Van died today while driving.

[Darryl97420]

Today while I was driving 60 mph down the road the engine in my van died. Lately the idle has been rough but would run great down the road until today. Today it just quit while driving at 60mph. I ended up coasting to a clear spot to pull over.

I checked for fuel and I checked voltage at the injection pump which showed 11.4 volts. It still will not start. My friend who has been guiding me on this 6.9 engine suggested that this might be a good time to replace the injection pump. After a call to Oregon Fuel Injection they have one waiting for me. But before I spend 500.00 I wanted to check in here.

Is there anything else I should look at? Other than the lack of Fuel, what would cause the engine to quit like that?

 

[OLDBULL8]

Put your van in your sig. Without that it's anyones guess as to what happened

 

[Darryl97420]

I thought I put details in my sig. My bad, lets try this...

 

[OLDBULL8]

A truck that old it could be the fuel pickup broke off in the tank if you have no fuel in the filter, less than a 1/4 tank it won't pump (pickup) if that happened. Could be the lift pump on the engine. Could be the IP, how many miles on the Van? Check your fuel lines from the tank.

Bed time 2AM here.

 

[Darryl97420]

When I checked the fuel, I had a friend crank the engine while I pushed on the schrader valve and loads of fuel come out straight away. Didn't need to let it crank much. There is a full bag of fuel...only put about 40 miles on that bag.

The engine has x25,*** miles. I am not sure if its 225,000 or 325,000 miles.

The thing that makes we wonder about the IP is the past few days the idle has been horrid but throttle it up and its fine.

 

[OLDBULL8]

On the IP remove the rubber line on top and crank it over. Use a can to catch fuel if any.

No fuel out. Could be IP drive shaft broke. If so, no good for a core.

Fuel out, good stream, it should start/run.

Pull the little cover off the front of gear tower, check the three bolts, 5/16" 12 point socket, and drive dowel. Check the three nuts holding the IP.

 

[gandalf]

...

Pull the little cover off the front of gear tower, check the three bolts, 5/16" 12 point socket, and drive dowel. Check the three nuts holding the IP.

I've always found that pictures help. Its much easier to do these things visually than just reading. The picture pasted in below shows what Oldbull is talking about.

 

[onus]

Similar thing happened to my idi before i owned it. About a year ago happened to the previous owner, it needed a new injection pump. I also have the receipts that show it got a new pump. And from previous receipts the injection pump was having problem from sometime that no one seemed to notice.

 

[icanfixall]

It sounds like your getting plenty of fuel to the filter but... Is the filter plugged. How many miles are on the filter. Also this may just be the signs of a failing injection pump so.. If you do change the injection pump I might suggest a set of new BB code injectors because your injrctors are probably shot too. If you are going to do this job yourself DO NOT REMOVE THE INJECTION PUMP GEAR COVER... This aluminum half moon gear cover is pictured in the above posting. Yes. The small front cover plate that the oil fill spout is part of will need to be removed from the gear cover. The bolts holding that are either 7/16 or 1/2 inch hex. There are two of them. Then you see the three tiny bolts holding the drive gear to the pump. Those are a 12 point 5/16 socket hex. Do not try to use any other wrench to remove them. Now if you strip the hex on any of them Nappa sells a universal joint repair kit that uses the same high grade hardened steel bolts or any good injection pump repair shop has this bolt kit. Now to the more difficult part of the pump removel. You will need a special wrench designed to reach the three 9/16 nuts that hold the pump to the gear cover. They are nuts and not bolts. Don't remove the 4 bolts that hold the gear cover to the block. If you do then you will loose the gear timing and be in a mess of a repair deal especially on a van. One the three nuts are removed then remove the hard injection lines from the injectors and the filter feed line to the pump. The throttle cable mount needs to be removed from the intake manifold. The fast idle solenoid and bracket must be removed from the pump. The bolts are 7/16 hex and kinda hidden but feel for them. Seeing this is a C6 trans the drivers side of the injection pump has a vacuum modulater that tells the trans what the throttle position is so it can shift at the correct time. That can stay on the pump till later. There are smaller things that may need to be removed as you are doing this job but don't become overwhelmed. Its easy taken one step at a time. P.S. Add a return line kit because the return lines are probably shot and dried up on your system. The are easy to make. Just remove one side and cut the new side to match. Apply the top o-ring first in the top groove on the injector and roll the lower o-ring down over the top rin. Press down firmly on the new return line caps till you hear and feel the two distink clicks. Good luck and post back any questions before you do anything. Its easier to advise then it is to repair something.

 

[Darryl97420]

Well, I was intending to pull the IP and run into town and change out out but when I took the oil filler tube off I found all 3 screws and the dowel were out. The screws were there, chewed up a bit, but not the dowel so I may be in a big mess there. Once I saw that I closed the hood and am making arrangements to tow the rig home and start taking the front end apart to make this chore easier.

I would imagine that the bolts are easy to come by but not so sure about the dowel. It was suggested I replace the IP while I am at it, but am not too sure what to do now. Will know more after I tear deeper into it tomorrow or Thursday.

FWIW: I changed the fuel filter when I changed the oil just last month and the fuel return lines were changed out when I did the head gasket and glow plugs a few months back.

 

[OLDBULL8]

If you have removed the tower (oil filler neck) thats a no no, you will lose your timing if the gear is removed, if you haven't moved the gear, mark it with a Sharpie, lay a straight edge across and make a line across the gear so you can put it back in time, and DON'T turn over the engine. That dowel pin is pressed in the IP flange, it's there only for timing location. From what your saying I think the pump shaft has broke.

 

[Darryl97420]

If you have removed the tower (oil filler neck) thats a no no, you will lose your timing if the gear is removed, if you haven't moved the gear, mark it with a Sharpie, lay a straight edge across and make a line across the gear so you can put it back in time, and DON'T turn over the engine. That dowel pin is pressed in the IP flange, it's there only for timing location. From what your saying I think the pump shaft has broke.

Why is that a "NO NO"? The only way to get to the bolts is to remove the filler tube. Its the same filler tube that was removed to expose the bolts in the picture above and as shown in the Haynes manual. I did NOT remove the timing gear cover. As to the IP shaft's integrity, I can't comment on that because I didn't pull the IP yet. That will be done once the van is home. Originally I was thinking I could sway the IP out in the field and drive it home but now I will tow it home.

 

[IDIDieselJohn]

............

 

[IDIDieselJohn]

Notice any smoke of any color lately?



And kind of off subject but little things like that bother me, you would have 3.54 geared rear end, not 3.55

3.55 is Fod Sterling axle, 3.54 is Dana axle witch is what all Ford vans had.

Kinda silly, but I notice all these little things.

 

[bike-maker]

On a 6.9, you remove the filler tube to get to the bolts; on a 7.3, you remove the whole gear cover to remove the filler tube, which is the "no no" part. On a 7.3 there's just a little thermostat gasket shaped flat cover that is removed to access the IP bolts.