Truck not starting

[70Post455]

I just bought my first diesel a 1987 F250 4x4 two weeks ago. The truck started and ran great up until today. I have not driven it much because there were several small things I wanted to fix on the truck like the lights not working properly and the front fuel tank needing a new sending unit etc….I also just replaced the heater core and heater/AC blower motor.
I have only put on about 60 miles on the truck and was just getting ready to start driving it tomorrow since I have most all the other problems fixed.

I went into the garage to start the truck up today and it would crank and crank but not start. I walked away from the truck for about 30 minutes and came back to try again, this time on the 3rd try the truck started but ran very rough.
I had to keep my foot on the pedal to keep it running or it would die.
I left again and came back a several hrs later and again the truck would not start, again on about the 3rd or 4th try it started and ran fine so I drove it over to the gas station to put in about 5 gallons of diesel since the tank was almost empty. I parked the truck and decided to wait until tonight to try again. This time it started on the 2nd try but ran rough again, and again I had to keep my foot on the pedal to keep the engine running, I then let up on the foot feed to see if it would idle but it actually reved up to about 2600 rpm for a quick second on its own and then just shut down and now will not start or run.

The older gentleman I bought the truck from told me in the last 5 yrs he had the motor all rebuilt, and the banks turbo all rebuilt, plus the front end all redone etc….. He said he probably had $7-$8K in the rebuild of the motor and turbo and front end etc…. I do remember he also saying that when the motor was gone thru he installed new glow plugs and I was sure he said a new pump. He said he has not driven the truck 5000 miles since the rebuild in the last few years because he bought a new 2005 PSD two years ago. I am baffled as to what might be going wrong and would appreciate any feedback.
I am enjoying the truck and do not mind the challenge of fixing most all the other things that needed fixed, but I am stumped when a motor revs up on its own and then dies.
Thanks,
Tom

 

[Mr_Roboto]

You are getting air into the fuel system.

You said the truck was low on fuel. I would recommend filling the tank up all the way to eliminate the possibility that it's just sucking air in the tank. My truck does this if I let it get anywhere near low.

Once you have the tank full then we can look at other areas of air intrusion.

 

[SHIP4BRAINS]

You mention the engine idle spiking before it dies...mine is doing that right now....I have found several leaks around the fuel return caps on several injectors....

 

[70Post455]

Thanks for the replies. I was also thinking it was because the tank was almost at E if not already bouncing off of Empty and I am probably sucking air instead of fuel. I did fill the tank up to about half full or just a little under half full when it was running this afternoon, however I did not fill it all the way. I will have to buy diesel in some 5 gallon containers to fill the tank up to the top since I cannot seem to get the truck to start and keep running long enough to get it over to the gas station.

I am a little hesitant to blame the glow plugs just yet since they are suppose to be brand new and were working fine until I let the gas tank get real low.


Also yes the engine did idle spike one time and then quit running.

I will fill the tank to the top tomorrow with the 5 gallon containers and try to get it started and keep it running for 10-15 minutes and see if that gets all the air out and then see if in a few hrs it will restart without problem.

TIA

 

[smokin69]

The high rev was probably the idle governer trying to keep the truck going by trying to inject more fuel. Sounds like you have a big air leak in the system somewhere.

 

[LUCKY_LARUE60]

Try putting a elec fuel pump on it and see if that helps.