Wont start help

[seawalkersee]

Well, long and short is that the IDI was runnin fine and when it got cold it just quit running down the road. I got it home and put a new fuel filter on it and it started and ran again (it was towed home). After that it drove fine when the weather warmed up. The other day, it was 10ish degrees and I started it and drove it and drove it about 8 miles. Same thing again. Just running and then died. Lucky for me, it died right in front of a buddies house and is there now. Thinking the pump was bad or ice had formed around the pick up, I got a different lift pump, made sure it worked, got a 5 gal jerry can with fresh diesel and ran it there. Still, with the hose in the jerry can and new fuel, there is not start. It will crank on starting fluid, but nothing more. Then I cracked the 2 injectors I could get to and it pushes fuel out the line.

I need some advice, and think it is the IP not being able to push enough fuel to open the injectors. Anyone have any other ideas?

SWS

 

[franklin2]

You are pretty sure you had water in your fuel?(sounds like that was your problem). If you can't get the truck in a warm garage, it ,may still have ice in the fuel system around the engine. I wonder if plugging it in, and throwing a blanket or tarp over the front of the truck would thaw it out enough so you could try it.

 

[seawalkersee]

It was pretty warm today. Above freezing, and like I said, I ran new fuel from a jerry can. Also, it is squirting out the lines when I crank it. So, unless all of the injector tips were/are frozen shut, I am pretty sure there is no water. It does start on starting fluid and usually, there is enough of a flame at that point for the diesel to take over...so I don't think its getting diesel.

I think I had too much grit in the oil from not enough filtering, and it screwed my pump. So, I am at an impasse...fix the diesel and continue on the journey with the exception of no more WMO, or sell the thing and put in my old sbf...

SWS

 

[seawalkersee]

Well, I started this morning and got the new IP put on. I am certain that there is fuel to the injector lines again. Cracked the lines at the injectors and have fuel to at least 5 of the 8 injectors. The others are hard to get to with the blower mount there. I spray it and it fires for a turn or two, but there is still no run.

So, the only thing that I can think of now is that for some reason the rings are stuck and there is no compression. But since it does fire, it has to have some, enough to make it work, so Im stumped.

Surely Im not the only one who has experienced this...

SWS

 

[icanfixall]

From the sounds of it you have been running wmo and may not have filtered it well enough. Now its still not running after a pump replacement. Tell us about this pump being rebuilt of "found somewhere".. About the only thing left is the injecter not popping because of possible dirt. All it takes is a fingerprint sometimes to truin a injecter. Remove some of the easy to reach injecters and pop test them or at least take them apart on a completely clean bench top. Use rubber gloves so you can see if everything stays clean. A dirty glove is telling you thees dirt.

 

[seawalkersee]

The IP was the one that was on the engine when I purchased it years ago. It was a running IP and then I purchased a second one and sent it in which was turned into a baby moose. Figured out what was wrong, and I think I actually over thought it.

SWS

 

[seawalkersee]

I am going to take the baby moose to a local place to see if they will test it for me to see if it is bad. However, I think I had a clog in the fuel system. I have since started it after pulling out the glow plugs and finding them soaked. See, after having it die on me, I sprayed it to get it going. I got it going and headed back towards the house. Having it break down right at a buddies house was an unseen windfall, but getting back to it a an actual temp of -1 or -3 or whatever it was, did not help. When you are in the pitch black with freezing temps, you may not think completely clearly. I was trying to jump it, but had little if any fire with ether. So, 2 days after the fact, the actual temperature did not reach double digits I don't think, so the ether was still in the cyl. So, with that, I was fighting the no-start problem yet again with that issue. Now, keep in mind, that the batteries are having to be jumped because of where it is parked. There is no charge it and come back because it is just not possible. So, I keep shooting ether into its throat and keep soaking the cyls.

I find this AFTER many many tries of crank and add ether. It fires a few times, but not like you would think. So, today, I yanked the supercharger, mounts, and the IP. The old one went on and the #1 line is leaking. Coincidentally, that is the 1 that you HAVE to take off the supercharger and mount to remove. So, after swapping the new IP and lines, it did the exact same thing. Like I said, I had clean new fuel going to them and it was pumping out of the tops of the lines when cracked.

After thinking it was out of time, a clog from the hard line inside of the filter housing, at the rear of the IP, and a few other things in my mind, I decided to pull my glow plugs and see if the cold had made the engine have too much blow by from shrinkage. When I pulled the GPs, I found that they were wet. Tested them (tested them back in July or Aug) and found I have 4 bad ones. Left the engine open and ran back to my house. Found I only had 3 spares (nib) and ran down to get a few more gallons of diesel. Left the diesel in the running car for a long time to be sure it was warm. Put the GPs back in the engine with the new ones under the hard lines, and put a dead one back in cyl #2, cause its the easiest to reach. It was in the 20s today, but the temps drop when the sun goes down. And of course, just as she fires off (first time mind you) the temps drop.

Hooray. Im happy about that. But it is a MISSIN PIG. I look at all of the injectors and none of the lines are leaking. I crack 5 or 6 and they all change. As I am getting ready to check another one, I see the leak squirting onto the intake. Main line in is leaking as is the #1 line. I will try to fix that in the coming weeks.

Now, I turned this pump up 1.5ish flats before putting it on. Let me tell you, the off throttle performance is sub par to the baby moose. It is quieter, so it my just need to be timed. Also, the baby moose was a turbo pump and this one is a factory NA pump.

SWS

 

[icanfixall]

So all this trouble turned out to me a clog in the fuel line between the tank and the lift pump. If so glad its running again and you figured it out. What you you think the clog was made of and why did it happen. Might happen again is the stars and planets all line up the same again too.

 

[PwrSmoke]

Was it gelled summer diesel? And is your fuel line heater working?

 

[seawalkersee]

I think the lift pump was not pumping, but don't know why. It should have been pumping. As far as a heater, I dont have one. I actually have the fuel line running through the rad to heat up the fuel. But the first time it was not gelled. I opened the drain and the fuel leaked out. Now, there MAY be water in the tank, since I drained it and you could tell a definite placed where the puddle/whatever you want to call where the fuel falls on the ground and spreads out, had evaporated. Im only guessing water. In the event the baby moose is good, I am in the process of making a different intake for the turbo, and will put it on. But that is a few dollars away.

I will try to make it sound as if I am not being cocky, but everyone I know comes to me for problems with their vehicles. I tell them if it has wheels, I can fix it. Now, I have been out of the business for several years, so with the adaption of so much computer controlled stuff, I do not have the stuff to do most run time data. So, on older stuff, I am really good at it. So, when this happened, I was stumped. But if you guys remember this thread, you may want to direct people here that live in the colder environments that also use ether.

The fact that the engine was heated up both times this happened, confuses me. I have my return line running into the tank, and dumping directly next to the pick up tube. So I have to believe it was one of the pumps.

Do the IPs usually just quit, or is there some sort of performance loss prior to them going out? What is the best anti-gel/water cure for the fuel? I have no experience with them, nor do I know anyone who knows what I do that I can turn to other than those on the net. So, any help would be appreciated.

Also, if the IP works sometimes does not, will it show up when I have it tested, or will it just show low output?

SWS