Gunk, Shavings and No Start Condition. Misadventures in WMO Burning.

[TestDriver]

No... That wont kill a filter but.... Pushing too high of a viscosity fluid thru the filter will. Maybe the filter was not of a quality that could handle the fuel being forced thru it and maybe when the filter was loaded up it started to collaspe. Did you ever see the filter lite on the dash come on???

The oil is heated to engine temperature. This particular batch is not even straight but mixed with diesel.

The light on the dash is what prompted me to turn the electric pump on so that I would get home and change the filter. I'd done this before with no ill results.

6 psi is not a lot. It's barely three times what a human can puff. My expectation was that running it with the electric pump would get me a few more miles but eventually, the light should come right back.

 

[argve]

I'll tell ya the 6psi didn't cause the filter the filter to fail. On the Enterprise it would see 6-8 psi on a normal running basis and would creep up to 10 when she was at idle.

I would venture a guess that you got a bad filter, not every filter is checked as it comes off the line only about 1 in a 100 is actually checked when parts are running down a line and sometimes that check is skipped because well the QC person is having a bad day and is mad at the company so they stretch out the breaks....

I would say at this point because the filter failed it took out the pump.

 

[TestDriver]

Update, Back on The Road

Well, it took about three weeks but I was finally able to get around to fixing my truck. I found a pump and injectors from a local guy off a 91 E350. He let me have a few other things off the engine for one price and it worked out well for both of us.

Of course, the stuff I got was from a non turbo engine and I had some doubts as to how it would work. So far, it has turned out well if not great. My truck is running very well if a bit down on power.

When I inspected the van I was getting the parts off from, it ran quite rough. There was plenty of smoking and a rough idle. It settled ok with revs but never ran smooth. The owner claimed it had sat for over a year. For the price, I figured it might be worth the gamble.

I got home and proceeded to test the injectors using my newly created, $10 pop tester. Only half the injectors popped within range and the others were wide open or would just leak down fast once pressure was reached. One of them would not even open up at all even at 2500psi. I ended up taking them all apart and cleaning the insides. Remarkably, this is all that seems to be required to make the injectors work again. After cleaning, six of them settled at 1950psi opening pressure and the other two were easily adjusted to the same.

I removed the tail housing off the pump to inspect the screen and it looked as clean as if it was never used. This was encouraging. Since it was a NA pump going onto a turbo engine, I turned the fuel screw a couple of flats. Everything went on the motor with no issues and after a bit of priming with clean diesel, it came to life. The first time I started it, it did not make the characteristic clanking noise. In fact, it was one of the most quiet diesels I've ever heard. I decided it did not have enough advance since I had installed it towards the retarded side. I turned the pump to give it a bit of advance and then it acquired the proper sound if a little on the low side still.

There is a very slight black puff when revving from idle and when I mash the throttle, there is no cloud of black smoke on the highway. I'm thinking it can take a couple more flats of the screw but I'll research it more and install a pyrometer before doing so.

I tested the "G" injectors that came off the truck and they were all over the place patternwise and in pressure holding. Also, the ones I could get to pop open in semi consistent fashion all did so at around 1550psi. Are turbo pumps and injectors set to a much lower opening pressure than NA units? Is it possible for all the springs in the injector set to take a similar spring force reduction over time?

The whole experience has left me much less befuddled as to the workings of injectors. I think I'll tackle the pump next and see if i can make a good spare out of it.

 

[JPR]

When filling up with diesel, the rear tank had a bad habit of spitting up a good amount of fuel when it topped. I got the hang of it so it did not happen much after the first couple of times but still, it happened to some extent. Every time it did, the stuff coming out was very rusty and dirty looking. The first time it happened, this caused me concern. After a while, I stopped worrying about it and just drove. After all, nothing was going wrong and I was only using this tank for purging. Now, I'm wondering if putting the mix did something to release more contaminants into the fuel filter. Is this possible? The mix I put into it came from the same batch I had just burnt through in the front tank.

Because the rear tank is a pain to fill, the tank may not have been used regularly by the previous owner. If the tank was left for long periods partially full, then it could have developed a lot of rust.

To make the back tank easier to fill, I place a 4x6 12" long wood block under the left rear wheel when filling. Use 4 wheel drive when driving on and off the block to prevent it from shooting across the parking lot.

 

[TestDriver]

I know you probably know this but just in case.....veggie oil is one great cleaning agent
when it comes to previously diesel only vessels.

In relation to this and JPR's comment, I'm new to WMO/WVO and not aware of the cleaning part. Does this mean that if the scenario that JPR references was the case, my filling up the rear with a veggie mix may have released a bunch of contaminants from the walls of the rear tank?

In my previous post, I failed to mention that I also installed another filter ahead of the factory fuel filter. If the rear is still releasing junk, this one will catch it.