I have a 93' 350 with 186k miles. I have a problem keeping it running. I'm in Louisiana where it isn't really that cold. When I first crank it up, it will run good for about a minute and then it sounds like it starts to bog down like it's starving for fuel. Then it just dies. I could try cranking it till the battery dies and it will not start up. If I break all the injectors, bleed them, tighten em' back up. It will crank, fire over slowly on a few cylinders, blow white smoke, and eventually, as it gets hot, run good and stay running. The smoke goes away. Drive it all day with no problem restarting it. I then let it sit over night and it will do the same exact thing the next morning. Now if I plug in the block heater overnight, it won't do it. It will run good and won't kill. And really, it isn't cold enough here for temperature to be the problem. Plus it will drip every now and then from under the injection pump. I've already changed the filter and used additive. Does anyone know what this can be??? Any help would be great, thanks.

 

How many miles on it? Sounds like your VE is on it's last legs.

 

if u have to bleed the injecotrs like that and it runs rough for a while maybe your getting some serious air in the lines

 

yup.. sounds like u are getting air in your lines.

 

It has 186k miles. what is the VE?

 

That's your injection pump, the Bosch VE. I think if you were sucking air from somewhere it would run generally rough or with reduced power pretty much all the time.

 

If you have a extremely slight leak in the fuel system, it can suck air when you shut down, i think because some parts cool down faster than others...
I had a problem where I would be able to fire right up( cold start) in the morning, but in the afternoon, had to bleed lines to get it to rstart... found the fuel filter was just a hair loose. The only thing I could figure was that it got warm while running in the morning, then as it cooled during the day, it would suck air, making a no start in the afternoons. Tightening the fuel filter down snug solved the problem....
Hope this helps !

 

I would check for air, and also throw a lift pump at it for grins before I condemned the injection pump.

 

My truck runs fine with an air leak. The only adverse affect is it take a few more turns to fire. I already know the leak is at the tank just haven't got to it yet.

Best way to check for air is plump in a clear hose and you will see the bubbles in it if its sucking air

 

Of course it could be anything at this point, but the things I keyed off was he said the pump is leaking and it starts fine later in the day.

 

That's what puzzles me. How it won't stay running when cold...but later in the day it will crank up every time. I'm starting to think there is a seal that might suck air when it's cold but as the motor warms up it expands and cuts off the air leak. but it starts with no problem when the block heater has been on all night, and that doesn't heat the pump where a seal would be. unless heat is travelling through the fuel via convection keeping the seal swollen. I don't know, As long as i can plug in I'm ok. But if I travel somewhere overnight and can't find an outlet when i sleep...pull out the tools. and that gets old!! thanks for all the input so far, really.

 

Check the fuel heater o-ring......located directly above the fuel pump. The heater can turn when you remove the fuel filter, and it is possible that you might not notice it became loose...

 

Your fuel cools the injector pump and gets pretty warm from this. Ever notice how you always seem to have less fuel when you start cold than when you shut down? It's from heat expansion (be careful not to be too close to E when you shut down). Gassers with in-tank pumps do this too, but not as severe. I believe your fuel is warming up the rubber connections in your fuel line and allowing air to be sucked in. It can do this without showing a fuel leak.

 

Interesting . . . I have been having what might be the same problem, except that it is 0 F up here, and until this morning, I thought I was having some sort of fuel gelling problem. This morning I noticed the drip coming from the back side of the pump. It seems that if I keep the rpm's up, the truck will run cold, but if I let it get down below 1000rpm, she dies and won't recover. I was on here to see if this sort of behavior coincided with the failure of the timing piston cover (the plate with two screws on the engine side of the pump) seal. Is that where you are leaking?