smokinpipes
Navistar Nut
Hey all, long time, no post; I know.. I know... Life has been, to say the least, busy.
Now, lets throw into the mix, a truck that virtually refuses to start.
The facts:
A week and a half prior to my issues, she started on either the first or second crank, every time; hot or cold. Never missed a beat. I had lost my wallet, had no money, and when the car was low on fuel, began driving my truck, as it got low in fuel, I supplemented with some used hydraulic oil (~5 gallons mixed with 7 gallons of #2) and drove on that for about an additional week. Had no real starting or driving issues albeit a little more smoky. One night, I was headed home @ 3am, and the truck was running okay, but seemed like it was surging a little bit, however, at 3am it didn't register I was running out of fuel, until she lost power after making a corner. I switched tanks and by the time I arrived home, she was running smooth again.
Next day/night, drove into work, with no issues, however it seemed like the truck had started it bit harder than usual, but didn't think much of it. 9 hours later, driving home, she was acting like she was sucking air again... but the rear tank should have been fairly full...arrived home, and idle was very unstable. Shut her off, and figured I would check for air in the fuel lines the next day.
Next day, started truck, had pockets of small air bubbles coming through the bypass line at the fuel filter.. okay.. FSV suspect. pulled FSV, fine... put fuel system back together, put 5 gallons of fuel in each front and rear tank, and bled fuel system, fought with truck to get started again; got started, air seemed to be less prominent (suspect bad pickup in rear tank)... still harder than I liked to start... coked injectors/swirl chambers?
Pulled three injectors out last night, and found no evidence of coking. Injector tips looked clean, could see straight into swirl chamber, and no major carbon built up. Replaced injectors, and tried to start her... no dice. Pulled injector line off one injector, and had fuel coming out of line. Tightened fuel lines back up.
The glows are functioning correctly (has updated GP controller from a 7.3L; Motorcraft plugs) Finally took several sessions of ether to get her to take off (after disabling the G.P.s) Let her run a while, drove her into town, and back. (about 20 minutes of run time) Upon arriving home, shut her down, and went to restart, and she had to turn over for about 5-8 seconds to get her to fire.
When she did fire, it wasn't a sudden fire, but more like she turned over, in a gradual, but increasing speed until she fired up. Did this three times in succession, all with the same results.
Let sit about an hour, tried to start again, glow plug light illuminated for about 5 seconds, turned over, and would not start. I had no smoke from the tailpipe, nor that unburnt diesel fuel smell.
Fuel filter isn't plugged, nor is it old. Have about 6.5 PSI fuel pressure coming to filter. I plan to check fuel coming from injection pump return line; and checking for air intrusion with clear vinyl tubing at various locations. Last I knew timing was around 10* adv @ 2000.
My question: should I plan on budgeting for another IP? Injectors? What else should I check (chances I've checked and just didn't write it down)
(Afterthought: IP is 4 years old, with maybe 30,000 miles, injectors, 6, with 50k - These are rough estimates)
Now, lets throw into the mix, a truck that virtually refuses to start.
The facts:
A week and a half prior to my issues, she started on either the first or second crank, every time; hot or cold. Never missed a beat. I had lost my wallet, had no money, and when the car was low on fuel, began driving my truck, as it got low in fuel, I supplemented with some used hydraulic oil (~5 gallons mixed with 7 gallons of #2) and drove on that for about an additional week. Had no real starting or driving issues albeit a little more smoky. One night, I was headed home @ 3am, and the truck was running okay, but seemed like it was surging a little bit, however, at 3am it didn't register I was running out of fuel, until she lost power after making a corner. I switched tanks and by the time I arrived home, she was running smooth again.
Next day/night, drove into work, with no issues, however it seemed like the truck had started it bit harder than usual, but didn't think much of it. 9 hours later, driving home, she was acting like she was sucking air again... but the rear tank should have been fairly full...arrived home, and idle was very unstable. Shut her off, and figured I would check for air in the fuel lines the next day.
Next day, started truck, had pockets of small air bubbles coming through the bypass line at the fuel filter.. okay.. FSV suspect. pulled FSV, fine... put fuel system back together, put 5 gallons of fuel in each front and rear tank, and bled fuel system, fought with truck to get started again; got started, air seemed to be less prominent (suspect bad pickup in rear tank)... still harder than I liked to start... coked injectors/swirl chambers?
Pulled three injectors out last night, and found no evidence of coking. Injector tips looked clean, could see straight into swirl chamber, and no major carbon built up. Replaced injectors, and tried to start her... no dice. Pulled injector line off one injector, and had fuel coming out of line. Tightened fuel lines back up.
The glows are functioning correctly (has updated GP controller from a 7.3L; Motorcraft plugs) Finally took several sessions of ether to get her to take off (after disabling the G.P.s) Let her run a while, drove her into town, and back. (about 20 minutes of run time) Upon arriving home, shut her down, and went to restart, and she had to turn over for about 5-8 seconds to get her to fire.
When she did fire, it wasn't a sudden fire, but more like she turned over, in a gradual, but increasing speed until she fired up. Did this three times in succession, all with the same results.
Let sit about an hour, tried to start again, glow plug light illuminated for about 5 seconds, turned over, and would not start. I had no smoke from the tailpipe, nor that unburnt diesel fuel smell.
Fuel filter isn't plugged, nor is it old. Have about 6.5 PSI fuel pressure coming to filter. I plan to check fuel coming from injection pump return line; and checking for air intrusion with clear vinyl tubing at various locations. Last I knew timing was around 10* adv @ 2000.
My question: should I plan on budgeting for another IP? Injectors? What else should I check (chances I've checked and just didn't write it down)
(Afterthought: IP is 4 years old, with maybe 30,000 miles, injectors, 6, with 50k - These are rough estimates)
It's got a home projected already. If you want, I've got a compression tester you can use if need to.
... With one line disconnected, after about 7-8 squirts from a hard line onto a white rag, I had a wet spot of fuel aprox 3" in diameter. I realize these aren't calibration grade numbers but it's what I've got for reference. So, I am still indeed getting fuel.
