Talk me Down!

[bghnkinf350]

So, I am sitting here waiting for the wife to pick me up. Ran across the bay to buy a hood for my firebird. Truck surges a couple of times no big deal. Starts right up after about 20 minutes of sitting. Shut it off, sits some more. Starts fine again. Driving along and it bucks and loses power. Dies and limp it into a gas station. Kill the batteries cranking it. An awesome guy offers to give me a jump and the truck starts. Drive it around a bit and if seems fine. Soon after, it acts the same. the symptoms are similar to the filter being sucked dry and then filling up. Sometimes if I drive slow it lasts a while, if I drie WOT it lasts a while. Died on me right before the bridge. The injection pump feels pretty damn hot. The fuel filter is full.

I was thinking it might be the injection pump. Am I possibly on the right track? I have a u haul pump in there.

Am I missing something?

I am ready to sell this for something more dependable since I need to haul kids and this is giving me fits!

Oh look, here comes the wife and she looks pissed!

 

[Simp5782]

When it acts up and dies pour water on the injection pump to cool it down. if it starts right back up then that is your issue. There are tons of other threads on it.

 

[DragRag]

Could be your lift pump taking a dump,and not the injection pump? Easier, and much cheaper to do. Injection pumps fail a lot less then diagnosed be bad. Just speculating though, check the fuel flow coming from it, and make sure you have a steady stream heading to the filter housing. Pressure should be up to 7 psi on a mechanical pump, and it does surge normally.

 

[George D.]

If you have a big enough trailer I could help you get your truck home I'm in Novato.

How much fuel is in it? it could be broken pickups if its got pleanty of fuel I would say either lift pump or IP.

I doubt the IP is overheating because you said it dies while driving from my experiances in afghan they useualy just wouldn't start after shut off hot man people look at you funny when you fix their HMMWV with a botle of water. I've never seen one overheat running diesel but its quite common on JP8 in hot climates. But it is still possible that it is your problem.

The first thing to check would be fule presure like drag rag said. should be 4-7psi.

 

[bghnkinf350]

Thanks guys! And thank you George. I have a friend with a tow company and I am going to see what she will charge me. The truck is in Fremont right now at the Dumbarton Bridge. I like the lift pump idea - it is an Airtex and the quality is the *****!

I am scared that it is the injection pump!

I talked it over and it looks like I might be selling the truck. I have a Firebird sitting I'm the garage that I need to actually focus on! I keep putting my efforts into other stuff instead of finishing not thing at a time.

I am having mixed feelings about selling it, but am excited about actually having spending money for this car!

What would this truck likely be worth? it is the one in the sig. There is some bond on the cab and the front is a Dana 50. The only other thing I can think of is new bushings in front with
poly bushings in the front spring eyes and shackle. It has a Banks Y pipe and I have a Sidewinder kit only missing the up pipe.

I was thinking $2500 or so. Am I in the ball park?

 

[idi traveler]

I even had the hose collapse Between the hard line and pump once. replace it and was good to go for a couple of weeks. That is until it sucked some more if my broken pickup into the line and plug it really good.

At first it would surge every now and then. Start and run fine for a little while. It would always start and run fine for a little while. That is until the piece of the pickup got stuck really good.

 

[damac]

We got a uhaul pump months ago that had a hot start problem. But in all the times I drove it around until I returned it, it never gave out when we were driving.

But a good test was get the truck nice and hot, go shopping for 20 minutes then come back. That is when its the worst, truck would spin over until dead in that moment and not even try and catch.

I have an electric carrier pump in mine and I love that thing. Priming of the lines is easy and it helped with some of our again line leaks that came with the truck and that I never got a chance to fix by pulling the bed off.

If you had some clear line upfront you could see if that is your problem with air bubbles.

I have seen our truck act differently with the air/fuel delivery thing. Sometimes it would shake and stumble and warn me. Other times you could be going along and not even notice the engine die like in a turn or going up a hill, and just noticed the brakes or steering go out I am sure we have the typical shower heads broken off in ours.


Does your truck have a longbed?

 

[OnDaRoad]

Am I missing something?

I am ready to sell this for something more dependable since I need to haul kids and this is giving me fits!

Oh look, here comes the wife and she looks pissed!

Pull the dipstick, smell it for diesel, see if it is overfilled or thinned .....

Don't run your truck if you think the mechanical fuel pump is going
out .....


Jim

 

[Goofyexponent]

the symptoms are similar to the filter being sucked dry and then filling up. Sometimes if I drive slow it lasts a while, if I drie WOT it lasts a while. Died on me right before the bridge. The injection pump feels pretty damn hot. The fuel filter is full.

This right here points me towards the lift pump. The lift pump feeds fuel to the IP. The IP uses fuel to cool and lubricate the internals.

I remember reading on here that there is a gear driven "pump" within the IP....if that sounds right. This will pull JUST enough fuel to make the truck run, but it will cause the IP to heat up and burn up due to lack of lubrication.

As stated above, pull the dipstick, check for oil and fuel mixture in your crank case.

If you do manage to find the lift pump with tango umbrella, change your oil as a precaution!

Be careful pouring cold water on a hot pump. It might get you out of a bind, but it may cause the pump housing to crack too.....kinda like pouring ice water on an overheated exhaust manifold. The metal does NOT like the sudden significant temperature change.

 

[Shadetreemechanic]

Same symptoms happened to me several years ago in the woods. It was the lift pump. doesn't sound like Ip to me at all.

 

[perk]

Don't give up on it that easy. Even if it turns out to be an ip they aren't that hard to change. I think the first time I changed one it took 5-6 hrs. Now I can change one in about three hours. Not only that the parts are so much cheaper compared to newer rigs.

 

[subway]

a fuel pressure gage should tell you all you need to know there

 

[bghnkinf350]

Thanks guys, I checked the oil while I was there. It did not smell like fuel, but was low. I checked the lift pump a couple months ago and pressure and volume were fine. Can this be a part that only partially works? Like it will put out good numbers at idle then go down? I have a Racor separator with clear bowl. I chased down a bunch or small air issues and I can see no bubbles in it. I replaced the pick ups I'm the tank as they had fallen apart. I thought about something possibly in the line but it is doing this on both tanks. I am starting to think the lift pump too, but do they gradually fail like this?

 

[papastruck]

I am starting to think the lift pump too, but do they gradually fail like this?

The IP will often suck enough fuel through on its own - I've run for a few miles before realizing that I'd inadvertently hit the fuel pump switch and my electric pump wasn't even running.

 

[OnDaRoad]

Worth what someone will pay ....

What would this truck likely be worth? it is the one in the sig. There is some bond on the cab and the front is a Dana 50. The only other thing I can think of is new bushings in front with
poly bushings in the front spring eyes and shackle. It has a Banks Y pipe and I have a Sidewinder kit only missing the up pipe.

I was thinking $2500 or so. Am I in the ball park?

It is worth what someone is willing to pay for it ....


Jim