Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) The thing wont start

[Hootguy]

decided to clean the fuel heater sediment filter screen and bowl. .

I got evrything appart cleaned up and put back in,,,i didnt remove the heater element...

BUT,,i must have done something wrong,,,because when i got the truck started i went one block and it died like it ran out fuel...

Towed it back to my house,,and proceeded to check everything i could,,still no start,,checked the bowl,,,no fuel,,,checked the fuel filter and it was half full. ,,

Tried cracking the injectors,,no fuel,,still,,filled the fuel bowl and filter back up,,,,still no go,,

THEN,,i noticed that when i removed the fuel heater bowl,,the elemnt had come loose,,,so i might have been cranking on the starter for an hour,,,and filled evrything with air... .

Now i dont know what to do anymore...

Does this mean a tow truck ride to the Cummins shop????

Or is there anything else i can do to prime the system. .

I tried pumping the plunger on the lift pump... but it doesnt seem to work,,,i give the strater a crank and try again,,still no pump,,,...

That new Duramax is strting to look real good right about now,,,I'm starting to wonder if these Dodges are worth the aggravation. .

 

[bighammer]

I think there is a bleeder screw on top of the filter housing on the supply side. (line from the lift pump and heater) I would open that and see if you are able to push any fuel out of there with the plunger. It should purge the air then spray out pretty good. If it doesn't bring any fuel up, either you are out, your lift pump just died or something else is messed up. Mine would slosh some fuel out, then suck back down between strokes when a check valve went out in my lift pump. If you get a bunch of fuel, spraying, close it up and crank it a couple times. If it doesn't start, open a couple lines and crank it again a couple times until they get wet or it starts.



(check that the fuel shutoff us pulling up too )



I'll be in the chat room for a bit (prob till midnite)

 

[Jeff H]

Sometimes the connections to the fuel shut down sloenoind get kinda dirty. If ya bumped those conections it may not be getting any juice. May wanna check that too.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

FWIW:



My lift pump just couldn't handle a fuel filter, rubber feed/return hose changeout, and a pre-screen cleaning.



It wouldn't prime the system very well... if at all... . and the truck would run just long enough to eat up all the fuel post pump and then die until I could get it primed again.



The new lift pump was more than capable of priming the system properly... . and I had a TON more power with the new pump.



Matt

 

[kking]

Hooter69

I had a very similar experience the other day with my 94. What I had done was to get an air lock in the top of the original fuel filter housing (I have a primeloc filter relocator). I was ready to have the thing towed to garage until a friend came over bleed the air out using the forward most bolt on top of the original filter head. I took a lot of priming but it finally started and I will never change the filter and clean the screen at the same time unless I can come up with a way to fill both with diesel before starting. Good Luck.

Ken

 

[Hootguy]

Well guys,,thanks for all your help.

I did everything you suggested...

I removed the heater element assembly and wires. . i left the burned up sensor part in the top housing. . and simply re-installed the bowl without the heater part as someone had suggested. . \

Good news ,,it works good now,,,i guess air was sucking in threw the element plug. .

I did have to use the air in the tank technique to get it primed as the manual plunger doesn't work anymore.

If my lift pump is bad,,,why does the truck still have lots of power??

I will make sure to always throw antigel in the fuel next winter.

I currently use Howes Cleaner Power formula all the time.

Thanks again for all the help

 

[illflem]

Originally posted by Hooter69

If my lift pump is bad,,,why does the truck still have lots of power??

The injection pump will also suck fuel but not if air is introduced while things are taken apart. It's quite common for a person to find that their lift pump is dead after changing the filter when they had no problems before. I'd put a gauge on it before replacing the pump, might save yourself some money.

If you had trouble priming it with the button perhaps the cam had the pump actuator arm lifted to the highest point, solution is to bump the starter.