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Won't start, please help!

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Old Feb 3, 2004 | 07:15 PM
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ARAcummins's Avatar
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From: Traer, Iowa
Won't start, please help!

I bought a new truck last night(monday) drove it home. Left it sit over night went out this morning at 5:00 and started it up at 8* drove 32 miles to work and parked her. and she hasn't started since. what would it be I have had it warm enough had a turbo heater on it plug it in for about six hours had batery charger on it. would it be the lift pump. I know there is some sort of fuel shut off switch, could that be it where is it at? Please help my pride, I haven't even owned it for twenty four hours yet. Thanks
Heath
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Old Feb 3, 2004 | 07:30 PM
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From: Gibbons, Alberta
Not a good start eh...I am not going to try and guess what it could be, but a quick search could lead you to some possibilities. Perhaps the infamous blue wire I hear of which activates your fuel shut off solenoid...or something as simple as out of fuel?
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Old Feb 3, 2004 | 07:58 PM
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We need more information about "how" she is not starting. My bet is on ice in the fuel filter, but it is a pretty random guess.

Is there smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe when you turn her over? If not, then she isn't getting any fuel. First thing would then be to check the shut off solenoid (looks like a sending unit screwed into the top of the distributor part of the injection pump). Make sure that is getting 12 volts and that you can hear it "click" when it is turned on. If you can't hear it, it may not be pulling open -- check out this thread: URL=https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=37192]Here[/URL]

If it isn't the shut off solenoid, then I would try draining and then maybe changing the fuel filter, which will also allow you to make sure that fuel is getting from the tank to the filter. (there is a little manual lever on the side of the fuel pump, below and to the rear of the fuel filter, on the engine block, that you use to prime the new filter).

If fuel is getting through the filter to the injection pump, and the shut-off solenoid is working properly, then I'm out of ideas.

Good luck!
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Old Feb 3, 2004 | 09:08 PM
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From: Snohomish, wa
Sounds to me like the fuel has turned to gel. And if this is the case, you will need to park it in a warm shop or throw a tarp over it and put a heat lamp under it (in a place where it won't start a fire) and let it warm the lines. If this IS the problem, once it gets warm enough it will start. Then get some anti-gel in there and run it to insure complete saturation.
Oh, and you will need to pump the primer till you get fuel out of the filter bleed hole.
When the fuel gels, it gels in the lines first so the engine thinks it ran out of fuel. Just treat it like it has.

ave
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Old Feb 3, 2004 | 10:06 PM
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Well no smoke out of the tail pipe, and I sure wouldn't think it geled. It has blended fuel in it. I am pretty sure I can here the fuel shut off solenoid, but not positive.
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Old Feb 3, 2004 | 10:24 PM
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Ok, if what you are saying is that the blended fuel will prevent the fuel from gelling, well,

But at this point, I would crack the 1 injector line (easiest to see from cab) and turn it over. Look to see if it sprays fuel. If not, you're not getting fuel. please refer to prior reply.
If you are getting a good spray,,, humm,, turning over too slow? Bad batch of fuel?
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Old Feb 3, 2004 | 11:11 PM
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From: western nebraska
crack the fuel line going into the inj pump then pump the primer on the lift pump, if you get fuel there, close that line and open the return line out of the pump turn the key on (open fuel shutoff solenoid) and run the hand primer some more till you get fuel. if you get no fuel, you may have a bad lift pump, or waxed filter.
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 08:52 AM
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From: Richmond, VA
No smoke means no fuel. I figured that if it started at 8* the fuel wasn't gelled, but maybe some water melted out of the tank while you were driving, and re-froze somewhere else. Check out the filter and see what happens when you try working the primer pump -- that will tell you a lot about what is going on.
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 06:28 PM
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From: Traer, Iowa
well I cracked he fuel filter open and started pumping the hand pump tried that for a while nothing, so I tighten it back up and tried pumping some more. After about five minutes I give up too cold. The hand pump feels like there is nothing there, feels like your just pumping air, I think it's broken. So do I break down and buy a lift pump?
Heath

not off to a good start, didn't even own the truck 18 hours and I already have to buy parts to fix it
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 06:57 PM
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Before you give up on the pump, turn the engine one turn and try the pump again. If the internal lever is on the peak of the cam lobe, the hand lever won't work.
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 07:05 PM
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From: East Central OK
ARAcummins,

I'm sure that someone else will jump in here and correct me if I'm wrong (and I'm working totally from memory without my manual available to verify any of this so I hope that I'm not wrong) but I think that I recall someone saying that if the lift pump primer lever feels like it is doing nothing, you need to bump the motor over to get it to a spot where it will work. I think it's mechanical and runs off the cam and you may just be in a spot where the lobe it at the top.

If it were me, I'd start off with a fresh fuel filter before I started buying other parts.

One other thing to look at if you aren't getting 12 volts at the solonoid is the steering column. My truck ran fine when I parked it one evening and the next morning would only crank. I found that it had a burned wire at the ignition switch. I traced that back after discovering that half of my fuse box was dead causing my instruments cluster to go dead.

Hope that this helps. Good luck.
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Old Feb 4, 2004 | 07:07 PM
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From: East Central OK
Wannadiesel posted while I was still typing. Glad to know that my recollection was right.
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