Archived Turns over, but won't start

[ukmuk]

Morning,



My CTD died this morning . It was -1F this morning, but I had the block heater and oil pan heater plugged in all night. It actually started normally, then 20 seconds later simply quit, as if I had turned off the ignition. It has no mods, half a tank of fuel, and 100K miles. I replaced the fuel filter 20K miles ago.



Within five minutes, I tried to start it two times. It turned over at full battery charge but wouldn't start. While it was turning over, it had no change in rhythm or sound, just like if it had an empty fuel tank.



I'm leaning toward a bad fuel pump (never been replaced), injector pump (never been replaced), or maybe a fuse? Before I have it towed to a diesel shop, I was hoping to get any ideas of probable causes and/or any diagnosis tips that I might be able to do myself. I do have a DRBII code reader but the check engine light didn't come on--guess it wouldn't hurt to see if any codes were tripped.



Any ideas are appreciated, including information on how easy/hard the repair might be for a do-it-yourselfer.



Thanks,

Matthew

 

[TinyInOhio]

Crack the supply line to the VP44, do you have fuel there? Is yes, then crack an injector line, and see if you have any fuel to the injectors. If yes again, then crack three lines and crank it over until it starts, then retighten line. If no, then VP is a goner. Hope this helps.

 

[JFaughn]

Crack a couple injector lines watch for fuel, fuel solinoid [ lift linkage { I'm not sure what yrs but some had 2 relays 1 to lift and 1 to hold -sounds like the hold let go } or have someone turn key while you watch and see if it moves up then stays] get the cheap easy possibilities out of the way. Then if those fail to heop and the main fuel pump is bad , make the lift pump is checked out , from what I've read the main can run the truck but may fail early if lift pump quits , but in cold weather maybe with a bad lift pump the main may not be able to cover the bad lift pump , so after checking the fuel solinoid and before going to main P. see if lift P. is working. Last things first what kind of fuel [ #1 or #2 ,cold weather aditive ?] some of these trucks have a fuel heater , maybe you sarted on the fuel that was in there and cold not pull any more from tank , good luck.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Your lift pump might be at fault but my guess would be either water in lines or gelled fuel. Try what Tiny suggests above, if you get fuel to that point then the lift pump is working. bg

 

[SRadke]

So I'm guessing no smoke while you're cranking? No smoke = no fuel



-Scott

 

[JPoindexter]

i will go with gelled fuel also. just a thought.

 

[ukmuk]

Correct, there was no smoke while it was cranking.



Well, thanks to everyone, you clued me into the problem when talking about the #1 vs. #2 diesel. The fuel had gelled.



It's funny when you've solved a problem, then you can go back and everything makes sense: the last time I filled up was on Oct 14 when #2 was still being sold at the pumps. I then went on vacation (I have no garage) and on Oct 24 they switched to #1. When I got back on Oct 25 temps were in the teens and single digits even, and the truck still ran fine. And I drove it this weekend when it was that cold, so I figured it couldn't be the fuel. BAD ASSUMPTION! Last night, it reached -5F and was still -1F when I tried to start it. That was enough to "put it over the edge. " This was the coldest it's been so far this winter. So my 3/8 of a tank of #2 fuel had gelled.



The temp is now 10F and to prove the theory, it started right up. I'm going right now to get some diesel HEET and fill the rest of the tank with #1. That should do 'er.



Here's the funny part: I was planning on fueling up today after work. Bad case of bad timing.



Thanks for all the cool info. Now I'll know what to check if/when my lift pump does actually fail.



Matthew

 

[TinyInOhio]

Glad it was that simple.

 

[RAJohnson]

Mine did the same thing one time. After i got it running it was still hard to start because it had bulged the fuel filer and was sucking air. So if yours starts hard starting in the next few days you might be know what it is.

 

[JayWm]

Glad you got it figured out. I am going to let this hang out here for several days. Now that we are seeing cold weather I'm sure this one may help others out.



Jay

911 moderator

 

[Alan Reagan]

Your lift pump might be at fault but my guess would be either water in lines or gelled fuel. Try what Tiny suggests above, if you get fuel to that point then the lift pump is working. bg

I'm with B. G. Sounds like gelled fuel.

 

[ukmuk]

Thanks, Jay, good idea.



RA -- thanks for the tip. Started fine this morning, and it was just as cold last night. I think my block heater put out just enough heat into the engine compartment to keep the fuel filter and housing thawed which probably explains why it ran for 20 seconds before dying.



I will consider installing something like a FASS system with fuel heater to address this problem in the future. Or maybe I'll go with the more expensive solution: build myself a heated garage.



Matthew