ride_a_hd

Need some help... Go ahead and get a cup of coffee... This is a long confession...

Last night I committed the unpardonable sin of running out of fuel. My gauge said I had about 1/8th of a tank but I was less than a 1/4 mile from the truck stop when the engine quit. I rolled to a stop, tried to start it a couple times hoping to at least get the last 200 feet to the traffic light where it would be downhill to the truck stop. No luck...

From there I had to find a fuel can (been meaning to buy one... ugh...). Found one at one of the 5 stations in that immediate area (square mile) but it was only 1 gallon (AND $6.50). Made three treks to the nearest diesel pump to put fuel in the tank. After each gallon, I tried priming the pump (40-50 strokes) then attempted to start it. I made several attempts each time. After the second gallon and several attempts, the batteries were smoked... No juice left...

There I sat, hazards flashing, on the off-ramp to a major truck stop area, off a major interstate, and NO ONE stopped... Finally broke down and had to call my wife, pulling her out of a study session she was in for a class she's taking. As I was a good half hour away and had to wait for her, I went ahead and put a third gallon in the truck.

When she showed, I should have just towed my truck to the truck stop, but NOOOOOOOO... This knucklehead had to try to jump the batteries and start the truck in the dark... We made multiple attempts of *crank,crank,crank* *dead battery* *charge back up* *crank,crank,crank* *dead battery* Throughout this I was constantly priming the pump. I must have pressed that plunger 200 times. NOTHING. I finally cracked the injectors *light bulb*, but no fuel would show no matter how much pumping I did. At this point, I hooked my truck up to my wife's and we pulled it to the truck stop. Another hour of jacking with it and still NO START. I had five injectors cracked (couldn't get the wrench on the first one) and even cracked the overflow valve. I could NOT get any fuel to come out!!! And yes, the gas cap was off.

At this point, I was totally dejected and broke down to call a tow truck (at 11pm; started this ordeal at 630pm). It was 2am by the time we had the truck back in the street in front of the house... (My wife is a true ANGEL! She should have killed me but just kept on being a real trooper. I owe her BIGTIME for putting up with this stubborn, hardheaded, jack@$$...)

Now that my confession is over, WHAT could be the problem??? Do the primer pumps ever fail? Was I doing something wrong? There was nothing in the owner's manual that I could find on what to do if the truck is run out of fuel... I REALLY don't want to drag this thing to Dodge (no other real diesel mechanics in the area that I can find yet.)

Thanks!

(I'm the brown beast getting whipped...)

P.J

Nice story, I have no useful knowlege of first gens.

Any chance you sucked up 10 years worth of crud off the bottom of the tank and your filter is that clogged?


You owe your wife a nice dinner out.

EDIT: Oh, and is your wife the one on the hind end busting out the whip?

ride_a_hd

Quite possible on the filter getting clogged...

Actually, the three "beaters" around the carcass are "me, myself & I"... I've been beating myself up all day on the wasted time last night. There were no "angel" smilies to post for her...

P.J

Dude, no sense in beating yourself up over it. Could always be worse.

Just think, you could have had your door ripped off by a passer by on one of the many times you got in and out to do your fruitless cranking.

Someone that knows what they are talking about will chime in here with some ideas.
Good Luck.

CTD NUT

Did you crack the bleeder screw on the banjo bolt that is on top of the filter head when you were priming? Did you get any fuel to come out of it? Is there any fuel in the filter? FWIW, I would dump at least 5 gallons of fuel in the tank.....that way you can be absolutely certain there is enough fuel in the tank.

G1625S

Did you crack the lines leading into the pump? Even loosening the fuel filter till it bleeds would be a help. I'm not well versed on p-pumps, but I would crack the output line of the lift pump and prime till there's fuel there. Then, crack the inlet to the fuel filter and prime till there's fuel there. Then, change the fuel filter out with a fresh one that's been pre- filled with fuel. The crack the line after the filter and prime till ya see fuel. Etc etc. just keep working your way to the injection pump, and then maybe do the OF valve. then crack 2-4-6 till you get fuel, close 'em up and crack 1-3-5 and it should fire. Infidel, where you at?!

ride_a_hd

Actually, no, I did not crack the bleeder screw on the filter. I figured priming with the injectors cracked was the way to do it. I would think it would have the same effect as cracking the bleeder screw, but take longer... I'll try the bleeder screw tonight, though! No idea on fuel level in the filter... One thing I DID do was top off the tank while sitting at the truck stop once we got there...

PJ, Actually, there were SEVERAL 18 wheelers that flew by me WAY TOO CLOSE at speeds in excess of 50 mph. Scared the crud outta me a couple of times... I kept seeing flashbacks of those state police videos where someone slides onto the shoulder and takes out the SP car and the car they have pulled over...

ride_a_hd

Thanks, G1625S! 'Bout time to change the fuel filter anyway... Need to get a pre-filter, too...

gunracer1

sometimes the fuel pump is up on the cam and it will not really pump. i just loosen the overflow valve and start pumping. when it come out of the overflow, the truck will usally start.

ride_a_hd

Tried that, too...

Sidewinder

After I removed and replaced my injectors I could not get mine to start either. I tried holding the "gas" peddle to the floor while cranking and it started after a little bit of cranking. With out the heavy foot I cranked and cranked and it still would not fire even with the above tips.

Give it a try and see if it helps.

Maine69charger

It's possible that all your cranking overheated the fuel solenoid on the side of the injection pump, they will get very hot with extended cranking. Make sure it is pulling up all the way

cummnz4x4pwr

Did you check the shutoff solenoid---Ive had one go out on me while i was driving

also if your just priming it then you wont fuel to injector lines

Jake

ride_a_hd

Sidewinder, yes, I did try that, but now I'll try it in conjunction with the previous suggestions. Maybe using all of them together will get the fuel to the injectors.

Had not thought of checking to make sure the shutoff solenoid was still activating, Maine69charger & cummnz4x4pwr. I'll check that when I get a chance during daylight. Tired of working by flashlight after last night...

Thanks for all the help! I'll post the outcome if/when I can get to it tomorrow, if I get home from work at a normal hour...

gunracer1

you may just have a dead lift pump, not common but possible.