Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Fuel shutoff solenoid system

[McLaughlin]

The fuel shutoff solenoid system in my truck is developing a problem. Once a day for the last three days, the truck wouldn't start. It has always started first thing in the morning even when the outside temp is in single digits; however, twice at noon and once at about 5PM, the truck would start outside temps were in the 20's or 30's and the 5PM failure was just after shutting off the truck so the engine compartment was still warm.



The truck started first thing in the morning the next day (the low was -3 degrees) but it didn't start at noon when the temp was about 25. At that time I checked and found the fuel shutoff solenoid was not "pulled up". I had a coworker cycle the ignition switch and could see the solenoid shaft raise some but not enough to permit the truck to start. I manually pushed the shaft up and the truck started immediately and kept running. It restarted a couple of times later in the day. The next morning it started again but didn't start at noon. The fix was the same. It appears the solenoid does not have enough power to pull the shaft up but can hold shaft up once it is raised.



Has anyone seen either a bad/dirty connection in the solenoid connector or relay cause this problem or is it usually just a bad solenoid that needs to be replaced?



It has been to dark and cold to work on this so far this week so I'm going to look at it tomorrow and would appreciate any suggestions regarding troubleshooting other then what is in the service manual?



If I end up replacing the solenoid as I suspect, is it advisable to also replace the relay?



I know one thing, buying the parts from Dodge is a last resort.

 

[Joe G.]

Common problem. The fuel solenoid is probably ok. They seldom fail. The most likely problem is the relay. DON'T buy one from Dodge. They want a price that could cause a fainting spell. You what a 70 automotive relay like the one on the bottom of this page:

http://www.alliedelec.com/Catalog/Indices/Products.asp?sid=456F7080388D617F&N=4294966797



The other thing that it could be is the blue wire on the positive post of the battery. It may be loose or corroded or broken.

 

[JFaughn]

I had close to the same problum , and it was the relay , I took the plastic cover off and filled the points , that was 1 1/2 yrs ago , no problum since .
Napa wanted about $45 for the $00. 02 chineze relays .

 

[cahammer]

you might also want to check the rubber boot on the silonide to see if there is any tares also if it is torn spray some wd-40 up there but i would go with the relay idea

 

[CochranD]

My 97 at the fall brawl (of all places) once I got there, wouldnt start.

Another member loaned me a new 70A shut-off relay. I bought two new ones from Larry B`s website and then sent him a replacement back. Got one in the console for a back up !

This website is like reading the future on what will or might go wrong with a CTD.

 

[CCiatteo]

I had the same problem, the truck was slowly getting more difficult to start when hot, then I was in the drive through as Wendy's shut the truck off so they could hear me and that's where it died. Not fun, but my problem was the solenoid boot was long gone and the shaft had lots of crud on it and some pitting, I replaced the solenoid and bought a spare relay to have in the glove box all from Larry B's and no problems since.

 

[bighammer]

Mine had a similar problem-- Intermittent no start, progressing to ALLWAYS having to manually lift the shutoff, then sometimes not shutting off. I tried lubing several times which would help for a short time, but then I just left it as it was. EZ starting, pop clutch to shut down.

I removed the whole solenoid and the linkage to find the pivot at the bottom completely rusted together-- So rigid, that when I tried to move it it broke.

I bought and installed an inexpensive choke cable and I'm very happy with it.

 

[DieselDoghouse]

Several people have responded that they have had warm restart problems. My 2¢ - I had a bad boot and a solenoid plunger that was just crudy enough to stick when warm! I would pull the solenoid, if the boot is cracked get a replacement from Foster ($20. 00 or so) polish the shaft well and treat it with aluminum window drylube (bike drylube?).

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Look at the tar top of the solenoid. If cracked, the unit is probably on the way out. Often the "start" coil goes out and "run" still works. Thus, if you pull it up, it will stay there and the truck will run.

 

[JGrover]

My 97 at the fall brawl (of all places) once I got there, wouldnt start.

Another member loaned me a new 70A shut-off relay. I bought two new ones from Larry B`s website and then sent him a replacement back. Got one in the console for a back up !

This website is like reading the future on what will or might go wrong with a CTD.

Its great, isnt it

Been thinking of getting them problem parts for the future.

Looking at Larry Bs starter contacts for a while.

Thought I was getting lazy with the clutch during start up. A little click once in a while. Push the pedal down further, and then start up. Then it stuck one morning. (No damage) Called Larry Bs Fixed my starter

Is the fuel and the fuel heater relay the same PN#?

 

[McLaughlin]

Wanted to thank everyone for the tips. I'm making progress; it won't start at all now . On initial checking, it looks like I have no cutoff solenoid supply voltage at the fuel cut off relay and the engine starter motor relay doesn't seem to be engaging. I started troubleshooting it but since it was snowing pretty hard and the temp only got up to a toasty 20 degrees, neither I or the volt meter lasted very long. Looking at the wiring, it shouldn't be to hard to trace the voltages.

 

[Howard Durand]

The engine starter relay is fed from the ignition switch and grounded through the auto transmission range switch.

If the engine starter relay itself isn't working, try one of the other relays in the PDC in it's place.

 

[McLaughlin]

Wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions. I believe the problem is resolved. Turns out the driver's side batter terminal was coroded worse then I thought. In fact, it was bad enough the passenger side battery wasn't charging. After I disconnected and cleaned all the wires on the battery terminal, the truck has not failed to start and a headlight problem also went away. I would have investigated the headlight problem earlier and probably cleaned the terminal except for how the headlights were miswired. The shop connected the original headlight wiring to one headlight and the other to a summit wiring harness. As a result, the driver's side headlight worked but the passenger headlight was out (hard to say how long it had been out but it was probably for a long while ). When I correctly hooked up both headlights to the summit harness, then neither headlight worked. As I looked at the system, I realized the Summit wiring harness takes it power from the passenger battery and the connection to the passenger battery is directly from the driver's side battery at(the same place as the connection to the fuel cutoff solenoid) so if the battery didn't charge eventually the lights would go out.