I now have 18,600 miles on the Ghost Rider. About 15K I started to notice what I call a hiccup in the engine. It usually happens while in cruise or under very low throttle pressure. The engine cutouts for just an instant. Usually only once, but sometimes two or three times in 3 to 5 seconds. It is very inconsistant.

It got so bad on our vacation to the Sawtooth Mountains, I took it to Peterson's Stampede Dodge in Boise. While at Stampede, it was happening quite often. The service tech had his computer hooked up to the truck and it hiccuped so fast that it didn't even show anything wrong on his diagnostics. Star told them to check 5 different things dealing with fuel flow, the Tech said that a couple of the injector lines seemed a little loose and after setting (reading a book) 2 days in their service department, their service manager and service tech had taken it for 100 mile test drive and could not get it to do it again. I took it Wednesday night myself for a 70 mile test drive can could not get it to hiccup.

My wife and I then drove 128 miles with various speed through the mountains back to Stanley, Idaho with no hiccups. I thought it was fixed. Then on Friday when we left Stanley for Missoula, it hiccuped 5 times throughout the trip. I checked the injector lines in Missoula, made them a little tighter, and it hiccuped 3 times while driving around in the Bitterroots. On the drive home today, Sunday, I had no hiccups.

Anyone have any ideas on what might be causing this? Anyone have this experience? If so, what was done to fix the problem?

 

Have you changed the fuel filter lately The ohter thing to pay attention to is the place where you get fuel. Wait until is almost empty and get fuel fromn somewhere else, then pay close attention to if it does it again. It almost sounds like there is ater in the fuel. Have you drained the fuel water separator lately also

 

Agree with SuperGewl, That you probably received a dose of not so good fuel on the trip. Change the filter and add 3 oz of acetone to your Fill up and that should clean that mess right up.

 

Dealer checked the fuel flow in Boise last week. Everything checked out good. It is very random. Always while I'm on cruise or under slight throttle pressure. I've ordered another fuel filter, however the dealer said it flowed fine. I almost seems like it electrical, it happens so fast. I'm talking about a split second!

I always buy fuel at Flying J, they go thru a lot of fuel and have never had a problem with them. But, there is always a first time!

I would think if it were a fuel problem, it would last longer than a split second. It happens so fast that it will not register on the Dealer Tech in truck diagnostic computer.

 

If there were that much water in the system the "water in fuel" light would probably come on.

Personally, it sounds to me like a bad injector.

Shouldn't take the poor guy more than 20 or 30 trips to DC to get it fixed. Hope I'm wrong on that for his sake.

 

I have heard this referred to as a "chuck" in the diesel vernacular. It is the same as a miss in a gasser if I am not mistaken. I get it once in a while and Daan at Precision Diesel says "chuck" can be felt many times when the truck is running-w-very light throttle asin cruising. He said it has something to do-w-the electronics vraying so close to 5 volts while in a low throttle condition. Has anyone else heard of this "chuck" term?

 

Acetone, can you really put that in the tank safely?

 

Rreceived the info from this site & it had a link to scientific data sheet. I will try the search feature & see what comes up but has been a while. The OLD TIMERS are the source of the secret & I have seen the results myself of usage.

 

Here is a link for more info
http://www.lubedev.com/articles/additive.htm

 

Ok read the article, I'll give it a try on next fillup.

 

Try...I want to know! Sounds good.

 

Mark is refering to the link about ACETONE in the fuel.

 

LRAmberson,

So what are your personal results with acetone? At what dosage?

Sounds interesting...

 

1 Fluid oz. Per 10 Gallons diesel or 4 oz. per fill-up. I don't use every fill-up in town runs but on the hwy pretty religiously. My mpg are 18-20 running 78 empty but now getting better with 315's @ 80 lower rpm & less foot. I do a hand calc of mpg no overhead..... Truck runs very smooth with AceoDiesel (my name for the additive mixed fuel) and seems to be more responsive to heavy foot usage. Less pedal more acceleration. Better to put a clysdale in the tank than tiger

 

I've read these posts and this is pretty interesting. Also read the attachment that the "scientist" wrote.

I don't see any mention of the effects, if any, on the lubricanting qualities of diesel fuel. Does it effect it in any way?

It's VERY important that these fuel system be lubed by the fuel. I don't see how the acetone could not dilute the fuels lubricating properties.

Anyone got any answers on this.