Hey Guys...How is everyone? I'm sorry that I don't post up much, but I still "listen in" all the time...

How about this one. "Red"(the 6BT Ramcharger) has been running great for the last year and a half. Mind you, 275,000ish miles and counting. Last Thursday, the wife told me that se started up a bit funny. Almost like starting up in the cold(it's been warm here in Colorado)...Real rough. Didn't think much of it but this Saturday morning, I got into Red and the ole Girl didn't want to start. Cranked it a bit more and she fired up, but died a second or two later. Tried again. Started up, but the low idle was down a bit and the came up to "normal". (Here's where you "flame" me) No guages...I know...I know...Anyway, Red runs normal for the most part. Seemed to lack power a little. It was already on the list to do, so I Changed the fuel filter, and pulled the lift pump off to see if it was fuctioning. It is. Put it all back together and nothing...

This morning...No start...AT ALL! She cranks over but didn't even feel as though she was going to fire. Came inside, seached the archives on the TDR, went back out, pullled the fuel shut off solonoid to check it. Seemed ok. Put the solinoid back in w/o the plunger...Still no go.

It was acting like it had been run out of fuel. I remembered what MadMax's truck was lke to start whne he changed the injectors and did what Kurt(GLHS) did...cracked the injector lines...What do you know! Fired right up! Ran fine. So I let it run a bit while I tightened up the injector lines and cleaned up. Shut it down and let it sit for approx 10 minutes. Went to start it up again and NOTHING AGAIN!! Uh-oh.

So I cracked the lines again and started it up(yes it fired almost right away). Bled the lines again, tightened them up and went for a ride. Felt fine. Nothing unusual. Brought it home, parked in the drive, shut it down and tried to start it up about 30 secs later. Real rough start. Shut it down. Left it off for about 3 minutes...Nothing. NOTHING again.

I believe I'm getting air from the "o=ring" between the pump body and head. Is it possible for the fuel to bleed back that quickly from any where else? Is it worth it to pull the pump and change THAT "o-ring? Do you guys think it might be more than just that.

Ideas? I'm stumped and in the doghouse. It's my wife's D.D.

Any ideas or a rebuilt "ve" would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!!!
Andrew

 

Sounds to me like your lift pump is letting the fuel run back out of the pump. I've had similar symptoms, but nothing that bad. Mine would start hard after sitting for an hour or so.

 

You've got an air leak somewhere in the low pressure side of the fuel system.

Replace the o-ring above the fuel heater, lift pump is also a possibility but a cracked rubber fuel hose is more likely.

Before you spend money - Lightly pressurizing the fuel tank will push fuel out of the air leaks so you can see where they are. Use a rag and an air hose in the filler neck to put a few psi in the tank.

 

I replaced that seal on mine, trust me if its bad you will have the same prob but it will be leaking a lot of fuel out of the pump when running if thats it ( mine did realy bad) Its not as bad to do as it sounds. I have picks and step by step of how to do it that I made when I did mine that I will post if you need.

 

Hey Guys. Thanks!

A little update...Still no go. I have tried 3 different lift pumps, checked the shut off solinoid, changed the gasket above the fuel heater. Brand new fuel filter, too. Still the same. It runs fine when I crack the injectors and get it started. I did discover that when I removed the fuel filter to change the gasket above the fuel heater, there was VERY little fuel in the filter. Thought that was sorta strange. Filled it before re-installing, got it started. shut it down and tried to start it 5 seconds later...No go. Decided to double check the fuel filter. Almost empty again! O.K. now that is not right.
I think I'm going to need to drop the fuel tank and check the connections at the sender. I found the bottom of the tank covered with a film of "schmootz"(diesel and dirt). Wasn't that way last week...Thinking I might find the problem there.

Thanks again. I will update soon.

Andrew

 

Sounds like you have an air leak between the tank and the lift pump. Did you try pressurizing the tank to find the leak?

 

Thanks again! I believe I found the trouble. The "send" elbow out of the top of the tank was cracked. Pushed on it a little and it broke off. Since this sending unit is a custom thing that I built for the Ramcharger tank a need to rebuild it this weekend. Hope it works.

Andrew