surging and now no start?

[slideordie]

i have a 7.3. the past couple days my truck has been surging. for example i could be holding my foot at a certain place on the accelerater and the truck would jump in rpms all of a sudden with out me moving my foot. ive changed my fuel pump and my fuel filter and checked fuel lines for leaks. and now today i started it up this morning and it ran for about 10 seconds and died off. i was able to drive it last night for 15 to 20 minutes after i did the fuel pump and fuel filter. does anyone have ideas on whats wrong? it seems to be getting fuel. some odd reason im getting the feeling its the IP.

 

[hesutton]

How much fuel is in the tank? If it is at 1/4 or so you could have a problem with your fuel pickup on the sending unit in the tank. It is made of rubber and looks like a showerhead. They break apart or come off and the end of the fuel pickup is not down in the fuel anymore and is sucking air into the lines.

If that is not the case, and you don't have any air/fuel leaks anywhere else, it very well might be the IP. How many miles are on it now?

Heath

 

[slideordie]

im unsure on the amount of miles on the truck cause i bought it like 2 months ago. but i just filled the tank up becuase i had the problem you were talkin about before.

 

[idhoho]

Are you sure you don't have any leaks in the fuel lines? It sounds like air is getting into your fueling system somewhere. Mine was doing that at start-up and I found leaks in the return line array- the lines going back to the tank from the injectors.

 

[slideordie]

ive check over my lines and have found no leaks that i can see. i could look over them again. but it doesnt want to start now so its not going to build up continuous pressure im guessing? it started this surging all of a sudden a day or 2 ago and now doesnt start.

 

[idhoho]

You can't always see the leak- get serious about those return lines. They can suck air and not have a visible fuel leak. Anything moist or oily-looking around fuel lines and injectors is highly suspect.Hopefully someone else will have a definitive answer for you but generally, surging is a sign of air in the fuel. Not a bad thing... easy and CHEAP to fix.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Air or garbage / water in the fuel.

One of my old trucks if I ran it low on fuel it would suck up crap and/or water from the bottom of the tank and run like crap for a couple days.

Since you just filled the tank maybe there was water in the diesel. It happens more than you think. Take your filter off and dump the fuel into a glass jar and let it sit for a few hours and see if water seperates out of it.

 

[slideordie]

you guys are amazing! the return line going from the injector to the fuel filter was causing me my troubles it looks like ill update once i fix it!

 

[slideordie]

i figured out that its the return kinda plastic thing that sits on top of the injectors that connects all the returns into one thats leaking? whats that ?

 

[ramon f350]

they are the return line T's you can buythemas a kit at your local dealer or ata international dealer. I thinkthey are about 30.00 for the kit should come with O rings 2 for each injector and the T for each injector. I can't remember if the rubber line comes in it or not. when you put the O rings on use a lubricant to help them slide onto the injector I use lubriplate or vasaline which ever I can find.

Ramon

 

[Michael Fowler]

While you are looking, check out the steel line from the top of the filter head to the rear of the IP, particularly the end at the IP. The rubber washer can deteriorate and then the fitting does not hold the fuel line tight to the IP. Air can be drawn into the system at that point.

 

[slideordie]

well i replaced all the injector return lines and the plactic cups that go on top and its still surges after driving it for two days theres no leaking that can be seen. i did notice before i replaced all the return lines that the hard line going from the fuel pump to the top of the fuel filter was pretty loose so i tightened it up does that also have one of these rubber washers in it that was mentioned?

 

[RLDSL]

well i replaced all the injector return lines and the plactic cups that go on top and its still surges after driving it for two days theres no leaking that can be seen. i did notice before i replaced all the return lines that the hard line going from the fuel pump to the top of the fuel filter was pretty loose so i tightened it up does that also have one of these rubber washers in it that was mentioned?

Yes, it should have the rubber washer and if it was loose, chances are it's shot.

-------Robert

 

[rip van sparky]

yep, my truck is doing the exact same thing but hasn't not started, as explained to me by some of the well experienced folks on here, the parts inside that control the injection timing are worn, thus allowing the timing to jump around at certain throttle positions, it will steadily get worse until completely unusable or won't start. Time for a rebuild, I'm waiting to trade in another good one on a Moose Juicer from Agnem, but I've got to get motivated on my turbo/intercooler install first.

 

[slideordie]

well ive been checking for air in the fuel filter by pressing the schrader valve and it seems to be have air in it most the time. could bad orings on the fuel lines or maybe the tank selector valve cause this? i just replaced the fuel pump and the rubbing line that goes from it to the hard fuel line. thanks for the help guys! i really wanna get this beast back on the road