92smokin blacky

Well was going out to eat last night away from home about an hour away and got about halfway. Truck ran fine til I came up a hill and was about to the top it started sputterin and chugging like it was gelling up or running out of fuel. So i babied it and kept it running for about another mile til I got to a pull off then it died. It was poppin and chugging and sounded like a john deere two cylinder and once it made a loud pop and a big flame shot out of the stack It died as soon as i pulled off so me and my buddy popped the hood and pulled the fuel filter and it looked fine, it wasn't gelled and it was fairly warm out. So I added fuel and some 911 in the filter anyway and put it back on and primed it and bled the injectors then it fired right up again. It ran a little chuggy for a minute then acted like it ran fine, but it would idle a little low sometimes. So I started off again and as soon as i took off it started chuggin again so I babied it for about another mile to another turn off then left it. We got a ride with some other friends and went and ate then my buddy pulled it over to his house and left it there for the night.

I gotta go pick it up on a trailer today and bring it home. I've about had it with this truck dying on me every other week. This is the 3rd time its died in the last month, the first time I think I ran out of fuel cuz my gauge stopped workin for a while, and the second time it had ice in the bottom of the filter and now this time. I'm thinkin that my fuel sending unit screen is plugged right off with crap in the tank, or my lift pump just took a dump... Or I'm sucking air somewhere. What do you guys think? I thought I fixed all my fuel leaks the last few weeks and thought I had it running good but guess not. I think when i get it home I'm gonna drop the tank for the 2nd time(put in a new float 2 years ago) clean it all out and put a custom sump on it and run a carter 24 valve electric lift pump (got 2 of them for free) on the frame with 1/2" lines. Hopefully that will fix my problem. I've just bad luck with my truck lately. But its just like my friend who was with me that has a 92 just like mine except a 5 speed said "If it ain't one thing on these old trucks, then its another"

D/UNIT

ive always had good luck with my 1st gens as far as never leaving me stranded.
let us know what you find.

BearKiller

The reason I insist on mechanical 6BT engines in my trucks is on account of they never let me down and strand me.


My only time to be log-chained home was due to the hidden screen in the piston lift-pump inlet clogging with gook, hence my advice to always have a pre-filter ahead of all pumps.


Of course, all of my modifications are for dependability and longevity, instead of spinning wheels and making smoke; often I fear that the power modifications are the root of many evils.

maybe368

Agreed, to kinda quote Shakespeare "oh the tangled webs we weave, when first we practice first to" modify. The only times mine stranded me were a bad Optima and a locked up Getrag. I love this old truck, at least I can fix it myself...Mark

92smokin blacky

My truck has always been fine and always ran but it hates winter. Last winter it gelled up and died 3 times and this winter its died 3 times, but other than that its always ran great and been reliable. Whats the fun of a truck if you just keep it stock?

But luckily I got it running enough to get it on the trailer and get it home. I had to give it throttle to get it to run, it wouldn't idle and was just die, and it runs ratty. It died 3 times and each time I had to prime it and bleed all the injectors to get it running again. When i bled the injectors, they would bubble out when i first loosened them, so this makes me think I'm sucking air somewhere but I'm not sure, cuz its weird that it ran fine for quite a ways then all of a sudden started acting up on a hill. And if my lift pump still primes and my oil is still good then I think my lift pump is still good. I still think my tank is pluggin off with junk so I'll get it unloaded and in the garage today and pull the tank.

You don't think it could be the VE do you? I sure hope its not...

huntinguy

Only time mine ever left me on the side of the road was when the lift pump went south.... And a few times I ran it out of fuel. LOL

GIT-R-DONE

Dont you cut your own fuel for the winter? EVERY tank I put the anti gell in I get from NAPA. Never had any 0problem 'gellin" after I started doing that many years ago.

92smokin blacky

Last year I ran Powerservice white bottle in my fuel and it still gelled right up and I put more than plenty in my tank and let it run through the system. I don't buy that junk anymore. Now I try to keep it mixed 50/50 with #1 and #2 fuel and haven't had a problem since. The 1st time it died this year I ran out of fuel, and the 2nd time I think I had water in my fuel and froze in the filter and now its somethin else.

