Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) truck quits and it ain't funny no more.

[DPyles]

I am having one hell of a time trying to get my truck to run consistantly. Some times I can run it for couple hundred miles and it'll miss and If I take my foot off the pedal it'll croak.

Will not restart till I push the primer on the lift pump a couple times and it might run again for a while or might do it again a mile or two down the road. Does not seem to matter where the fuel level is on mine.

Here is what I have done so far on the repair/replace list

second fuel filter in only 1000 miles.

rubber fuel lines under firewall replaced.

rubber fuel lines at tank replaced.

little rubber "L" shaped hose from pump to strainer replaced.

new Carter lift pump $$$$$$.

none of this helped so far. same story as before.

this time when it died I pulled up on the water seperator bleeder on the fuel filter and NOTHING came out! pushed in on primer and it STAYED IN!!!

It came back out when I pulled up on the water bleeder again.

something is causing a dead vacuum in the lines.

jerked bed off today and pulled the pick up assembly.

looked at inside of tank and felt around in the stuff for sediment in the bottom. Clean as a pin inside. What does alge look like in the fuel anyway?

tore the pickup assembly all apart and could find nothing that would restrict fuel flow. Only thing in there was a very fine coating of sediment all over everything nothing heavy or unusual for 160,000 miles.

Put it all back together and took it up the road to a long gradual hill and left it on the floor 60-70-80-85.

kept on going and never missed a lick.

Maybe I fixed it. If so what in the name of all that's holy did I fix.

anyway I'll see more tomorrow when I take it for another test.

The only thing that I did notice when inspecting the pick up from the tank is that the two slot where the metal piece of crap slides over the plastic piece of crap... . there where three screws. two on one side and one on the other, they hold it together and are supposed to slide in the long openings in the metal piece of crap.

The screws had worn cuts in the metal where they ride all the time and would not let the metal thing move past these spots.

I don't think this would cause a problem but I am not sure. I don't think it moves much after it is installed in the tank, am I right????

Any one ever find anything like this before.

Got a new overflow coming in the mail.

Long winded feller ain't I???

 

[Joe G.]

There are another couple of things that could be causeing it. The fuel heater may be cracked so it sucks air. The fitting where the input steel line fastens to the fuel heater/pre-filter may be loose or damaged.

 

[JGheen]

I'll give it a whirl and say it's that POS Carter lift pump you put on there. How much did you pay for that? You can get a brand new one from Cummins for $160. That primer button should not be sticking like you mentioned. I would definately check all the gaskets and lines around the lift pump and prefilter/heater housing since you had to remove all that to install the new lift pump. That sure it weird that it all went back to normal after you messed with the fuel tank. Somethings go unexplained.....

 

[Extreme1]

It the tank vent OK? Do you notice a vacuum "whoosh" when you pull the cap off?



The lift pump primer sticking in and your feed line being clear makes me think that this is it. You've fixed or checked everything else.