage, it must be (as I said) between the IP and injector. I think a fuel filter would not act like this. I suppose putting a press gauge on the lift pump would be a good idea.
Thank you all for your input. All suggestions are welcome
Tom

 

that definately doesn't sound like air intrusion, but could be a restriction in the fuel supply. it creates a vacuum, and in the second or two before you restart it, it gets fuel back up there for a moment.
such a restriction could be a filter or a collapsing piece of rubber hose somewhere in the line, or a clogged pickup tube, or other clogged tube.
i would start by running a piece of rubber hose from the suction side of the lift pump into a 5 gallon can full of diesel, and start it up on that. once you get past the initial air bubble, you'll prove if your problem is on the "fuel delivery" or fuel injection side of the world.
another option would be to have an electric pump pushing fuel to somewhere further up the system, maybe the line leaving the filter to the IP, to further eliminate a section of potential problems