I thought my fuel solenoid died

[CDegner]

Coming home from work this evening, I pulled up to a light and my truck died. Tried to start and nothing. Pushed it off the road into a parking lot and immediately checked the Fuel solenoid wires. Bob Beauchaine had told me about this common problem while executing my KDP. Well, needless to say, the wires were still on. Cracked a line on the low pressure fuel and it seemed to leak fuel when I pumped the lift pump.



Called the wife to come get me, went home and read numerous post here on testing the solenoid, grabbed some tools, five gallons of diesel, and back I went. Decided to add the diesel and check the lines again. Nothing out the bleeder port. OK, I guess I DID really run out of fuel. Pumped some fuel throught he filter, closed off the port and tried turning it over. Nothing.



Well, I've never had to bleed injectors before so I figured there was no time like the present to learn. Yes there was air and by the time I had three bled, the thing was trying to run. Truck started right up after the last injector was bled.



Went home and had to get a neighbor to take me back to my truck since Mrs. carl20320 was putting our wonderfull 22 month old to bed. Headed to a diesel station and filled up. Truck seemed to be running well. Thought I would take it out and run it a little to make sure I had all the air out. Got 1/4 mile down the road after filling up and the thing started sputtering and died. :{ Crap, now what?? First thought was bad fuel. Decided to bleed the injectors one more time ... nothing. As an after thought, I checked the fuel solenoid wires and the hot wire had come off.



Now to get to the point of this long winded story ... Thanks to this forum and the wealth of info here, I will be driving my truck to work tomorrow. I guess this weekend I will be replacing the low fuel light on my dash. It has always come on with 5 gallons left in my tank in the past. Not this time, though.



Carl

 

[Bob Beauchaine]

Hey Carl

I'm glad that everything worked out for you even though it took a couple of hours. I would replace those connectors the first chance you get. Then you wont have to worry about them again.

Bob



PS. I almost forgot - you might want to change your fuel filter you could have picked up some "crud" from the bottom of your tank .

 

[tugboatphil]

Thanks for the story. I'm sure it will come in handy for someone else. That's the great thing about this group!



As to the Low Fuel light, I reset my trip meter every time I fill up. Depending upon driving conditions and load, I can pretty well judge how many miles I can go before I'm empty.



My light had gone out on my 90, and it seemed like it should have come on. I thought I had about 25 miles left, but as I was making my final approach to the pump she sputtered... . hard. I shut down and pushed the final 10 feet. When I was done filling, it was the most I'd ever put in (I also log my fuel amount/price per gallon/ and purchase price) and it was a delayed start. I must have gotten a little bit of air before I shut down.

 

[CDegner]

I think the thing that killed me (my truck) was the fact that as I stopped, I was facing down hill on a fairly steep overpass. What fuel was left ran forward and the rest was history.



As for the light, I have always determined that I had 50+ miles left when the light came on. I only had one time that I put in more than 27 gallons using that philosophy. That one time I put in 29. 4 :--) . Considering it is a 30 gallon tank, that was WAY to close. This time, I dumped in 5. 2 gallons and at the fillup, I put in 25. 3. I would say I was running on fumes and we all know where that gets us!!



At least now I know that I know how to bleed the injectors!



Carl

 

["Mad Max"]

How much do y'all really have left?

Every time my low fuel light comes on, and I subsequently fill 'er up, it only needs about 23 gallons, so I'm guessing it comes on at about 21-22. Seems kinda early for ythe light to come on as I have about 100 miles left before WAY empty. Thoughts?

BTW, I'm getting about 380 miles on about 23 gallons, average.

- Sam

 

[CDegner]

Well, my tank was EMPTY ... mpty ... mpty (weak attempt at an echo) at 493 miles (still probably a gallon left that sloched forward on the hill). I have typically had to fill up around 450 miles and that normally takes ~25-26 gallons. I should have known better but I was hoping having replaced a leaking lift pump had improved my mileage more than it really did. BTW, the light had worked last time I needed diesel.



Carl

 

[SLO CTD]

Sam,

It always seems that when my low fuel light comes on and I go to fill it up, I only put in 22 or 23 gallons. I think that is a bit too early, but I guess it helps us not to suck up any of the crud on the bottom of the tank.

 

["Mad Max"]

Casey - I figure that's about right too. I'm not sure how far past the E the needle will go but I bet it's a ways!



We should do a central coast bombing fest one of these days, or maybe start up a cen coast CTD gang. The bubbas at PDR are looking at having a dyno fest on the 19th - I might be going up for a couple days and may kill a KDP in the process. The date isn't firmed up 100% yet but it should make for some nice drivin' and good timin'.



There are a few TDR bubbas out this way, and I'm up in SLO a bunch. I live in Lompoc.



- S