hard starting

[EWhite]

Last night i got in my 93. It cranked 15 to 20 times before it started. I'm thinking air is in fuel system. Anyone that could give me a starting place to look would be VERY helpful. Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[DonTX]

Well, if it were me, I would suspect the fuel line to the pump, since it is normally under lower than atmospheric pressure, you won't see seepage usually, just air going in. It is very easy to disconnect that line, and bypass that part of the system with a small container of diesel, then let it sit and see what happens next.

 

[TWorline]

Last night i got in my 93. It cranked 15 to 20 times before it started. I'm thinking air is in fuel system. Anyone that could give me a starting place to look would be VERY helpful. Thanks in advance for any replies.

Two more good possibilities, the fuel shut off solenoid and the diaphram lift pump if it is still the orignal.

 

[TBartlett1]

Same thing happened to me on my 1990. Check the fuel tank lines where they come out of the tank, they tend to rust thru and let air in.

 

[EWhite]

I looked around any and all fuel supply lines and the pumps and see not one drop of leaking fuel. To make even a bigger mystery it fired up and ran fine yesterday and today. I think i will replace the lift pump for good measure and see what happens. Thanks to all of you for answering my thread. First gens. can be a headache sometimes, because of age, but in my opinion they still are the more desirable models of all!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DonTX]

The engine will run perfectly well with the lift pump totally non operational. Mine ran for years with a totally non operational lift pump, some of the VE44 applications don't even use a lift pump. It is easy to crack a line and see if the lift pump is working or not, probably no need to replace a good pump. If it is NOT working, the VE44 internal pump tends to wear prematurely due to being overstressed lifting the fuel from the tank. A simple fuel pressure guage is easily installed so that at a glance you can see if the lift pump is working or not. In your case, I would check to see if the pump is working, and invest the money in a guage to monitor it from now on.

 

[RWWinslow]

In addition to the above - check your drain valve on the bottom of the fuel filter / water separator (FFWS). The new ULSD will clean up your fuel system and will also cause water to separate more readily - it gets into the drain valve on the FFWS and will cause it to un seat - which results in air inleakage, but no visible fuel weepage or visible leaks.



I had almost identical symptoms. I changed the FFWS and found the drain valve on the bottom full of gunk and and off its closed seat by 1/32" to 1/16". Just enough to allow air in for difficult starting.

 

[Moab4x4]

If I wait more than 3 days I really have to crank it to get it to start. Plastic fuel lines so rust is not an issue. I pulled the line at the tank and hooked up an electric fuel pump to see if I could find any leaks that way. No dice. No leaks anywhere on the supply side. There is a small seep on the return line at the back of the engine just above where the return line to the tank hooks up. That can't be the problem can it???

My next guess is remove the remote fuel filter assy and see if that can be leaking. :{



Those that have found air leaks, are they usually on the HP side of the lift pump or the low side, or are they equal opportunity leaks?



EWhite- I agree. Lets look at the field in another 20 years. Ours will still be there.



Thanks.

Ken

 

[RWWinslow]

Mine behaved the same way. . . . and it was a combination of a multitude of small problems that added up to a major issue - especially if it sat for several days with out running. Check or replace all hose clamps. Replace the small sections of fuel line with fuel injection line or diesel fuel rated line - regular gas line will allow air migration in leakage in a very short period of time. Check your fuel filter water separator dump valve - you may have nudged it a bit while changing the fuel filter - purge some fuel out of it. Most of my air inleakage issues such as you have discussed have been on the suction side of the lift pump. Others have described very small wear holes on the steel fuel lines that do not leak fuel out but do leak air in when the engine is shut down. . . . .