Which Pump? Which Supplier??

[TBigLug]

So, any new news? Been following this closely and curious to know what happened in the end.

 

[Dave Barbieri]

Not much, I'm afraid. I teach Auto Tech at a community college in Tyler, TX. 11 month contract, which means I have one month off during the summer for vacation. Because we're preparing for a major (NATEF) program certification, I didn't take any time off this year. Bottom line - I've worked on it MAYBE two days since my last post. Here's what's been done:

1. Wheels/tires are cleaned up and spin-balanced. Haven't got them bolted back on yet, because...

2. I've pulled the rear drums to check on the brake fluid/gear oil leak on the pax side. Both the wheel cylinder and the seal are shot. So, I picked up shoes, seals, a Kombi kit and two WC's. They've been sitting on the floor of the truck for almost 8 weeks, now.

3. EEPROM and ECM are installed and the glove box is back in place.

4. Turbo down pipe is off.

Here's what I'd LIKE to do this weekend:

1. Remake and install the battery cable to the starter. Originally, I used 1-0 gauge welding cable, but this is too thick. I'm going back with #2 welding cable.

2. Install the new mandrel-bent downpipe.

3. Find the two missing glowplug leads. I've got the two skinny orange wires that go to the center plugs, but the others are MIA. dang!

4. Reinstall the fender liner, so that I can install the battery tray and the battery.

5. Install the PMD/harness/heat sink behind the front bumper.

6. Crank this puppy and see what happens!

Still haven't finished the manifold work, so it'll be running on open ports and unboosted. But, I'll at least get to hear & see it run!

OK, that's the goal. Now we'll see what REALLY happens...

 

[TBigLug]

Nice, sounds like this truck's gonna make you earn your keep. Good luck and keep us informed!

 

[Dave Barbieri]

Well, didn't get a chance to even touch it this weekend. We spent the weekend helping our daughter get ready to move to OKC. However, yesterday, I got home early enuff to crawl under the hood for a while. Printed a schematic and began hunting for the two missing glowplug wires. Started going thru the harness at the controller. Two big red wires (solid red for DS, red w/black tracer for PS) that splice into four 14ga blue wires on each side. Each blue wire goes to a glowplug. Well, on the PS, I found the splice and, sure 'nuff, there's four wires. I start gently pulling on them, and two don't move. One comes up in my hand - it's only 5" long, and ends in bare wire with most of the insulation melted/burned away. The remaining one I pull up like a trotline, and it ends in a push-on connector. I guess, it was hiding behind the cylinder head. Soooo, now I'll go back and cut out the splice and pull the old wires. Then resolder four lengths of new 14ga wire back in place and run it to each glowplug, terminating with a female push-on connector. I won't be replacing the hi-temp orange wires, so I'll need to either coat my brand new downpipe with TechLine or wrap it with insulating tape.

Also took a look at where I'll mount my combination water separator/primary/secondary filter. I'm using a Caterpillar unit off a Peterbilt truck. For my element, I'll switch over to a Racor R90S. This'll give me final filtering of 2 microns, which is plenty clean for me.;p I'll post pics as I get started.

 

[Dave Barbieri]

Here's what I'd LIKE to do this weekend:

1. Remake and install the battery cable to the starter. Originally, I used 1-0 gauge welding cable, but this is too thick. I'm going back with #2 welding cable.

2. Install the new mandrel-bent downpipe.

3. Find the two missing glowplug leads. I've got the two skinny orange wires that go to the center plugs, but the others are MIA. dang!

4. Reinstall the fender liner, so that I can install the battery tray and the battery.

5. Install the PMD/harness/heat sink behind the front bumper.

6. Crank this puppy and see what happens!

Still haven't finished the manifold work, so it'll be running on open ports and unboosted. But, I'll at least get to hear & see it run!

OK, that's the goal. Now we'll see what REALLY happens...

