Archived lift pump or bad fuel?

[jwgary]

My truck is sitting in front of my house right now and will not run. I had to make a run to wally world and only made it about a block after leaving before she started running very rough. I pulled over and put her in park and reved the engine to see if I could get the engine to settle down a little. I then got out and opened the fuel drain a little and it died. I never got it to start after that. I thought it might have been the lift pump, but I can hear it run when I bump the starter. I smelled the fuel and it doesn't really smell like diesel. It doesn't smell like gas sither, but the gage said 1/8 when I filled up. I only went about 10 miles on that tank. Please help if you can. I will not be at home tomorrow, but my brother Bryan will. If you can offer any help or advice, please give a call at 817-249-8949. I would stay at home from work to work on it, but I am attending a training class this week and the company would be extremely dissapointed if I just wasted their $1400. I have a new filter, but I have not installed it yet (I was about to do that when I got back from walmart anyway). The Fuel filter probably has about 15-16000 miles on it. Again, I thank anyone who can offer any help in this matter. Please help me get my truck back running again.

 

[Steve Campbell]

You might try "cracking" the ...

banjo bolt at the VP44 and bump the starter to see if you have fuel coming out there. If so let it bleed for 10 seconds or so and then tighten it up while the lift pump is still running. That will get it pretty close to primed. Maybe bump the starter a second time for good measure if the above is true. Hoping for the "simple fix".



Hope that solves the problem. Good Luck.

 

[jwgary]

I didn't have a lot to do...

while I was waiting for the tow truck, so I bumped the starter several times with no change in the results. I think I am getting plenty of fuel, but am not really sure.

 

[Bigsaint]

I'd try adding a full tank of fuel and them bumping the starter with the drain valve on the FF open. From my limited experience, the siphon flow from the tank stops at about 1/2 empty. Don't discount the lift pump as being dead, just because you hear it running. It may have enough life left in it to get you going again. Give it a try with a full tank and if you get no fuel from the drain on the filter, then you know the lift pump is pushing up daiseys.



All of my numbers are in the TDR travel companion. If I can help, give me a call ( try home first, then the cell).



Scott W.

 

[Lsfarm]

Vp44 pulling a suction?

If the engine was running when you opened the fuel filter drain, and no fuel ran out, then the lift pump is probably dead. It may be running but not pumping this is a common failure.



With the engine idling the pump should be creating 10-15 psi. You should have had a lot of fuel come out of the filter drain line when you opened it.



I think the injection pump was pulling a vaccuum trying to get fuel, and when you opened the drain line, this allowed air into the system.



It could be contaminated fuel with the filter plugged, but with the history of the lift pump [two in 18K for me] I would believe it is the pump.



If it ends up being contaminated fuel, most insurance policies offer coverage for your repairs.



Good luck Greg L

 

[LSMITH]

What Greg said ^^^^^^.

 

[Ram-bo]

Just a thought (worth a shot) ... ..... Try disconnecting both positive battery terminals and let set for 5 minutes or so ---- this will "reset" the Engine Control Module (ECM) to the factory defaults. If it's a computer problem, this might help. My '00 3500 Quadcab was bucking like crazy (pulling my fifth wheel) two weeks ago and after checkin the fuel filter, operating the drain valve, ect. , I tried the above and it worked for me. By the way, I'm still not real comfortable about my situation (worried about my lift pump too)