Truck ran great for 400+ miles yesterday and now won't start

[VincentVega]

1989 7.3 idi Turbo. As the title says, the truck ran great for 400+ miles yesterday empty and loaded hauling a car from TN to AL. Went out this morning and boom. Won't start. I can smell cold diesel after it cranks for a bit, Fuel Shut off Solenoid clicks when I unplug and plug it back in, truck has new batteries, battery cables, starter, glow plugs, lift pump, and injector relief lines. WTS light has never stayed on for long but the voltage drops for about 12 seconds before it comes back up and I can hear the controller click off. I've never had to use ether to start the truck, even on mornings less than 20 degrees without being plugged in. Any suggestions?

 

[robw]

Crack the lines and see if they're all spitting diesel, plug it in and see if that helps.

Could be schmoo from the tank plugging something up? How recent is the fuel filter?

 

[VincentVega]

Honestly I have no idea how old the fuel filter is. I had my buddy turn it over while i was watching in the engine bay and the fuel filter/water separator is leaking on the passenger valve cover gasket so I'm definitly getting a new one of those. I'll drop that on and then try cracking the lines and see if I'm getting fuel or not.

 

[robw]

Fuel/water seperator leak = air intrusion = all your fuel in the lines drips down to your tank. These are often just bypassed, they often leak.

If you don't know how old the filter is, it's probably time to replace it.

Crack all 8 fuel lines, crank until they all spit, tighten them up and it should come to life.

 

[VincentVega]

She lives! New fuel filter did the trick. Had to put it in dry because I spilled all the diesel in the old one (oops). There was a bit of cranking to fill it back up but shes running great now.

Thinking back on it I can tell you that last filter was AT LEAST 25,000 miles old. What's the typical change interval on those?

Thanks again guys!

 

[icanfixall]

No min or max miles to a fuel filter change.Many wait till they see the dash filter light come on during heavy acceleration from stop or pulling a load. Might want to change once per year. My rig gets driven less than 5000 miles per year. Filter is probably 5 years on the engine. So I probably will change it soon.

 

[Thewespaul]

I change them at a minimum of once a year or 15k miles. The filter tends to deteriorate over time, so even if you don’t drive it much it’s important to still keep up with it. The factory filter is a bit anemic imo for the tolerances of our injection pumps.

 

[Macrobb]

She lives! New fuel filter did the trick. Had to put it in dry because I spilled all the diesel in the old one (oops). There was a bit of cranking to fill it back up but shes running great now.

For future reference, just fill it up with ATF or MMO - either will run the engine just fine(straight), help clean things, and shorten cranking time.

 

[chris142]

I tried filling mine through the holes. Took forever so I gave up and just spun it on. No different than running out of fuel lol.

 

[DrCharles]

Why not just fill it through the big threaded hole, and wait a minute for it to filter through the media?

 

[Thewespaul]

Center hole is the output, so you want to always fill from the outside small holes so that only filtered fuel reaches the ip

 

[DrCharles]

I see... thought it was the other way around.

Is there any "last chance" filter screen in the IP inlet somewhere, in case a little particle of dirt gets into the line from anywhere (including the filter head)?

 

[Thewespaul]

There is on the inlet, but it’s about window sill diameter

 

[DrCharles]

Window sill diameter? Do you mean the mesh is about as coarse as that of a window screen?

 

[Thewespaul]

Yes, sorry that was unclear