Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Truck cranks,no start

[McLaughlin]

Completely removing the fuel heater assembly may be OK for someone where weather allows for mild temperatures. Here in our area one harsh cold snap and a truck which sits as much as Johns does due to having more than one truck and it may be some time till she unfreezes and will run again... ... ... ..... Andy

Which is why I suggested temporarily sealing the plug as a check. I don't have a inside work area either.

 

[Joe G.]

Someone please explain to me why the fuel heater is useful.

 

[JFaughn]

With that fuel issue , I would not buy fuel where you have been ever again , something els occured to me is that the lift pump may be weak , I found mine was bad when it was hard to start when it got to 1/4 tank on the gage , when I took it off I also took it apart , and found the check valves were bad , so it could not suck fuel when the tank got low , what may be simalar is that wth the loss of prine [ changing the fuel hose's ] it will not suck with out a prime , so try the pressurzing the tank , and have a gage on it to check the fuel pressure [ 18-25 lbs idle , 28-36 lbs at high RP
M ] pinch off the return line and the pressure should go to about 70 lbs . if the pressure jumps to 70 the pump is ok , if the pump is good and the pressure is low then the overflow valve may be bad .

The truck kind of acts like my old 04. 5 work truck. It had alot of crap and condensation in the tank and of coarse when it got cold the moisture in the tank froze around the pick up,but it has been mild here so I kind of ruled out condensation,but crap clogging up the pick-up tube... . maybe? I'll have to wait for a fair weather day. Thanks guys in advance for all your input.




John

 

[McLaughlin]

Someone please explain to me why the fuel heater is useful.

I don't think it is unless it gets REALLY cold and even then its utility would be suspect. If it gets cold enough you are getting wax and gelling, I would think it would be so thick you'd never be able to pull the fuel from the tank to the prefilter.

 

[j-miller]

Thanks for all the input guys. So here's an update. I did the fuel line in the fuel can trick and it started up,long enough to for me to see any fuel leaks and found that of coarse I had the wrong size on the return line,so I put the right one on,tightend it down and I have no more leaks and the truck did run normal from the fuel can till I ran out. I do want to replace the filter drain valve since it wasn't being to cooperative by leaking fuel if you touched it the wrong way. I have notice when I took the supply line off,it was still dry not even a drop. I did replace one line at a time so I didn't get them switched by accident. More updates to come.





John

 

[Joe G.]

Where did you connect the line to the fuel can? Directly to the lift pump bypassing the fuel heater/pre-filter assembly? Or to the steel line that the fuel hose is connected to that goes into the fuel heater/pre-filter assembly?

 

[j-miller]

Joe, I connected a line from the fuel can to the steel line to to heater/pre filter.

 

[Joe G.]

Ok, that checked out the heater/pre-filter, the fitting on top of that assembly, the short curved hose to the lift pump, and the lift pump. About all that is left is the line to the tank and the tank fittings. You probably have a bad place in the line from rust caused by salty roads then. It probably was in bad shape and got worse because of the struggle to replace the hoses. I've never had that problem since I live where there is no snow, so I don't know what all it takes to fix it. I also don't know if you have to remove the tank to get to the lines or not. Maybe someone who has done that will chime in.

 

[j-miller]

I will do a double check with the line in the fuel can deal just to make sure. I had ran out of fuel the last time which the truck didn't run long enough for my liking. As far as the tank goes it will give me a good reason to drop anyway to replace my float,and I will run the new fuel hose from the tank to engine plus check for any sediment laying on the bottom.



John

 

[j-miller]

Well guys,I got the 'ol girl runnin' again. I put in a whole new sending unit in the tank after I broke the stupid plastic elbo off for the return line and swapping out the connection for the fuel guage,and replaced the steel lines with the marine grade rubber lines, plus I gave it a smoother route to the engine instead of the bends that the steel line had in from factory. I think it runs a little better than it did before. Thanks guys for all the input and help.





John

 

[Hammer]

Glad to see you got her up and running again John and glad to have been able to help... . Andy