<p><p>I recently acquired my truck from an older retired gentleman who is simply just trying to help me turn around of string of bad luck. He takes very good care of everything he owns... My "89 7.3 IDI 5speed has been very well maintained but set for prob almost 2 years. It was just parked in his barn collecting dust. To get the truck "road worthy" I did have some preliminary projects to complete. The gear shift was broken off so I had to weld it back together. The fuel pump pumping to the fuel filter had failed so I installed an inline pump. Two new batteries were purchased, and i had to weld a muffler on as well. That got me on the road and my foot in the door as a mechanic (lol funny as it may sound) at a local scrap yard. I drive approx 45 miles a day round trip to work and have been doing so for the past two weeks (ALL interstate driving). Like I said this truck is in pristene condition. Everything on the truck works. No cracks in the vinyl seats or dash. It is a flatbed but no rust on the cab itself. That reiterated the only issue I had was after driving and shifting to N if I didn't tap the accelerator the truck would die. Once warm the occurrence would cease. FUEL FILTER right??? </p></p>
<p><p>&nbsp;</p></p>
<p><p>Funny how the day I purchased my filter I was headed from Napa to a service station with diesel the truck died in the middle of town at the busiest intersection possible. I didn't think I was going to get it started but with much reluctantcy I used maybe a 16th of a squirt of ether. The old mule kicked it on down eat street thru 15 red lights but was running quite rough. I decided to go ahead a change it asap even though I hadn't made it to the service station row. I drained the fuel from the old filter to the new and replaced the Napa 3217. I turned the key to engage my inline fuel pump and pressed the bleeder valve and obviously there was air in the line BC it sputtered before I got steady flow. I repeated the process until I got a smooth stream of fuel 3times in a row and fired her up. I know I'm going to need a clutch job soon BC from time to time when she idles it sounds like the engine may rattle out the tailpipe, but it was idling extremely rough for about 10min then kinda smoothed out (not to normal just in comparison). I thought maybe I still might have had a little air somehow so decided to just head home.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The truck had very little power and vibration in the lower and higher RPMs of each gear, but was kinda smooth in between. I didn't make 3 miles before it killed over at yet probably the second busiest light in the city only this time it didn't move till a 550 roll back came and towed it home. I've read several posts and cleaned the valve behind the intake( I forget its name, but there was just a little oil in it. Nothing that would have seemed detrimental though). Oh yeah the check engine light has NOT come on at all. So I'm baffled and need a point in the right direction. Guess the long winded post makes my first post scream first timer. Any info be appreciated</p>

 

First confirm fuel pressure & volumefrom filter housing . do this on return line from filter to
#1 injector. 3psi min. should flow a pint or so 30sec. Make sure fuel return to tank is not restricted (stops fuel flow). if fuel system cks ok then the fuel injector pump may be the cause. is the elec pump installed so it bypasses factory pump on on eng block? a bad factory pump can let air in system. To test injector pump prime fuel system by letting elec run for a few min., then while some cranks engine loosen fuel
line at a injector see if there is fuel pulsing out (may have to loosen a few turns to unseat lines)., If no fuel comes out lines then pump is suspect. Hope this helps.
The biggest problm we had with these was air in fuel system.

 

Thread moved to Pre-Power Stroke Diesel (7.3L IDI & 6.9L) forum.

 

How much fuel is in the tanks? These trucks have a plastic 'showerhead' attached to the fuel line in the tank acting as the inlet screen/fuel pickup. They are well known for breaking off causing the fuel pump to suck air at 1/4 tank.

The dieing you were seeing can also be caused by crud in the injector pump. I had that problem with the '93 I picked up last winter. When I started actually driving it around over the summer, it did the same thing, dying if I blipped the throttle, or after cruising and hit the clutch. Drain the fuel filter, refill it with clean ATF or Diesel Clean and replace it. Fire the truck up, let it run for about 30 seconds, then shut it off and let it sit over night. Next day fire it up and run it like normal, if the problem is still there, repeat.

