Younger son took the truck, said it started running rough then quit. 1989 7.3, electric pump conversion, new tank switch last year. He was on a tank that was getting low. Switched to the other tank, full, still crank no start. @calvinhg pulled him back on a tow strap, he was just a couple miles away. Good lesson for the kid on how to be towed with no power steering or brakes. heh heh, on a dirt road in the dark. Kids learn when challenged.

I tested the fuel pump by opening the tire valve and fuel comes out steadily. I have the truck on charge overnight. I suspect it ran out of fuel and the IP needs fuel. Is there a manual prime pump on these motors?

Another cause that it might be is the fuel cutoff switch has failed. That's on top of the IP, right? Should I be able to hear it click?

Anybody have other ideas?

 

i really doubt the FSS failed.
yes it is on top of the injector pump. with key on, remove the front wire and touch it to the terminal. you should hear it click when touched .
i really think he ran it out of fuel and ran the batteries down trying to start it back up.
sometimes it takes a bit of cranking to bleed the air out of the injector lines to get it to refire.
what i do is crack the front 4 injector line nuts loose and crank it. once it fires i tighten the nuts back up.
loosening the nuts a turn or two will help get the air out of them.

 

x2

If you loosen the injector nuts make sure you wear eye protection!

 

Yeah well at my age the eye protection goes on when I get out of bed ...

 

i am so old, i have to put the glasses on before i get out of bed, otherwise my feet will not find the floor.

 

Yeah, I wear glasses too but I've gotten carburetor cleaner (back splash) in my eye before and it definitely sucks! Almost went to the ER for that one.

I did get diesel fuel on my cheek changing the FSV, I was wearing eye protection that time. Diesel REALLY stinks.

 

Crack your injector lines. I'm 99.9% sure you'll get it running easy with a charged battery and cranked/bled injector lines. Video and explanation here: How to Crack Injector Lines and Purge Air on a 6.9 / 7.3 IDI Diesel Engine ? IDI Online

Depending on how long it's been, this could be a good time to change your fuel filter. Since you have air in the system anyway, can't really hurt.

 

i will take diesel fuel over 90 weight gear oil any day!!!

 

It was exactly as y'all suspected. We cracked three injector lines, cranked again with freshly charged batteries, and she fired up in 10 seconds. It had simply run out of fuel.

He was running on the back tank, and it was just under 1/4 full on the gauge. When I filled it back up, it only took 12 gallons. Hmmmm, broken pickup tube, part way down.

Good time for a new 36 gal tank back there, and a new pickup tube in it.

 

good to hear it was something simple.

 

Glad you got her started. I've considered swapping my rear tank for the 38 gal tank. It's one of those MAWs since I have to install a new fuel sending unit anyways. Here's a good thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...2-96-97hd.html

 

Loosing the spare tire space kills any reason I would want to do this, but for sure I need to drop both my tanks and do some sender work on them. but this is for a later date

 

JC Whitney sells a spare tire mount for the bed, that's made by the guys who make Titan fuel tanks. Great price, works nicely. Getting that spare out from under there is a beach.

 

I have a 15 Foot slide in Camper on the Truck... it's not practical to place my spare on the cow Catcher either and I have a Rack on the back that has a Genny so it really can't go there, I do pull a boat too but not all the time like the Camper. I carry a low profile Floor Jack so getting the spare out is not too bad ... but it is still a Beach.

At my age just having to change a Tire is a Beach
being able to afford Fancy Road Service Options on my Retirement income is impossible too...... but anyway I get by

 

But it looks so bad@$$!



Couldn't find a pic of a Bullnose with the tire up front, but I figured a Bumpside was better than a C***y or D***e.