Fuel Solenoid?

[Steve Roseman]

I am having a problem with my fuel shut off solenoid. I can't start the truck unless I turn the key on then open the hood and push up on the solenoid. Once I push it up it will stay in place until I shut the truck off, then it shuts off like it's supposed to.

I was wondering if any one has run into this before and if there is a simple fix( i. e. can they be disassembled and cleaned) or am I just looking at buying a new solenoid?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[d906670]

broken wire

mine did that last week. check it out by the book,said it was bad. turned out to be the blue wire was broken near the injector pump.

 

[53 Willys]

Mine went up in smoke about 3 months ago. A new one from Dodge is about $405. 00. For now I shut down and restart like a tractor with a $10. 00 pto cable run in from the cab, push in to start ,pull to shut off. Also works as a anti thieft device.

 

[Missouri Mule]

Steve,

Don't worry yet, that is loose/broken wire or relay could be your problem.



One your hold up coil is working ( on the fuel shut off solenoid) this is activated by key turned to run position.



Your start up coil (in fsos) is not working, this is activated when key is turned to start position. When ignition is turned to start power is sent to the starter relay ( short version) where the power continuse on thanks to the relay, after the starter relay the wire splits in two. One wire goes to the stater solenoid the other wire goes to the fuel shut down relay(located on the firewall (cowl) above the fuel filter. This relay sends power to the FSOS.



The FSOS relay has two functions one is sending power to hold coil the second is to send power to the hold up coil.



The FSOS relay has a direct power source from the battey (the power/juice from the igntion helps activate the relay) I don't recall if it has two power wires to it but definitaly has one.



So check out hot wire from battery to FSOS relay. Try to find split, after starter relay check where the wire split and follow it to FSOS relay.



Check out the Fuel Shut Off Relay and all corresponding wires/connections/connectors.



Bring along test light,multi-meter and test leads, so you can check out wires... .

 

[1tuffram]

Steve,



Seems like most of the time the problem is either in the relay or starter contacts. Before you pay big bucks for a new fuel solenoid test the relay. There has been some posts on this problem in the past and detailed trouble shooting was discussed. I think someone found a replacement relay from Radio Shack for a fraction of the cost Dodge wants.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

I think I'd like to have a PTO cable in my cab too... ... anyone have pics of the install process? I'd rather rely on a cable than a darn relay/solenoid..... plus it's way cool!



Matt

 

[Joe G.]

Steve,



There is a large three wire connector behind the air horn and above the end of the injection pump. It has black, white, and red wires. If you have 12 volts on the white wire when the ignition switch is in start position your has a problem. No 12 volts then the problem is elsewhere. The wires are 10 gage. There is something wrong in the service manual here because the wire colors are different. I have a switch that breaks the white wire to delay a potential thief.



You can test the solenoid by unplugging this connector. Then connect a ground test wire to the black wire terminal in the connector part that goes to the solenoid. Touch a 12V wire to the white wire and the solenoid should pull up. You should use 10 gage wires for this test.

 

[Steve Roseman]

Thanks Guys,

I will try these tests and see what I come up with. This problem alone will pay for my membership to the TDR if it's just a broken wire or relay. Thanks again, I will post what I come up with.

 

[Steve Roseman]

Well I ran the tests mentioned above and sure enough it's not the solenoid(thank Goodness).

I ran out of time so I haven't traced it to the relay or wires yet. That will be a good project for tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure glad these things are still somewhat simple to work on, at least compared to other vehicles of the same year. My wife's 95 Intrepid looks like a nightmare under the hood.

Thanks again, you guys saved the day!

 

[HomerDog]

Steve,

I just had my solenoid and relay replaced by cummins. The relay they put in was inadequete and the same thing happened again a week later (would not start). They replaced the relay with a heavy duty one and I have had no problems since. Make sure you put a good quality relay on. It was like $7 for the cheap one and $40 for the good one. Hope this helps



Dave

 

[Joe G.]

Steve,



While you are checking stuff look at the blue wire from the positive post of the driver's side battery. This thing gets burnt up sometimes and causes problems. It dissappears into the wires to a splice where the color changes.

 

[Steve Roseman]

Joe,

You were right on the money. The blue wire had corroded off the positive side of the battery but wasn't visible until I looked closely at it. I hooked it back up and we are in business again

Thanks Guys, you saved me time, headaches and money.

 

[swamp rat]

If the relay (or FSOS)is bad and/or going south, could it cause stalling/loss of power and boocoo white smoke after the engine is warm and under power aside from the hard to start/no start condition? Low idle is set @950+or- and it runs like banshee sometimes, but when the Urban Assault Vehicle gets stubborn a typical mule ain't got nuthin on her!

 

[Joe G.]

The FSOS should have no effect on how it runs. It's just a valve. It sounds like you have a bad hose for the supply line so that it sucks air. A fuel pressure guage is a good thing to have for situations like this.

 

[BTanzini]

Originally posted by Steve Roseman

I am having a problem with my fuel shut off solenoid. I can't start the truck unless I turn the key on then open the hood and push up on the solenoid. Once I push it up it will stay in place until I shut the truck off, then it shuts off like it's supposed to.

I was wondering if any one has run into this before and if there is a simple fix( i. e. can they be disassembled and cleaned) or am I just looking at buying a new solenoid?

Any help would be appreciated.

Steve I had a problem with my fuel shutdown solenoid for the past year,it was driving me crazy. It would only fail when I was in a hurry and did not have the time to check it, got so bad that when I travel over back roads the constant jaring of the road would cause the engine to die because the solenoid would drop out, I figured because I had a bad ground connection, but I could through the shifter into neutral and it would start right up, in one case with in 1. 5 miles I had to restart engine 6 times while driving down the road,very bad situation,well I finally got an oppurtunity to dig into it and I solved my problem as follows (#1)

I cut the fuse link at the battery positive post out and installed a fuse holder with a 30amp fuse. (#2). I took the relay apart and litely filed the contacts,adjusted the contacts so it would make a more positive contact,also ajusted the open and close travel of the contacts (more gap) so the gap between the contacts is about 2/32" gap so you have a more positive contact to contact.

Then I run a #10 black wire from the neg terminal to the solenoid

(run as short distance as posible) along existing bundal of wires.

I have not had a problem since,it hits every time I start the truck,

and does not drop out any more. Hope this helps you,you could try any or all of the above I would start with fuse link 1st,ground next and relay last. One thing I also did was installed a switch in the cab so that I could energize the solenoid if it does not energize from the starter.



I started with the fues link,relay and ground.

Hope this helps give you some idea of what you might find. BT