Well , 3 months of driving the new to me truck and no problems until today , On the way home about 15 min of driving at 55 mph she quit just like I ran out of fuel - I felt a slow power loss and heard the belt chirp Islipped into nuetral and coasted her off the road put it in park and she just cranks , I have a half a tank of fuel and never a stumble till now , 3 weeks ago new fuel filter and oil change , I pulled the fuel filter and it was clean as new , I primed it with the hand primer on the pump and get fuel to the filter , all crank and no fire , so I had it towed on a flatbed to the house , as I have stated before I know nothing about these 1st gens. so what should I do next ?

 

Check the simple and cheap things first. Does the injector pump solenoid have a good connection and is it getting a full 12 volts? I had a problem with mine similar to what you describe and it was just a bad connection at the IP.

 

Actually the first thing I did when I brought the truck home was replace all the crimped connectors with new ends due to the rattle these things make alot of them were loose so all are tight and a new battery made her start just by touching the key , no cranking needed until now .

 

Even with the new connections, have you verified 12 volts at the IP with the key in the run position? If not, you can hotwire from the battery positive to the IP to make it start. Seems like I recall hearing about a relay that could also be the issue with voltage to the IP.
Assuming that you do have full voltage there, you might try starting it on WD-40 to confirm that it's a fuel problem.
Next thing that I'd look at would be to see if the solenoid has gone bad and isn't opening even with proper voltage. You can remove the solenoid, take out the plunger w/ the rubber tip, and re-install the solenoid and the truck should start if the plunger wasn't retracting. You'll have to use the lever on the side of the IP to shut it down once the plunger is out.

I'm sure that others will chime in as well. Keep us posted.

 

Not to nit-pick; BUT, unless you have some old out-dated WD-40 around, the new "improved" stuff will not start an engine like the old stuff would.

They changed the formula, on account of it was pretty volatile; now, it will put out fires.

Use ether, instead.


I will also relate two seperate experiences I have recently dealt with.


The wife's truck would have spells of refusing to start.

I even replaced the spade-terminal, on the shut-down solenoid, with a ring-terminal, directly on the solenoid bolt.

The problem still kept coming up, sporadically, until I tore into the harness, tracing that wire back toward the source.

Along back about the fire-wall end of the engine, where several sets of wires branch out from the harness, I found a hidden connection that was corroded almost completely in two.

I replaced that section with new wire and no more problem.


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On my own truck, the lift-pump sucked a wad of gook against a screen.

The truck fell out from under itself, just like your's did, and I coasted it to the shoulder.

I could hand prime and squirt fuel over the front bumper; but, crank it up, and it would run a second, then immediately die, out of fuel.

That situation gave me fits, trying to diagnose it, for two entire days.


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As already suggested, take a test-light and verify twelve-volts at the fuel-shut-down solenoid.


If that isn't the problem, prime it up, with the hand-pump, open an intake boot, give it a squirt of ether, and see if it will fire.


It is also possible that you have an air leak in the draw line inside the tank.

When the tank is full enough to keep it under, it will draw fuel through the hole and run; but, when the fuel gets low, it will suck air and die.

 

Thanks BearKiller. I haven't had to use it in a long time so didn't know that they changed the formula. I always used WD-40 when I could because I felt that it wasn't as hard on the motor (more lubricity and less volatile).
Wonder if it still will displace water inside a distributor cap or if that's changed too.

Now back to your regularly scheduled post.

 

Ok , She's running again , I feel kinda dumb because as it turns out I just ran out of fuel , but I guess it could have been worse and been the IP , so $35 for a tow I can live with , I have only driven it for 3 months and workin out all the small things so far , now I need a fuel sender , I think , because my guage is stuck at the 1/2 level , I really did not notice it not moving because I have been switching between two veh. and did not think about it till she quit , Anyway - Thanks to all with the tips as I did start at the tank and work forward cracking lines all the way to the injectors making sure the fuel was flowing and it was so I hit it with a small shot of ether ( wd did not work ) and she fired right up , I am glad you all are here because I am sure the dealer would have put it to me . Thanks Again

 

And you thought you were getting such good mileage...

You aren't the first one to do this and you won't be the last. And you've got a better excuse than most because the truck is new to you.

 

That is why I always carry a jerry can of diesel with me. Never know when the guage is gonna go south or just can't make it to the next fuel station!

 

Thanks Wanna , just running out of fuel made me feel at 39 years old and of course I came up with something else to tell the wife .

 

I went without a fuel gauge for so long that I still look at my odometer. When I get to 300 miles, I start looking for a station!! Might be a good habit to be in...

 

Since I have only had it 3 months , tinkering along the way I really did not have a baseline worked out to do the odometer thing yet which would be fine , I do that with my accord , also turning up the pump and other things I am sure will change the mileage ability so I am just gonna fill er every Fri. and fix it later.

 

I actually got scared the other day. Driving down the road I saw out of the corner of my eye a new orange lite. Let me tell you this was on my way to work and still had not had enough coffee. So I finally focused and there it was.... "Low Fuel" lite was on in the DIC.

This truck I have had for two months, but have only been driving it for two weeks.

I made it to town, but that was a wake up.

When I fill the truck the guage likes to dance - E to F and anywhere in between until I burn a bit off. Usually 50 miles.

Now to figure it out, since I am Canuck, I can get about 480 miles(600 km) before I have to worry about fuel.

HTH

 

**** Note ****

My metric conversion is out. It should be 360 miles before I have to worry about fuel.

Sorry
Glenn

 

Glad that it was something simple.

My fuel gauge doesn't work either but the Low Fuel light still does so I still have 5 gal to get to the station when that blinks on.