Archived Middle GA - Ran out of fuel trouble priming

[Taz]

1995 Truck, no mods, 270k miles



I ran out of fuel on the way to work (fuel quantity sensor in tank is bad again and my fuel-o-dometer method failed me). Now I have done this once before and was able to get it reprimed on the side of the road. This time I am having a VERY hard time getting it primed.



While on the side of the road I was able to get the truck to hit and run for approximately 60 seconds then it lost prime again. Giving up, I had the truck towed home now working on it here.



I put 9-10 gallons of fuel in the tank - that should be sufficient no?



I have pumped the priming pump a lot. As much as 6 minutes straight averaging 2 pumps per second. I have the first three injector lines cracked on the injection pump as well. I had replaced the o-ring about a year ago but seem to have choosen an o-ring too large and it was binding on the shaft of the priming pump. So today I put in a smaller o-ring. After cranking the engine over for around 10-20 seconds the priming pump squirts out fuel when I go to pump it again.



Where are the check valves on the system that keep the system primed? Could these valves have gone bad? Note: truck was running great before I run it dry.



I am at a lost as to what is wrong now. My secondary vehicle is also having problems as well (SAME day - really bad vehicle luck) that I can't readily diagnose, so I must get my truck running!



Help!

 

[JFaughn]

At that millage it could be a few things , check to make sure that the fuel shutoff linkage is lifting up [ ing. sw. in the on pos. , go under hood and try to lift the linkage up or have some one watch to see that it goes up , some times the linkage can get out of adjustment ]
Thats to make sure there is fuel avalable , next is the lift pump , they seem to out around 250,000 miles , then the fuel overflow valve .

 

[Taz]

Hold on this.....



I went back outside and attempted another start and it is now running... Guess it just wanted me to walk away from it for a while??. . ??

 

[Joe G.]

Taz,



A 12 valve will usually start without doing anything else. It may take up to three cycles of running the starter for 30 seconds and letting it cool for a couple of minutes. All the primeing fooling around and pumping with the button is usually not necessary for a running out of fuel situation.



JFaughn,



I disagree that a 12 valve lift pump seems to cut out around 250,000 miles. There are a lot of them that go a lot longer than than. Most of them I think.

 

[Taz]

Thanks for the help and suggestions. It's back running, now to figure out what is wrong with my other vehicle. . It has two systems to deal with... spark and fuel! haha

 

[dpuckett]

... . I have the first three injector lines cracked on the injection pump as well.....

They (all 6, or as many as you can reach) need to be cracked at the inector (1/6-1/4 turn normally does it). Reason being, if you are trying to bleed at the pump, and have air in the injector lines, you can burn up countless starters trying to bleed it, as the fuel is going out the delivery valves, not into the injector lines. Bleed at the last point in the system (injectors), and all the air gets forced out of the system, and eventually, the injectors will pop open, thus running your engine.



Daniel

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

You need to give the air somewhere to go when priming the 12-valve at the plunger on the lift pump. Open the bleeder screw on the top of the filter housing, or a line's banjo fitting going to the injection pump. Make sure the area is clean so dirt can't get into the fuel system. Prime until fuel comes out steadily when pumping the plunger. If the injection pump and lines have run out of fuel also (that is, you ran out of fuel and are not just changing the fuel filter) you can loosen several injection lines at the injectors (3/4" or 19 mm open end wrench) to let air out there while cranking the engine. When fuel comes out, tighten the lines and start the engine.

 

[blmyachtsales]

Sounds like your all set but I had the same problem on my 96 and thought I had it licked till the next morning and she lost prime agian. It turned out to be the short hose between the lift pump and heater grid. It was slightly cracked and would let air in if it sat a while, Replaced it with same diameter marine marine fuel hose. Been fine since. cheap fix.