Replaced Lift pump with Electric and now White smoke???

[nicksorenson]

UPDATE---STILL getting Air in the lines

MAN! I can't figure this out. Just to give a little bit more angle to make sure all the air bubbles are going to the front of the Fuel filter away from the line that goes to send fuel to the IP, I parked the truck on a steep hill. And man... I waited like 15 minutes and my return lines were about 50% air.

Could the fuel have just drained through the fuel tank return? I'm assuming on an air tight system fuel shouldn't be able to back drain though (much like a straw with your thumb on the top will hold a liquid). Is that right? Also, on the incline I got lots of little bubbles (avg about one per inch in my clear fuel pickup line and they were about 1/16" diameter bubbles). That doesn't seem right either??? I'll try the fuel can test again later. This time on the hill and see what happens.

But should the fuel return line not back drain? Much like a straw with the thumb over the top?

 

[nicksorenson]

Can I eliminate the fuel filter somehow with a cheap plastic gas car filter for checking if my filter housing/steel lines are leaking? I'd like to try the following:

-Run from a diesel can into my electric fuel pump through 3/8" clear line to my cheap plastic filter and into the IP. But what fittings would I need to do that? I need to connect to the IP using 3/8" fuel line but how do I do that?

 

[Diesel JD]

Well, the good news is that you found your problem and its not the injector pump but air in the lines. I would hesitate to do what you're talking about. The more common method would be to stick the fuel injection pump supply line into a small container of known clean diesel fuel and then start the truck with the e-pump off. Perhaps its the return line that must be stuck in the tank opf clean fuel...someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but bypassing all that filtration stuff might cause more leaks, at least it would be tedious. You have air somewhere...and a lot of it, but where I'm not sure. Check fuel tanks, fuel caps, selector valve, plastic fuel supply and return lines, the hard return line on top of your injection pump. Any fitting may be at fault or any line. Good luck,
JD

 

[aaklingler]

f you turn the lift pump on does it push fuel out any where? You said its not as smoky when the idle advance is on, thats an indication your timing is retarded, but shouldn't be causing the roughness. I believe your correct that it shouldn't be back draining like a straw. Eliminating the filter sounds like a good idea but I don't know how to go about it.

 

[nicksorenson]

I don't see any leaks with the electric lift pump on. It's draining back to the tank of course so it's not getting a super high pressure build up. The fuel is just making a loop with the Electric Fuel pump being on while the truck is off. I tried pinching off the returns but when I did that the return lines pop off. I used the type of clear line used on small engines (yellow tygon line). It's very stretchy and doesn't require hose clamps. I don't recommend it permanently but works ok for finding leaks. 1/4" plain old hardward store tubing would be a better cheap clear line solution for tempory. I'll try that next time.