Broke down

Brian VT

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There was no warning. Just shut off.

The rear tank and selector valve have been bypassed so that option isn’t available. No water drain valve on my filter.
No wetness at the lift pump (or anywhere) but the lift pump is shiny so looks to have been replaced within a few years? Maybe it's one of the newer crappy ones that are only lasting a few years?
I guess I’ll start by dumping the fuel filter into a glass jar. But then I have no receipt from a mechanic to go after the fuel station?
 
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Nero

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There was no warning. Just shut off.

The rear tank and selector valve have been bypassed so that option isn’t available. No water drain valve on my filter.
No wetness at the lift pump (or anywhere) but the lift pump is shiny so looks to have been replaced within a few years?
I guess I’ll start by dumping the fuel filter into a glass jar. But then I have no receipt from a mechanic to go after the fuel station?
Shouldn't be an issue. If you did in fact get bad fuel, all they would have to do is dip their own tank to prove it, and since your fuel receipt has a date and time of purchase, it'll match the time of bad fuel at their station.
 

Greenie

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Usually fuel delivery issues feature surging and starving while driving at least for a few seconds. The few times I waited too long to switch to the second tank before the first ran dry the engine let me know with surges and a dead pedal - every time once I switched over to the full tank it cleared up after a few seconds. That the engine "just shut off" would indicate that the problem was something other than fuel. Gasoline or water would give other symptoms first unless it was 100% water and no diesel that suddenly reached the motor. You bought fuel "10 miles back" would be almost 3/4's of a gallon burned (in my truck) plus the fuel that returns to the tank. It's possible that the truck ran until water filled the filter...
 
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Brian VT

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Usually fuel delivery issues feature surging and starving while driving at least for a few seconds. ...that the engine "just shut off" would indicate that the problem was something other than fuel.

I sucked fuel from the Shraeder valve into a glass jar using a Mity Vac. I have that sitting to see what settles out.
I pulled an injector line and cranked the engine and I was getting fuel pulses out of it.
So I was at a loss as to what could be keeping it from running other than water in the fuel?
I wasn't sure if the Shraeder valve pulled fuel before the filter or after the filter so I decided to change the filter even though it's got less than 2k miles on it. Cheap thing to try while waiting to see if something in the fuel was the problem.
I sucked fuel into the new filter using the Mity Vac and then cranked it over. I got a sputter. YAY!
After a couple starts and stalls it stayed running and then took me to the corner store and back. All is well. Thanks for the replies.
I'm really surprised that it shut down with no warning sputter. That had me nervous that it might be something other than bad fuel or a clogged filter.

Glad I had AAA and they paid to get me and the truck home 77 miles where I could work on it myself instead of making me have it towed to the nearest mechanic and then have someone pick me up and days later drive me back to get the truck after I paid someone to fix it.
I will now keep a fuel filter and a Mity Vac in my road kit.
 
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KansasIDI

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Glad it wasn’t too bad! Hopefully you get it all sorted out.
 

Brian VT

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It is sorted out, I assume.
I may have gotten some dirty fuel so I'll be carrying a spare fuel filter and Mity Vac in case this happens again before my my normal fuel filter change schedule, which is now off schedule as I plan to change the fuel filter when I change the oil and oil filter.
I guess the fuel filter did it's job. I'm just surprised that it shut down so suddenly, with no warning.
 
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Brian VT

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Will do. I am baffled, too.
And I have the fuel sample settling in a glass jar.
All I know at this point is that a new fuel filter got it running again and I drove 10 miles after that with no problems.
I couldn't even get a hiccup before I changed the fuel filter. After the new filter (and priming it with the Mity Vac) I got a hiccup on the 1st try and got it running smooth a couple tries after that.
 
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tradergem

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If you haven't already done it, it might be a good idea to put some good fuel treatment in your tank to help deal with any fuel contanmination.
 

BeastMaster

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Given the suddenness of it, I wonder if the fuel filter could have been partially plugged, causing the IP inlet pressure to drop to the point you got air intrusion, and quickly got a bunch of air in the IP?

It may have happened so fast the "fuel filter" light that's supposed to illuminate when you pull vacuum at the IP inlet wasn't noticed?

I have read where people have used gravitically pressured fuel by siphoning fuel from an elevated jug, through a hose, directly into the IP to help diagnose air intrusion and fuel supply issues.
 
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Diesilee

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Every time my '86 has acted like that there has been water in the filter.
Only saw it by dumping the filter out into glass.
 

Brian VT

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I did that but the fuel in the jar looks fine after a few days. Nothing has separated.
I will cut the filter apart to see what might be in there. It has less than 2k miles on it.
 

david85

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Have you gone through the engine harness connectors yet? I wonder if it was just a corroded contact somewhere on the FSS circuit. The main connector near the oil dipstick is known for corroding around the 10ga glow plug wires, but other wires go through that connector too.

I would also refresh the grounds in the engine bay, and main 12V connections near the passenger side battery. My headlights used to go goofy after 1 hour of driving until I refreshed the ground points on both inner fenders (heat and vibration seemed to play a part in a weak connection). Maybe something similar happened with your FSS?
 

Brian VT

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I haven't noticed any electrical grounding issues. And my FSS was clicking when I was trying to start it.
 

The_Josh_Bear

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I did that but the fuel in the jar looks fine after a few days. Nothing has separated.
I will cut the filter apart to see what might be in there. It has less than 2k miles on it.
Water separates out nearly immediately so definitely not that.
Have you gone through the engine harness connectors yet? I wonder if it was just a corroded contact somewhere on the FSS circuit. The main connector near the oil dipstick is known for corroding around the 10ga glow plug wires, but other wires go through that connector too.

I would also refresh the grounds in the engine bay, and main 12V connections near the passenger side battery. My headlights used to go goofy after 1 hour of driving until I refreshed the ground points on both inner fenders (heat and vibration seemed to play a part in a weak connection). Maybe something similar happened with your FSS?
I agree that it still seems electrical. I had a major gremlin pop up on my honeymoon trip that jaded my wife for years...
It ended up being the OEM fusible link behind the passenger battery. It didn't blow, it cracked internally. No way to tell where it was visually but I would suddenly have zero power to the cab or lights or IP. Then after the truck cooled down a bit it would turn over just fine. Combine that issue with an old IP and heat-soak, and we had many hours of annoyance.

Since then I re-wired it into an automatic-resetting breaker for 12v and couldn't be happier!
 

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