Well, here's what really happened:

1. Got the cables completed and routed. Much happier with how the #2 stuff fits - plenty of clearance everywhere.

2. DP is installed. Not as simple as I thought it would be, but it's done. No more restrictions in the exhaust sytem.

3. New wires to GP's on the passenger side. Soldered all fittings for minimum resistance. All GP's now on line.

4. fender liner is installed, so's battery tray and batteries.

5. Didn't get the PMD relocate thing done. Maybe one evening this week. The schedule is a lot more sane now.

6. Tried cranking it several times yesterday after all this was done. No start. However, I cracked the line to four of the injectors, and I'm getting fuel to them. I also smell burnt diesel fuel - that's a first. Next, I'll disconnect a line, hook up a spare injector and check for spray pattern.

The manifold is also finished. Although this is an 'F' series engine, for some reason it had the restrictive 'S' series upper manifold. I cleaned out the 'excess' metal, bead blasted both parts, and painted them semi-gloss black. I also tapped the upper manifold for a boost pressure fitting. Once I get this puppy running, I'll refit the manifold and hook up the turbo.

 

[chrisk1500]

Are your GPs cycling now? Should have the GPs heat for about 6-10 seconds on a cold start...

 

[Dave Barbieri]

Yup. Good solid 'click' from the GP relay. Turn the key on, hear it click on, then several seconds later, it clicks off. Not sure of teh exact time - I'll try checking that this evening. I'll also spot-check for voltage at a few of the GP's.

 

[Dave Barbieri]

'Nuther Update

Beautiful weather, and I had some time on my hands after church, so I decided to play in the yard. I've been kinda troubleshooting around the fuel pump. Making sure that everything else works great eliminates that stuff as potential contributors to my no-start problem.

First, I decided to make sure that plenty of clean fuel was getting to the IP. I've removed the stock fuel filter/manager and mounted a 6 micron secondary filter setup on the firewall beside the brake booster. The chassis steel fuel line that runs up behind the engine block is 3/8", so I used a 3/8" barb fitting for the filter inlet. The IP inlet fitting seems to be 5/16", so I used that for my filter outlet. Took over an hour to get everything mounted up and connected. I left the fuel line to the IP disconnected. Instead, I put the end of the fuel line into a mason jar and put 12vdc to pin G on the ADL. The pump started putting. I could hear the sound change as the filter filled up, then fuel began running into the jar. I let it fill to within about 1" of the top, then pulled the power from pin G. Thought I'd let it sit there for a while and see if the level dropped. That'd tell me that the little one-way valve in the lift pump was shot. Figured I'd use the time to go to town and get a 90 degree 5/16" elbow for my fuel line. An hour later, I'm back and the fuel level in the mason jar hasn't changed. I connect the fuel line to IP, clear the top of the engine, and start cranking. Nothing. I crack a line, put a piece of cardboard under the fitting and try cranking again. Check the cardboard - a little dribble. hmmmm...... Go into the house, get the spare PMD (no idea if it's good), and hook it up. Try cranking again. No start. Check the cardboard. LOTS of fuel all over it. Feel the transistor covers on the back of the PMD. Definitely warm. OK, use the jumper cables and hook up the Ford 6.9 to the Chevy's batteries. Definitely faster cranking speed, but still no start. OK, I'll give the starter a break and recharge the batteries. Tomorrow, I'll bring one of our OTC scanners home with me and see what info I can pull.

One of the things I need to check is pump timing. Since this truck has been worked on by several folks, I'm not sure what to expect. I have a spare good pump on the way, so if everything checks OK, that'll be the next project. Install a good pump with the good (remote mounted ) PMD and that should do it. We'll see.....

 

[chrisk1500]

Unplug the optic sensor on the top of the IP and see if the truck will start (will take about 10 seconds of cranking)....

 

[Dave Barbieri]

Unplug the optic sensor on the top of the IP and see if the truck will start (will take about 10 seconds of cranking)....

