Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Stalling on highway

[lrox]

I am writing this post for a friend who has a 97 ctd. His truck is stalling on the highway after 10-20 min. driving. Could the fuel shutoff relay be the cause? The truck does start right up after dying. Any help would be great.

The filter has been replaced, and the prepump in the tank has also been replaced.

 

[lil red cummins]

could you be a little more specific about "how" it is quiting? i will give the following possibilities and please let us know if any of these are close.



1. driving along at 35 mph(example) and truck shuts off abruptly almost like the key was turned off.



2. driving along at 35 mph, you take the foot off the throttle to coast and truck dies.



3. driving along at 35 mph, truck starts to slow down even though you keep pressing the throttle. truck finally stops.



4. you are accelerating hard and truck suddenly quits.



these are just rough examples. any additional details would be helpful.



also, is the problem occuring more often as time goes on, or is it about the same amount of times per trip as when first noticed.



jim

 

[lrox]

No 3. It seems to be like it runs out of fuel. Its hard to say going by someone elses info. but seems to only happen on the highway under a load for about 15-20 min. I'll try to ask him some more ????

 

[lrox]

The relay has solved the problem. Thanks

 

[rraulston]

mine is doing #1... . its getting scarry. Thank got it starts right back up. Suggestions??? Do i need a relay???? RRR

 

[PSU-CE]

My '97 has been doing #2. It sucks when you're loaded and coming into a toll booth or red light and the truck dies! You say the relay, not the actual solenoid was the problem? I'll have to try that, it's been puzzling me as to the cause!

 

[Joe G.]

The fuel solenoid relay is only in play for starting. After the start the relay is off.



PSU-CE,



Your stalling problem is most likely low idle.

 

[PSU-CE]

The fuel solenoid relay is only in play for starting. After the start the relay is off.



PSU-CE,



Your stalling problem is most likely low idle.

Yeah that was on my list of things to adjust, just haven't had the time. I'll do that first. Lookin under the hood of the '97 makes me like workin on the '91 so much more!



Thanks!

 

[Partyboy424]

Hi, bringing this topic back b/c I went through hell going to the cape last night. Driving along on the highway going about 70-75mph, usually between 2grand and 2300rpm the truck would start to either: sputter, race the engine tacking out at 3 and dying, or slowly dying, or just completely dying. I'd roll to the break down lown, she'd start right up no problem and then drive another 20 miles and just randomly do it again.



I thought I had read something about 12v ctd's (this is a 1994 manual) having a fuel shutoff after 2200rpm or something like that, could this be locking open or shut? how would I go about testing this. I'm absolutely stumped on why this is happening.



Also, I put a 1/3rd bottle of power service in the tank at last fillup, but i haven't read anything bad about that stuff.



Thanks,



Kevin

 

[Joe G.]

Governor defueling does not act like that. Try loosening the cap on the fuel tank. If that does not work, you may have a fuel hose that is bad and sucking closed.

 

[dtygart]

The problem of #3 could most likely be low idle adjustment.

david

 

[Joe G.]

Low idle won't make it stall if your foot is pressing the fuel pedal.

 

[Partyboy424]

The fuel line pinching closed seems like it would make the most sense in the reason why it would die out, but would that cause the engine to race up to 3k rpm sometimes? like would it pinch and then release and flood the engine?

 

[Joe G.]

I don't know why it would turn up like that. You may have a governor problem. Or sucking lube oil into the fuel system somewhere. Try a few drives with the filler cap off the tank and see what happens. A few tests like that might give you more symptoms to get some idea what is happening. Do you have a fuel pressure gauge? It would be interesting to see what fuel pressure you have when it runs away. Have you got a lot of miles on that truck? Do you get a lot of smoke when it happens? If so, what color? You might take off the intercooler boot between the pipe and the intake manifold and see if it's clean or oily inside.

 

[Partyboy424]

The truck has around 140k on it, I haven't had any money for fuel pressure gauges or anything yet, I had to replace the clutch about 2 months ago and other than that can't really afford any toys for it. It doesn't smoke any more than usual when the engine starts racing or dying, I'm almost 100% positive it only happens above 2000rpm only. I'll start driving around with the fuel cap off and revving it above 2k again. What does taking the fuel cap off do that would help?



I just worked a double, and probably going into another one tonight, so hopefully I'll be able to check out the intercooler tube on tuesday.



Also, my friend thinks it could have something to do with the valves sticking? he's guessing from a problem that he used to have with his valves on his dirtbike.



Thanks

 

[Joe G.]

Taking the fill cap off will check to see if the tank is venting properly. That could cause the fuel starvation. If a valve sticks on a Cummins the piston will hit it. Probably bend a push rod too.



The run away indicates that the engine is getting fuel from somewhere. An oil leak from the turbo could cause that. Thus the check of the intercooler pipe. I don't think your engine has nearly enough miles on it to have bad rings which could be a source of lube oil to use as fuel. A governor problem could cause your symptoms too.



You should also check that your throttle linkage is working properly. I had some strange symptoms some time ago when one of the little screws that fastens the linkage lever to the injection pump lever fell out.

 

[DBogo]

what is problem #2 and what is the solution my truck has done that

 

[Joe G.]

2. driving along at 35 mph, you take the foot off the throttle to coast and truck dies.

Low idle can cause this.

 

[DBogo]

mine idles right at the line, is that where it should be?

 

[lrox]

After replacing the relay, The truck started dying on the highway again. Next we replaced the solenoid, After a couple months it started again. It was so bad now that the truck would stall coming off hard accelleration. The Lift pump on the side of the block was the cause. It was not able to supply enough fuel to the main pump. I replaced the pump and he has not had one problem since. I hope this will help, good luck.