DallasDodge2500

Truck has been running fine and no major or minor work done recently.
I started it before the "wait to start" light went off because, it was in the high 40's and sounded like always. I drove it about 50 feet and it lightly sputtered and it died.
I waited for the light to go off and it cranked longer than normal, it started & ran for about 5 seconds and died.
It hasn't fired up since.

It has 1/4 tank of gas in it. I took it to a self car was last night but, didn't hose water around the gas cap and didn't spray anything under the hood. It has been semi rainy outside lately but, doubt it could be related to that.
Rather than drain the batteries, I put a new fuel filter in it and added a bottle of the remove water from the fuel stuff.
I turned the key to ON 4-5 times to prime the filter, etc.
And... It cranks and cranks but, it hasn't fired at all.

I am praying that it isn't the fuel pump. I think it was guys on this board that said if the pump goes out... I'm screwed.

I read several other related threads and I have to plead Ignorant when it comes to understanding some of the terminology. I got the Haynes Repair Manual but, wanted to see what you guys suspect is the problem before doing anything else.

*** Just wanted to add this info in case it may help ***
- Starter was replaced less than a year ago
- Water pump was replaced six months ago
- Fuel filter new, just added today (12-28-13)
- Air filter is not dirty
- Has had a slow oil leak for a while & add about 1qt every 2 weeks

Thanks!

Tallguy67

DallasDodge,
Let's start with the easy stuff first. These trucks are notorious for having faulty fuel level sending units. Grab a Jerry can and add a bunch of diesel to the tank, let's see how you go from there. If that solves it, you won't be the first person to get caught by this.
The fact that you are at about 1/4 tank of fuel is what caught my attention.

Dr.Dizzle

I agree with Tallguy 67. The 1/4 tank is the first item to address.

DallasDodge2500

I will try that but, since I can't drive to get the fuel... It may be a few hours lol.
But, I wanted to follow up on what you said and let you know that with diesel at $3.75 in Dallas, I routinely run it down until the needle is close to "E" and rarely put much more than 14-18 gallons in at a time. It just hurts my feelings knowing the Gov is why its so high. I figure 80% of diesel is bought by truckers and they can write it off so, the 20% gets to pay more.
(taking deep breathe) I am ok now lol.

I was just out looking things over and checked the filter and it looked like the filter/water separator didn't fill back up after I put in the new filter.

I took several pics a few minutes ago and am going to post them within 30 minutes.

Tallguy67

If the filter housing isn't filling things are pointing to low fuel or dead LP but the VP will often pull enough fuel itself to compensate for a dead LP UNTIL the VP overheats and dies.

Crazy question - have you checked your fuses - especially the one that runs your LP?

I see your post count is low so if I am talking down to you, please do not take offense. LP = Lift Pump and it is the pump that takes fuel at relatively low pressure from the tank to the VP. VP = VP44, which is our injector pump and provides the high pressure fuel to the injectors.

Tallguy67

BTW - dead LP is fairly inexpensive to replace, dead VP is more expensive but not terminal, I think a good VP from BlueChip is running about $1,200 these days.

DallasDodge2500

ROFL!!! Don't worry about me taking offense. I freely admit that I don't have much of any experience with diesels and not much more with cars in general. All of that is the reason I come here to ask the ones who know thing or two about these things.

About the fuses... You got me wondering. Do you know where that particular fuse is located? I ask because of what happened a week ago.
We had an ice storm and my wipers froze up. I had thought the motor fried until I pulled a fuse (inside cab by driver door) and saw it was blown. The fuse panel cover with the fuse diagram was missing when I bought the truck. I took a 10amp fuse that was right next to the blown one and put it in. The wipers worked fine.
So... It has been over a week and I have driven it several hundred miles with the fuse missing in that one space but, I haven't noticed anything else being out of whack or not working. Today is the first time something came up.

Here are some pics I took and I found something that certainly doesn't look right but, I am not sure what I am looking at exactly.
The rubber in the first pic is in bad shape and it is connected to what is in the 2nd pic.

posting 2 more now

DallasDodge2500

Here are the last 2 pics.....

Tallguy67

Hopefully one of the more experienced folks than me will chime in soon. That black rubber line looks like one of the vaccuum hoses to me.

To work on the easy stuff, get that fuse replaced. There aren't many fuses in these trucks that don't do anything. If it is the fuse for the LP, your filter housing should fill back up with fuel. The second fue box is in the engine compartment, on the driver side, between the battery and the firewall. It has a thumb screw on top to open it. Most of the power train fuses are in the box in the engine compartment. When I can get to the truck tomorrow, I will take a picture of the interior fuse panel door and post it here for you for future reference. It has all fuse locations labelled.

klcammie

I agree the rubber line is a vac line. to the left it goes to the defrost controls and I think down to the 4 wheel drive cad. I t needs to be replaced. Also agree replace fuse. Just pulled the cover off on mine the 10 amp. next to wiper is cluster B. Check the fuse at number 9 position it is for the engine and is the one I pull as a antitheft. When it is out engine will not fire. The one below the wiper is backup lights.

DallasDodge2500

You must be right that it is a vacuum line. The rubber being broken down and further down the same line you can see the rubber is kinked. Not sure how bad something needs to be before it won't work.

Regardless... I am going to get the fuse replaced and see if that does anything. Also, I'll look at all the fuses for others that may be blown.

This may help you guys.... When I turn the key to ON and wait for the wait to start light to go off, I can hear a pump noise coming from somewhere. I am not hearing that now.

Thanks for the help btw. You guys helped me big time last year as well.

klcammie

I forgot to tell you that the wiper fuse is 25 amp.

DallasDodge2500

Thanks for looking at your fuse layout for me. I am hoping that its a fuse that popped and that is what stopped the motor or pump that primes the filter casing.

I have gone thru the repair manual many times and am a bit surprised they didn't include a fuse layout diagram.

NE frmhnd

Didn't you say it's a Haynes?

DallasDodge2500

Yes. I get a feeling that there is some sort of inside joke about Haynes?
Anyway, yes its a haynes manual for all dodge pick ups 1994-2001