Thanks Chris! I hadn't thought about the optic sensor thing. I'm in OKC this weekend at mom & dad's. I'll try it out this evening when I get home. Tomorrow after work, I'll hook up a scanner and see what's happening now. There's also a great troubleshooting chart available on another diesel 'place'. It's helped me isolate a lot of the 'sideline' electrical/mechanical problems I inherited with this truck (crappy battery cables, glowplug wiring, restrictive DP, etc). I'll finish working thru it and see what else shows up. Looks like our workload this week will be a little lighter than usual, so I should be able to get home each day and put in a couple of hours of work before dark. I'd REALLY like to hear this puppy rumble!

 

[Dave Barbieri]

It's alive! IT'S ALIVE!!!

Oh man, what a week!! Got the new starter on, and the difference was amazing. More than twice the cranking speed, and at least two cylinders were trying to light off. YESSSS!!!! Figured that there might still be air in the lines, so decided to bleed the injectors. Took a look at the driver's side injectors and realized that I'd never retightened the fuel lines after adjusting the pump! Ooops. That might explain why the white smoke was only coming out of the EGR port on the passenger side head. Tightened each line fitting, then tried the start sequence again. GP preheat, crank it over, and now I'm getting white clouds of smoke shooting up out of each cylinder head and rolling out over the fenders. Suddenly the smoke turns black and the engine sounds like huge rocks rolling in a giant barrel - a real deep rumble!! Man there's smoke pouring out of both ends of the truck! It's burning off four years of cranking, troubleshooting and sitting. My neighbor's house disappears in the smoke. The rumble gathers speed, steadies a bit and the engine is running on its own for the first time! I've got oil pressure, so I take a look under the truck. No pouring fluids. Look at the engine, the smoke has cleared away, but I notice a miss. Start checking injectors, and sure enuff, the first one on the passengers side is shooting fuel out of the fitting. I grab my wrench, tighten the fitting, and the miss goes away. I'm standing in my yard in the dark listening to this incredible sound. It's been 11 months since I drug that truck home and joined this list. And now my truck is on the way to being operational again! What a hoot! I let the engine idle for a few more minutes. Tried the accelerator to see if it responded. It did. OK, enuff for tonite, I shut it down and headed inside. Man, I don't think my feet touched the ground all the way across the yard.

Tonite, I picked up a new radiator cap, dipstick and ECM temp sensor on the way home. Got that stuff on, and fired it up again. Man, I love that sound! I tried shifting the transmission (4L80E); each gear engaged with a positive 'tug'. No weird noises, and so far, no leaks. Ok, time for the maiden voyage. I put it in gear and drove it across the yard and up into the carport. TaDa! I hooked up the 'Brick' (Snap-On MT2500 scanner) and started checking stuff:

Engine temp sits consistently at 193-194
Idle speed is a steady 750rpm
Injector timing is .1
Desired timing is 14.0
TDC offset is 1.4
Cam reference missed is 8 (This ties in with the code 18)
Crank reference missed is 0

There are three codes set:
18 Pump Cam Reference Pulse Error - this is an optical sensor problem
48 Intake Air Temp Circuit (Low/High)
62 Turbo Boost Sensor Circuit (High)

I'll work on setting the timing tomorrow. When I install the intake manifold and hook up the temp sensor and the MAP sensor, that should take care of codes 48 and 62. I have the troubleshooting tree for the OS; I'll mess with it this weekend.

Gotta tell ya, it's been a GREAT week!

 

[chrisk1500]

Did you have the OS plugged in?

 

[Dave Barbieri]

Did you have the OS plugged in?

Yup. Plugged in. You had suggested unplugging it as a test for the filter/harness. I tried that once, but couldn't really tell. Now that the engine is actually running, I'll give it another shot and see what happens.

I think the first thing I'd like to do is get the timing set correctly, so that I can get the intake manifold back on. Those open ports kinda worry me. Besides, that'll clear my boost and temp codes. It seems that most of my work on this truck has been 'off-topic' stuff - not related to the main problem. I mean, when you look at why the truck originally quit running, it was simply a pump issue. Yet, I've had to deal with wiring, incorrect ECM/IP, brakes, wheel seals, exhaust issues, etc, etc, etc. Been a real learning process.

