New member and possible cold start issue

[KGIA103]

Hey there forum, Kyle from okanogan county Washington here. Just picked up an 86 6.9 from Seattle area Craigslist. I just want to say hi for now and see if someone wouldn't mind listening to me start my truck to attempt to locate the air leak in my fuel system. One t on the return line was cracked so it was replaced... All other parts of return line system appear to be original with grey paint.
So howdy and thanks for this great forum. Now to post the video....

 

[hadley000]

Hey there forum, Kyle from okanogan county Washington here. Just picked up an 86 6.9 from Seattle area Craigslist. I just want to say hi for now and see if someone wouldn't mind listening to me start my truck to attempt to locate the air leak in my fuel system. One t on the return line was cracked so it was replaced... All other parts of return line system appear to be original with grey paint.
So howdy and thanks for this great forum. Now to post the video....

I'd start with a completely new return line setup and go from there, especially if it's all original. It doesn't take much to let air in, I learned that the hard way.

 

[vegas39]

It's pretty well known that messing with one old fitting, always disrupts the ones near it.
I buy dipaco brand kits at a local diesel shop here in town.
If you have a large diesel shop near you, chances are they'll have a kit in stock. If not, you can order one online but be careful and make sure you order a good brand. There is a member here, type4. He is in Oregon and I'm pretty sure he sells those kits.
Be a good idea to slap a new set of motorcraft glow plugs in there. Do not buy autolites!!

Welcome to the forum

 

[DaveBen]

The member's name is typ4 and not type4.

 

[vegas39]

Lol. You'd think I'd know that after 10 years! Thanks

 

[KGIA103]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

A video of me starting in 30 degree weather with no block heater. Any idea where an air leak might be from the sounds? It only takes a few hours for enough air to make its way in to make it stall without giving it some throttle for a few seconds after starting.

 

[KGIA103]

It's pretty well known that messing with one old fitting, always disrupts the ones near it.
I buy dipaco brand kits at a local diesel shop here in town.
If you have a large diesel shop near you, chances are they'll have a kit in stock. If not, you can order one online but be careful and make sure you order a good brand. There is a member here, type4. He is in Oregon and I'm pretty sure he sells those kits.
Be a good idea to slap a new set of motorcraft glow plugs in there. Do not buy autolites!!

Welcome to the forum

Thanks Vegas. I have a brand new set of motor craft glue plugs just recently installed, and the truck has a button to operate the glow plugs manually.
I have a new return line kit from Delphi, but I am unsure of the quality of the o rings... More research needed.

 

[vegas39]

Some guys use viton? O rings I think.
I've always used the o rings that come in the kits with no problems. Gotta use some good grease on them when you install them. I used to use vasoline but it's not quite heavy enough.
Another thing I do is, if the caps don't feel like they want to pop down and seat easily, I use a socket on top and VERY CAREFULLY tap the cap down till it seats.
I may get flamed for this but I've done it for years and have not had a problem with leaking return lines afterwards.
That Delphi kit you have should be fine.

 

[hadley000]

I have a new return line kit from Delphi, but I am unsure of the quality of the o rings

I picked up a set of viton o-rings from amazon (Sterling ORVT111x50) when I replaced my return lines. A 50 pack was $15 I think. They seal tighter because they are a tad thicker. Use plenty of grease and they should slide right on and pop in when fully seated.

 

[Trevtron]

It helps to have the length of your fuel line between the caps so that they’re straight, if they’re longer they can apply force to your caps making them want to twist some.

 

[icanfixall]

Welcome to the forum. When you replace the return line kit please know to be extra clean.ANY DIRT.. Even what you can't see will ruin injectors if it gets into the system during the work. I use brakclean and wear harbor freight rubber gloves so I can change them if dirt is seen on them.. A dental pic and exacto knife works great to cut off the old o rings. Then install the top ring in the top grove and roll the lower one over the top one. Trying to install the bottom one first can ruin it by digging it out of the top grove.Someone here has a nice pic of a way to slide the o rings on with no damage. I think it was member Towcat who posted it. Now please note our engines have two differant sizes of kits. The size is determined by the clamp color and the design. The early set has the green clamps and the return lines are centered. The red is the larger size and the return lines are offset from center. Remove one side at a time and fabricate the new system like the old system.

 

[OLDBULL8]

A truck that old probably has the tank fuel pickup (shower head) disintegrated or fallen off, you need over a 1/4 tank of fuel to keep from stalling out or running rough.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[KGIA103]

Thanks to every one who posted to this thread, lots of good tips that I have been reading up on. I replaced the racor water separator filter,went from a 2 micron to a 10. The truck starts fine in any weather now, I hate to think the previous owner had been starving it of fuel that whole time.
Electric lift pump goes in next week, looking forward to even faster starts.
Here is another thread where I'm showing progress of the truck for those interested:
https://www.oilburners.net/threads/brown-farm-truck-build.82064/

 

[KGIA103]

Also, as a possible fix to not having a working fuel gauge, not knowing whether the shower heads are still in place and not having the tools to take the bed off and route some new fuel plumbing and manual selector valve, I will carry a spare electric fuel pump with some hose, wire and alligator clips for times when I need all the fuel in one tank away from a filling station. A temporary fix, but easy peace of mind with backup fuel pump and a way to drain a tank.