i have been having hard starts (diagnosed here as an air leak) but the van always started in the end. actually had an appointment to use a friends heated space to work on it later this week, but i guess i didn't make it that long...

now the van won't start all. it turns and turns but no sputter even. i even tried starter fluid and still no sputter.

gp's are a pain to test in the van but i tested a few and they were fine (also recently replaced them anyways). i'm assuming that my air leak got so bad i'm just pulling in too much air???

folks told me to replace lines/olives for the air leak and that was the plan for later this week when i had time...but the only catch is that right now i'm parked in NYC and theoretically have to move the van in a few hours for alternate side parking. no access to an outlet (the block heater always seemed to counter-act the air intrusion). i don't know if there are any tricks to getting it started so that i can move it somewhere to work on it, but if anyone has thoughts i'd love to hear em!?

thanks you all!

 

if she won't even fire off using starting fluid,make sure there is power at the FSS.

 

sorry what the 'fss'?

 

the center most wire connector on the injection pump connects 12v dc to the Fuel Shutoff Solenoid.without power here,the engine won't fire (get nothing for a sputter even using starting fluid.)

 

one trick on these older rigs, is just trun the key untill it truns over. sometimes you get a dead spot in the key switch. You turn the key all the way like you normaly do the motor turns over but you are not getting power to the injection pump. my tow truck is that way I just put in a push botton.

 

If it isn't firing on starting fluid then there is another problem. First, you shouldn't use that stuff on any glow plug or pre-chamber type engine, or it will cause significant damage. Second, a diesel engine uses one thing to ignite the fuel- Pressure. No spark, just the heat of compression. If no fuel is being injected, it should still start on spray since the heat of compression is there, whether the FSS is working or not. They do need to spin over fast to make this heat, though, so if the batteries are low or the starter is going dead it won't spin fast enough to start.

 

hmm.brain farted there didn't i lol.why would you need and fss working while injecting your own fuel source.if my thinking was correct then one could cure a diesel runaway running on it's oil in the base by unhooking the fss and calling it a day.that just won't work lol oops.

 

well...i checked the fuel filter and it was filled with (drumroll please) vegetable oil.

i think my valve or switch is broken and so it never purged. i'll move this over to 'alternative fuels' forum. thanks.

 

adamcat,

How did she run after you got her running before? Have you checked your GPC? You can test your glow plugs all you want, but if they're not getting power, your truck will not start! What about your lift pump? Do you have the factory fuel heater? They are prone to leaking enough to cause this problem. How did it start after it was warm, but sat a while? (45 min to an hour) If it didn't fire right up, you definitely have air intrusion. I would do the return lines and fuel line olives if you haven't done them recently. Test your lift pump, by running the supply hose to a can of fuel. Since your a van, your auto, but pull starting is still possible if you can get her going fast enough. Any big hills in the area?

And Ford...fss? (juss messin! lol)

Good luck,

Mac.

 

OH! just read the last entry!!! Yeah veggie oil would do that!

Bummer man, let us know what it takes to get her going again for future reference.

 

the vege oil explains everything.

you commented on GPs being hard to test in a van - you do know that your can pull off the doghouse and have a nice view of the engine while in the drivers seat, right... in my opinion that makes the van almost easier to work on than a pickup, as we have access from both the front and rear of the engine

i would figure for now that you'll have to purge the line from lift pump to filter with compressed air or something (both ends disconnected), replace filter, purge line from filter to IP with compressed air, and try using a heat lamp or something to get the IP warm enough to get the fuel in it back to liquid, same with the injector lines. the redneck in me wants to grab a torch, but don't do it that way!

 

well, i'm just going to follow up on here in case one day someone else is researching this scenario and ends up here (i'll also follow up on alternative fuels). at the advice of a friend who professionally installs wvo systems i drained what i could from all lines, replaced the filter and filled it with diesel.

my particular situation sucked because i was in a parking spot in nyc with no access to power (for my block heater, a hair dryer, etc). but after i had gotten as much wvo out of lines as possible and reprimed the filter with diesel cracked all injectors and and turned it over until i the injectors started to push diesel through. (he said if i was real desperate and only had one shot on a battery i could have also pulled the glow plugs to really blast it through).

theoretically i think that should have solved my problem. but (as i think i mentioned) i had a pre-existing air intrusion that made starting difficult PRIOR to all this. after a day of bicycling my batteries to various shops to sit on my trickle charger only to bring them back and drain them trying to start my car i finally threw in the towel and towed it to a shop at the end of the day. they are going to reprime lines and let me know if i burned out my pump or not.

thanks for everyones help!

 

ok. so i've got the 'grease problem' resolved (lines are primed and filled with diesel) but van still wont' start. just turns and turns. sounds like fuel pump is something i shoudl check. earlier response mentioned running line from my pump to a gas can to test it....but i'm not sure if i'm supposed to run a line leaving the pump to see if it spits into a fuel can or run a line from a fuel can into the pump? i assumed i would want to test for fuel leaving the pump, but its a hard line from my pump to my filter, so i'm not exactly sure how to do that? any thoughts?

p.s.
i know that i also need to work on olives and other stuff, but i'm still researching (i'm new to this) where all that stuff is and how to change it, but in the meantime have pretty strong suspicions that my pump is burned and wnat to check it.

 

yeah but read ford six post again.he worded it perfectly.like he says your lack of fuel doesn't matter right now even if that is an issue,it's not the one at hand.
the issue at hand is why isn't she firing (doesn't have to run) off on starting fluid?
you say there is no sputter at all right? not a good sign.so like six says again,she's not cranking fast enough maybe.
if she is spinning over quick and powerful and still not sputtering on the spray,then maybe there isn't enough compression left in the 'ol gal.how many miles ya got on her?

 

oh sorry. i forgot to mention....somewhere in al this my starter kicked the bucket. put a new one and a new starter relay in...never heard it spin so fast! here's what i have checked:

STARTER: old one did indeed die. replaced it and the starter relay
FUEL PUMP: with filter off i cranked the engine. it spurted about a cup and a half of diesel (tainted with wvo) out then no more. i have a clear fuel line between my valve and my pump. it was full before this test and empty afterwards. i refilled filter cracked injectors and turned it over for a while. can't get fuel to return to that clear peice of fuel line.
QUESTION: should a working lift pump have continued to pull diesel all the way
through and never stopped? is the fact that the clear supply line emptied out an
indicator of something?


OLIVES, RETURN LINES, ETC: tried to buy some at the auto parts store today but looks like i have to go online to get them
QUESTION: at this point i'm assuming that i can't prime the lines because an air
intrusion in the olives/return lines is not allowing the pump the suction to do it?
am i understanding that correctly? I just don't get why an air intrusion foward
of the pump would effect priming below the pump? is there no check valve?

STARTER FLUID: haven't tried using it since replacing my starter. i'm now back home (tow truck) and so have access to plug in the block and a battery charger so it didn't seem like a dire situation. if using it one last time will help trouble shoot i will.


thank you all so much for your patience and help with this. its completely priceless to me!