What happened? I started my truck this AM and it was normal. It only ran about 45 seconds and I turned it off , had a phone call. Restarted it and it had a God awful rattle from the engine and it shook like crazy. Turned it off, did a visual under the hood. Restarted it and it felt like it was hitting on one Cly, rattled & shook and the most RPM I could get was 500.

Up to now I always felt a little smug because I didn't have all of these crazy problems that the other guys had. Well....those days are over.

Any suggestions? I also checked it for codes....None.

Rog

 

Mine sounds like that when I run out of fuel. I HATE to ask these questions, but...

Is your truck parked at an angle that would cause the engine to be fuel starved?

Is there fuel in the tank?

Is the fuel filter clogged?

Is there an oil leak that would have caused the oil level to be too low?

Are all injectors functioning properly?

 

The truck is parked level.

The tank that I am on is 1/2 full/empty.

I changed the fuel filter on Oct 28, 2007 50 miles ago.

I have obs'd no oil leaks any where.

I don't know if the injectors are working. How do I determine that?

Now, one more clue. I have been trying for weeks to hook up a fuel pressure gauge to the fuel system. I had a sensor/sending unit installed where the schrader valve was located via a 1" brass nipple and a 90* elbow. The gauge would only registar about 20#. I got a "Snubber" yesterday which is supposed to decrease the spikes in our fuel system and assist the gauge in a accurate reading.

I installed the snubber inbetween the schrader port and the sender this morning and still had the same low pressure reading 20#. I removed them both and replaced the schrader valve and that is when the above problems started.

A few days a go I did the FPR upgrade with the BB while I waited for the snubber to arrive. I saw no increase in pressure and have come to the conclusion that this gauge set up is just not going to work whith these diesel engines. The truck has been running great up to this morning.

As we speak the truck is back to stock except there is a 1" brass nipple with a 90* elbow in place where the the schrader valve was. The schrader valve is now screwed into the elbow. The FPR BB is still in place. No fuel leaks.

I will go to the truck right now, switch tanks and try to start it. I'm back, it tryed to start but never caught just like it did on the other tank.

I suppose I could pop the top off of the fuel filter to acertain if there is fuel there. What else might try?

Oh crap, it's starting to rain, Why not?

Roger

 

Roger,sorry about the rain. Sounds like you have air in the line, because you disconnected for your upgrade. Check the fuel filter like you said and I think you might have air in your fuel rail. I hope this helps.

 

If there is in fact air in the system how do I purge it out? Will pouring fuel into the filter bowl accomplish this?

And...thanks for you input.
Rog

 

KAWA , it should purge itself, if you haven't changed your filter in a while now would be a good time. If you have air and fuel rail it will not hurt to change the filter now. I hope this helps.

 

There should be more fuel pressure then 20lbs. Stock your schrader should read 55psi.

Cowboy Steve

 

What a nutty video

 

Steve, 20# is all I have ever been able to get with this electric FP gauge.
I never really believed it to be accurate because I went ahead and did the FPR upgrade with the BB and did not get any increase.

I am going to get a mechanical gauge and hook it up to the schrader valve.
If the truck don't start I'm not going to get a reading am I?

As for the fuel filter I just changed that 10-28-2007 and have approx. 50 miles on it.

Rog

 

Mechanical pump will reg pressure while cranking....Should be more than 20.....

 

You'll still get a reading from the FPR but it if the numbers are low then you have a fuel related no start issue. Have you or are you leaking any fuel in the valley? Fuel bowl have crud built up in the bottom of it? Ever cleaned the FPR screen before?

Cowboy Steve

 

When I changed the fuel filter a couple of weeks ago everything looked clean but I went ahead and flushed fresh fuel thru the bowl and caught it in a jar and obs very little debris.

I have not cleaned the FPR screen nor did I remove the center post.

I just got home with a glycerin filled gauge so I'm going to remove the schrader valve and screw this gauge in its place and see what I have.

Don't go away, I'll be back, Baby lol

Rog

 

sounds like you got some burnt........

 

................Huh?

Cowboy Steve

 

Well that took longer than expected, Inter-net took a dump. OK, back to the problem. I hooked the glycern filled gauge to the schrader outlet but...I put the Snubber in line because you guys have always complained about the iratic readings you get.

I couldn't see the gauge from the drivers seat but the engine sounded like it wanted to start. I'd try and then wait, try again. Finally one cyl. hit then 2-3-4-5-6-7 It is now running rough like there is one cyl not hitting or at least 1/2 of a cyl. It is running but shakes a little and that was never there before.

Fuel pressure is a steady 20 pounds. Now mind you that I just did the FPR BB upgrade So.....I guess I'll pull the filter apart again, pull the center stem and clean the FPR screen. That center stem is a left hand thread right? I will also try (If it will start after I remove it) running the engine without the snubber just to see what kind of pressure it records.

At this point I don't know what else to do.

Roger