Jim5870

Was going down the road today ad the truck just quit.
Have 11 volts at the terminal, I can hear the solenoid click.
( I just put in a new solenoid 6 months ago)
Going to try a jumper from the battery to the FSS to see if it starts.

After that I'll try removing the fss spring and plunger to see if it runs.
Is it okay if I turn the engine over with the fss soilenoid out to try and flush out anything that might be stuck in there?

sooty

try hand pumping the lift pump with it loose but not completely unthreaded, im thinking the fuel in the pump sump will gravity flow before you pull the pump primer, and can dry your injector bleed, but maybe your lift pump failed?

Jim5870

The lift pump was changed around the same time, it was a carquest part.

I'll also try opening the bleeder on the filter housing to see if anything flows
while cranking.

BearKiller

I wouldn't mess with that bleeder while cranking; instead of the lift-pump pushing fuel out, the vane-pump inside the VE will most likely just suck air.

Have you eliminated a plugged fuel-filter as the problem ??

Do you have a see-thru inline filter plumbed in ahead of the lift-pump; if not, a big wad of crap can choke the lift-pump and shut off the flow of fuel.


A permanent fuel-pressure gauge sourced between the filter and VE eliminates a lot of guessing.


I highly recommend permanently gutting the FSS and installing a kill-cable.

The FSS can fail in the worst place at the worst time with no warning whatsoever; one second all is well and the next you are hunting for a spot to land before the wheels quit rolling.

BearKiller

Don't forget, in most cases, (see Jim Lane's post below)
The vane-pump inside the VE will draw fuel through a dead diaphragm pump for years without the driver ever suspecting.


Other possibles are --- the old rotten rubber line either at the lift-pump or at the fuel-tank has split and is sucking air; or, the rubber line could be sucking together; or, the rusty metal fuel-line has developed a big hole and is sucking air.



Or, like Carl said, it could just be out of fuel.......

Jim5870

I took the fss out, hand primed the lift pump and I got a good shot of fuel out every time. Noticed a torn rubber tip on the plunger, tiny bit of rubber missing also. I gutted the solenoid, re-installed and still no start.
I'm wondering if the tiny piece of rubber tip thats missing went into the pump and is blocking something. ????

Jim Lane

When my lift pump gave up I was in a fast food drive through, it would not restart for anything, luckly my peeps came out and pushed my truck out of the drive through and into the parking lot where I could replace the pump, on mine the diaphragm broke off the pushrod.

Jim

BearKiller

This would be a rare case; a big enough chunk could choke the fuel inlet to the plunger, but it would have to completely seal it off, which is doubtful.

Have you tried loosening a few injector lines and bleeding the air ??


Some years ago, my truck died and barely rolled clear of a busy intersection.
After numerous roadside attempts to get it started, we finally log-chained it home where I almost never found the problem.
There was a big wad of gook trapped inside the lift-pump inlet.
When the engine was not running, this blockage would drop back out of the way and the hand-primer would throw a steady stream of fuel.
But, with the suction created by the faster operation of the pump when cranking, plus the added suction of the vane-pump in the VE, it would immediately suck that wad of gook back into place and close off the flow of fuel.

sooty

when I had the fss fail, it had debris reveal upon removal like your saying, just cleaned and replaced. maybe bear killer has some good advise that you might have gotten air, and lost your bleed, hope its not plugged, try re-priming filter bleeder screw looking for air, then cracking injectors looking for good fuel spurts.

BearKiller

Myself, I would have administered a healthy dose of ether; sometimes that is what it takes.

When I use ether, I like to spray it straight into the intake stream, either straight in the turbo inlet on a non-I/C or straight into the intake neck on an I/C.
Just lightly mist the ether while someone is cranking; just the slightest bit.

Of course, some say you could blow up the engine and half the neighborhood, so I ain't responsible for any incidental consequences.

The ether won't fix whatever is wrong, but it might start the engine and get it home.

RamGuy84

I would use WD40 before ever hitting it with starting fluid .

Jim Lane

Sadly they removed the good flammable components from WD-40, this is what I have always used also.
If you are going to use Either you should pull the wires to your grid heaters or you might find yourself with curly nubs where your facial hair used to be.

Jim

Jim5870

I'm in the process of putting together a fuel pressure guage.

BearKiller

Although it is best to have the gauge in the cab where you can monitor it while driving, to save time, the gauge can be temporarily zip-tied under the hood.

The ideal situation is to have permanent gauges both in the cab and under the hood.

Jim5870

I took the banjo bolt from the filter outlet, removed the bleeder screw
and tig' ed on a 1/4 coupling. Screwed in a grease gun hose and a guage.
I'm waiting for the right 0-10 psi guage, they gave me 0-10 HG by mistake.