I just installed my brand spankin' new fuel pressure gauge setup replacing the shrader on the vp. Went to start it and it is a no start. Did all the normal things to prime ie; break loose a couple of injectors and all. Ran the batteries down trying to start it up. they are on charge now. Last time I got into the fuel system, I had the same problem, hard as hell to get primed up and started. Is this fairly common to have this much problems getting primed??

 

how much fuel is in your tank?? we've had some problems getting a truck to fire up when the tank is low on fuel.

 

At least 1/2 tank.

 

my only other recommendation would be to start at the filter canister... bump the starter and make sure you have fuel there and move forward until you have fuel at the VP then at the injector lines...

 

Yes, bump the starter. When you bump the starter, the ECM makes the lift pump run for 25 seconds, as long as you leave the key in the ON position. This helps immensly to prime the system, but it will not force any air out of the injector lines. Only cranking will get air out of the lines. Crack open 3 of them and close them as they get fuel. You only need 3 injectors firing to get the engine to start and run. It will run rough but clears up as the other lines purge themselves.

 

Did all the bumping and cracking open lines. Guess it is just taking more cranking than what my batteries have in them. discharged them twice this evening. Going to let them charge tonight and give 'er hell in the morning. I did look for any codes but nothing came up. Last time I had this problem i pulled the codes and the mother of all codes popped up but it cleared itself I guess. I did eventually get fuel to #4 a little while ago but nothing to 1 and 3.

 

Does it sound like it wants to fire?

The only time I have seen a CTD not prime was with a dead or very much near death lift pump. A chief on my base has a CTD, a 99. His filter canister is the old style with the two ports on top. When his pump died he tried the filter change and purge. We left one port off the canister to help purge the air out of it. Fuel barely dribbled out of the hole. Dead LP. We replaced the LP and left the port open again. When we bumped the starter heard a new strong lift ppump spring to life. Within 7 seconds the filter canister had filled up and we had Mt. ST. Diesel erupting under the hood, and left us scambling to find the port plug. After bumping the starter again, and cracking some injector lines it caught and fired up. Ran rough for about 30 seconds but it cleared up and ran like a champ.

 

When you bump the starter what is the pressure on your fuel guage? You should see at least 14-15 PSI of fuel pressure. If not you LP is DEAD! All other priming is worthless without a LP putting out some pressure.

 

sound words on lp pressure you should see good pressure on your guage, you should be sure you did not drop any of the washers on the banjos, another thing to consider is the batts need to be in good shape to light the truck especially when it is cold. I have found 3 cycles and 10 seconds of cranking works for me. If you are cranking for long enough to kill the batts be sure you have lp pressure, but don't try to start it when it shows 20psi...it won't, be sure it is warm or plugged in, if you fiddled with anything in the fuel system-double check it as a very small leak can be a big problem, and when you bump the starter turn the key back to off so the grid heaters do not have to cycle.

 

If you crack (significantly) the line where it connects to the VP and bump the starter to run the lift pump, you should fairly quickly get diesel all over the place. If you tighten the line while the lift pump is still running and fuel is pouring out, it should start with a few cranks after that.

I've done this twice after having my fuel system completely apart, and it started up pretty quickly without cracking injector lines.

Sounds like something's not right.

 

Finally got the truck started after the batts charged all night. Pretty much fired right up. I was thinking that I might have had a leak in one of the lines. It sat yesterday last night and most of the day today while on a day trip to Panama city, fired right up when i got back in town. Reckon it is fixed now. thank y'all for the help.

 

Some trucks are very finicky about starting. Mine will crank right up after a fuel filter change. Usually on the first attempt. My roommate's on the other hand takes about 10-15 minutes of cranking and bumping and bleeding to fire up.

 

Mine is very hard to prime. I started cracking a line and it primes right away. 40K on original LP 14 at idle, 11-12 at cruise and 8 at WOH. Knock on wood. SNOKING

 

I agree. Even with a new LP I have a heck of a time getting it to start after a filter change. I never have to crack injector lines, I just crank the heck out of it after I prime the system of air as best I can.

Jarhead, glad you are up & running.

 

Well I wish my issue would go away. I have to bump the starter 2x and let the lift pump do it's job b/c she doesn't start on the first crank...