Hi All,

After reading the posts in the forum I bought the Glacier 2-Micron filter and big line kit for my ’05. When the 7-micron Fleetgaurds came out I decided to drop one of those in the stock filter. I figure you can’t filter the fuel enough. Even though the ‘05s have the in-tank lift pump I figured to install a fuel pressure gauge between the Glacier setup and the CP3.

Maybe everyone knows this however the gauge gives you a much better picture of what the fuel pump is doing and makes it a whole lot easier to decide when to hit the starter. I never knew when to hit the key since sometimes (10% of the time) I’d have to hit the key more than once.

Here are my observations:

When it is above 60 deg the grid heater doesn’t come on (I assume), however as soon as you turn the ignition on you get the “squirrelly-Q” on the dash for about 2-3 seconds and the lift pump comes on pushing the fuel pressure to around 9-PSI. As soon as the squirrelly-Q goes off the lift pump stops and the fuel pressure will return to 0, until you bump the starter. I think that if you hit the starter too early like a gasser or wait too long, it attempts to start with 0 PSI (It takes a little time for the fuel pressure to come up) causing a hard start.

When it is below the 60 deg the squirrelly-Q stays on longer indicating the grid heater is working (I assume). The lift pump pushes fuel pressure to 9 PSI while the grid heater is on, however when the squirrelly-Q turns off the lift pump appears to continue running for longer than it does when it is above 60. It appears to run for like 3-4 seconds after the squirrelly-Q goes out.
Other than letting me know that the lift pump is going bad or the fuel filters are impeding fuel flow, the fuel gauge appears to aid in deciding the optimal time to hit the starter.

Maybe everyone knows all this and it is in the manual (Which I don’t have), however I never saw a discussion like this and decide to throw my observations out to the sharks and see what happens.

 

i am probably wrong, but it doesnt seem correct that your lift pump would pressurize the system and then lose pressure(after shutting off), i guess i am unfamilair with the fuel systems on these trucks, but if it is losing pressure then all of the fluid in the line should be able to drain back into the tank. seems like there would be a check valve (or some anti flowback)right after the pump to prevent this. could be way off base. other than that, good information to have.

 

I assumed the system would have some sort of check valve too, like a gasser EFI system, however either it doesn’t or mine doesn’t work. I think there is a return line on the CP# to return any unused fuel to the tank and aid in cooling the CP#. Maybe this is where the fuel pressure bleeds off. I’m sure someone with more knowledge of the system will chime in.

 

My 04.5 does the same thing. I hit the starter when I have preasure and the truck seems to start easier.

 

yes fp drops to zero if you wait for the grid heater to heat in cold weather.
Mine starts fine w/zero pressure though. I figure there is fuel sitting there, it's just not under pressure, but thats on the low pressure side anyway, what matters to the engine is the high pressure side. Since it works I'd say there's enough fuel at the inlet for the high pressure pump to prime and enough pressure builds in the rail to start pretty fast.