If the fuel filter is clogged, the vacuum switch on the filter header should illuminate the 'Fuel Filter' light on the dash. That can also happen if the lift pump is dieing. That happened on my '88 last fall. However, I don't believe the light will come on if there is air in the system, so if you are sucking air somewhere (like the fuel pickup old fuel pump, or somewhere else along the line).

Since your question got moved, you'll get a lot of help here in this forum.

Oh! and you may not need a clutch job either. If the engine is sucking air into the injector pump, it can rattle and run rough. Depending on the flywheel installed, the transmission may also rattle horribly when idling. The original Dual Mass Flywheel installed in these trucks absorbed the sharp impulse spikes that the diesel engines makes. That smooths out the power to the transmission when idling or at low speeds. When the dual mass fails, or when its replaced with a single mass flywheel, those impulse spikes are transmitted to the transmission and make the gears rattle back and forth loudly. In all honesty, the single mass flywheel is the better option. Turning the idle up a bit can help with the noise if that is indeed the problem. Lets focus on getting it running right first!

 

welcome to FTE.
as said before, how much fuel is in the tanks? these trucks are known to suck air through a cracked pickup tube at around 1/8 to 1/4 tank.

fuel delivery should be 7 psi and 1/3 pint in 10 seconds cranking.

 

YES I did bypass the factory fuel pump all together. I think anyway lol... The more I read I think I'm starting to understand there are several pumps on these engines, but if you're facing the truck at about the 7:00 position behind a pulley of some sort (I'm not looking at the truck now so pardon the vagueness) so at the 7:00 position I found where the fuel line fed into a pump and continued on to the fuel filter assembly. I just simply slid my inline fuel pump in place and bypassed all the factory mechanics. So is the injector pump between the filter and the injectors???

 

That's what I thought at first so when my boss brought me home I added another 5gallons from a tank in his bed.

 

I hope your right about the clutch... Anyway I don't understand your directions on cleaning the injector pump. The truck cranks strong but it won't turn over and run. So won't be able to let anything run for 30 seconds. Also transmission fluid can be put in the fuel filter and that won't mess up the truck? And I'm understanding I am to fill the filter up with ATF???

 

Also thank you very much ALL for insight. Any is appreciated greatly

 

ok, here is a little trick to try. open the hood, and turn the key to run position. int he middle of the front of the engine is the injector pump. there are two electrical connections on the top of it. remove the front connector and touch/remove it from the tab on the pump. you should hear a click here is a little video showing it, and the click you will hear.
click on the picture below to play the video:



if you do not hear a clicking, that means your fuel shutoff is not working.

if you do hear it let us know and we will go in a different direction.

 

No doubt! I'm in upper E TN (10ec) in the Smokey Mtns so its cold and dark out right now and I'm at my moms for Turkey Day so don't have a drop light or tools of any kind but I assure you when I get back to the truck I'll give it a shot. At this point regardless of what it is I just wanna know what's holding it up. Oh and the video isn't working so is there an address I can go to and check it out??? Thanks again and Happy Thanksgiving

 

I noticed when I hit reply there was a web address in lieu of the photo it self. Even when I go to the videos in your album they won't pull up. The only access to the internet I have is my phone so its player not recognize the information. I'll try to find an alternative access point. Any videos that may help are appreciated. Nice truck by the way... The child in front of your truck is absolutely adorable lol!

 

probably not loading because of the slow phone connection. John was 3-4 years old when that was taken, he is now around 14-15 years old.
i should send his father that picture.

 

<p>K so I still can't access the video. Looking at the FIP(Fuel Injection Pump) I see three tab connections. There is one on the left side of the FIP; directly behind the FIP gear housing. There are two more on the right side of the FIP one directly in front of the other. Which one do I unplug the one on the right or top or bottom left???</p>

 

Drivers side top.