Right now the main problems are:

1. Long crank time to start (usually three tries)
2. LOT's of black smoke on start-up
3. The three trouble codes mentioned earlier

Man, it's sure nice to have a hobby!

 

[Dave Barbieri]

Clearing Codes (Or 'How NOT to do an Optic Bump'

OK, got started on clearing the stored codes. I had already purchased new temp sensors (intake air and coolant) and a new boost (MAP) sensor. I plugged all three of these in and, sure nuff, no more code 48 or 62. I knew the code 18 thing was going to take some work, so I put it off til later.

The white smoke/long cranking time could be glow plugs, timing, or air in the supply line. The glow plugs and wiring were all new and working fine. My IP timing wasn’t spot on, but it was close enough. Since I’d be messing with the IP and pump timing when I fixed the OS problem, I decided to skip that and look at air leaks. When I installed the ‘new’ IP, I used clear ¼” Tygon fuel line for my pump return line. That allowed me to positively see fuel flow thru the IP and check for air. I’d noticed that after sitting overnight, I’d see tiny little bubbles collected at the top of the fuel line loop. These would disappear during cranking, and the line would remain clear of air as long as the engine was running. I started backtracking my fuel supply line and discovered a small dripping leak at the inlet side of my two-stage fuel filter. (see post #53) I tried tightening the fitting, but still had a little seepage. Soooo… I figured that I’d disconnect that filter and reconnect the OEM setup when I reinstall the intake manifold. I’ll take care of the leak later and the separate primary filter. The OEM unit has been thoroughly cleaned out, has a working fuel heater and water detector, and a fresh Wix 5 micron filter.

Time to get serious about the code 18. The optical sensor straddles the ‘low resolution’ wheel. There are eight small vertical slots in this paper-thin wheel, each separated by 45 degrees from its buddy. One side of the optical sensor shoots a bright led light thru the slots to a receptor on the other side. As the slots go past the led light source, the light flashes thru and strikes the sensor on the other side. This generates a signal voltage for the PCM and helps the PCM identify firing order and timing. When the OS can’t read this ‘low res’ wheel, it sets a code 18. The scanner will show “Cam reference missed is 8”, meaning that no light is showing thru any of the eight slots. This could be due to a dirty receptor lens, or a bad led. This is why running some fuel system cleaner thru the tank will sometimes clear a code 18. Well. I’m looking at removing the OS and replacing it with one that I know is good. Unfortunately, while doing the transplant, I twisted the OS ever so slightly, and bent/cracked the wheel. Didn’t realize it; put everything back together and fired it up. Well, tried to. It snorted, burped, then did nothing but spin over. When I pulled the IP cover to double check my work, I fond little foil pieces all over the inside of the IP reservoir. Great. Just great. Pulled the ‘new’ (and now useless) IP off the engine, swapped the OS (VERY carefully), fuel solenoid/engine shut off solenoid and the stepper motor onto the old original pump that came with the truck. Reinstalled the IP, set the timing, filled the reservoir with a mixture of diesel and two-stroke outboard oil. Hooked up the fuel line, did a quick purge for air, and tried cranking. White smoke almost immediately and then we’re running! WooHooo!! No codes! Double WoooHoooo!!!

So, now that I’m at least back to a running engine again, I’ve reinstalled the lower manifold and hooked up the OEM filter/conditioner/whatever. Tomorrow, I’ll hook up the upper manifold and the boost gauge. I also noticed some coolant under the front of the engine. Looks to be coming from a tiny pinhole in the lower radiator hose. If I can get motivated enuff, I’ll pull the radiator and clean out the fins and change out both radiator hoses. That means pulling the RH fender liner. And wheel. And battery. Crap.

 

[chrisk1500]

You are going to have a brand new truck soon....lol

Glad its working out so far...