BearKiller

I have used the recommended MEASURED dosage of White-Bottle Power-Service in all our trucks and equipment for many many years, long-hauling livestock all over the North-East and North-West in winter and have never had a gelling issue.

I am obsessive about it.

I have a supply of long-neck plastic bottles in which I pre-measure the dosage in and add these to EVERY fill-up after October-15 until April-15.

It is easy to remember my schedule, as every year, the quarry shuts down, then re-opens, the black-top plant on those dates.

I also start each winter with all new fuel-filters in everything.

It doesn't take much to stop up an already dirty filter.


I believe many of the gelling claims are more likely plain old clogged filters and ice in the lines.


I put some bottles of plain old summer-time #2 diesel in the deep-freeze a few years ago and, after several days in there, they were barely even cloudy, and for sure not the gellatin blobs that I expected them to be.

The Sarge

92 smokin blacky i would agree with you def. sounds like your sucking air somewhere. I had a 91.5 that did that. It would sput and sputter and you could mash the pedal and that would make it worse. It left me stranded on the road three times. I would bleed it and then it would fire up again and it had the same bubbles like you say yours is doing.

The bad thing with mine though is i could never find where the air was getting in and the truck had some other stuff wrong with it too..........anyways i think your right its sucking air. I hope you find it. Sorry for the long post but dont sell it for all the dtrs sake your truck is sweet.

92smokin blacky

Thanks Sarge. I needed to redo/upgrade the whole fuel supply system anyway so this is just gonna make me do it now. Just didn't want to do it in the cold, but oh well.

archer39

if you want something reliable i would not be putting on an electric pump as its sole source of fuel. If your plan is to use the 24 valve pump because of the increased pressure i would run it inline with a 2nd gen low pressure pump. You have the best of both worlds that way.

I agree with Sarge, sounds like an air leak and the cold is just making it more noticeable.

BearKiller

If the fuel system is still factory-original, common air leaks are the two short sections of rubber hose that connect the metal line to the lift-pump and fuel-tank.

One of our trucks had the plastic nipple on top of the tank to fracture from being old and brittle.

I have seen fuel-heater O-rings pour fuel like Niagra Falls yet still not suck air.

The metal line can even get rusted through.


I would avoid any electric pump as the main lift-pump.

They are wonderful for priming and such, but not dependable enough to trust.

truckwrench1

it sounds more like a lift pump you said that it would idle almost fine a little lower than usual and as soon as you tried to feed it some fuel it started to act up again. has a small amount of fuel ( suction of pump ) but not enough volume or pressure have u put a guage on it to verify pressure or restriction i would not tear apart a fuel system on the assumption of air with out knowing if there is actually fuel there to make it run

92smokin blacky

I got my fuel pressure gauge fixed maybe that same day this happened, (had bad sensor-electronic gauge) so i put a new sensor and snubber in and it was not leaking fuel or sucking air from there but I wasn't sure if it fixed it or not because it was running 0 while driving just like it was before with bad sensor and after driving it a while and stopping to idle it would come up to 4 psi and thats it. So I figured it was a restriction in the tank or the lift pump is bad.

I also fixed my fuel heater O-ring a few days before this and it ran fine when it was leaking and I put a new O-ring in it and it sealed up and still ran fine til then.

You guys don't think a carter 24 valve lift pump would be good enough? i heard they put out 10-15 psi, and since i had a fuel pressure gauge to watch it I figured I'd put it on the frame rail and try one out to see how it does. I got two of them for free that are still good and one is pretty new so i figured I'd at least try it and just always keep the spare one in my toolbox and if one ever took a dump I could just change it quick with the other one.

My buddy is also getting a newer fass setup for his 24 valve and he said he'd sell me his old fass pump (just a pump, no filters) for pretty cheap, so I might try to get a hold of that if it would work on my truck? anyone know what pressure it would put out?