won't start when hot

[RPosey]

I post this question for a friend about his 92 ram diesel. He says that his truck won't start after he drives it for approx. 15 miles or more unless he uses starting fluid. He said that the idle speed seems to get slower after it gets hot. He can turn the engine off and immediately try to start it and it won't start. He has to wait 30 minutes or more before it will start, unless using starting fluid. He said it can idle from a cold start for an hour or more and it starts OK, it starts good anytime it is cold. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[bmoeller]

Could be a bad shutdown solenoid or if they have a relay in that circuit, it could be going bad also. If his idle is low, that won't matters any. If he's using ether, I sure hope his grid heaters don't come. :--)

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Hey I heard that... ... no ether, trust us here... . not good. Even if it is a warm engine and the heaters don't kick in... what happens when you force ether into a hot combustion chamber ... ...



I wonder if there is problems with the fuel solenoid.

Have him pull the top off the fuel solenoid ... carefully. There is a spring and seal inside so lift the top slowly and remove those things. Then, put the top back on and try starting it... . if it runs you know it's the solenoid. BTW, the only way to stop it if you do this is with the fuel shutoff lever. No big deal if you know in advance and you can replace the solenoid anytime you want.



Bob.

 

[RPosey]

The solenoid was the first thing that I thought of. I also figured that if it would start with start fluid then it was probably getting fuel, which meant the solenoid was probably OK. I will look at the solenoid tho. I was thinking that it could be dirty and friction was keeping it from pulling up when it was hot dut to heat expansion. It will be this weekend before I can check it, so I may have more questions later. Thanks for the replys.