Hello everyone, I own a stock 03 5.9 CTD. It has 127000 on it and I've done the necessary maintenance from the dai I've owned it at around 75000 miles. Changed oil, oil filter and fuel filter religiously. I use all fleet guard stuff and quality oil. Well last week I went to work everything running fine, I work 3rd shift here in Cincinnati, got to work around 8. It dropped down to around 15 and the next morning I realized I forgot to plug the truck in, went out after a 11 hour shift and she would not start, tried and tried and nothing. Well figured I should have plugged her in last night so decided to just work a couple hours over, plug her in and let her warm up. Did that and still nothing. Got a ride home, left it plugged in. Came back that evening and tried again. Finally she fires up, took it straight home and got a ride back in for last night of the week. Well I came back the following morning and once again she would not start. Turning over fine just nothing. So a friend recommend I change air filter, fuel filter ( only a couple thousand on it but just to be saf) and check for any codes, no codes and air or fuel filter did not help. He recommended I try and shoot some starting fluid in and see if that works, sure enough one tiny spray of starting fluid and she fires right up, drove her around, sounds like the day I bought it, running great. After having it out for a minute, shut it off and again she would not start. Another tiny shot of either and boom she fires right up. So long story short my truck runs great and normal but I have to shoot it with either to get it started. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thanks mike

 

Rule number 1 NEVER use starting fluid because of the grid heaters.
Rule number 2 Never use starting fluid UNLESS you disconnect the grid heaters.
I'm guessing as there was no loud bang and the truck is still in one piece your grid heaters are not working.

 

Lots of good info if you search for lift pump.
Here is a link to one of the latest threads on it.
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...e-t296691.html

 

Do you have fuel pressure?

Lift pump perhaps died?

 

I'm with Busboy thinking gridheaters. Should be easy enough to check that and fuel pressure for possible lift pump failure.

 

Ok thanks everyone. How should I go about checking fuel pressure? Any local diesel shop I'm guessing?

 

If you look at the second post on the thread that I gave you the link on,
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...e-t296691.html
papaduck gives one of the easy methods of checking it. Its probably not fool proof but it will at least give you some idea.
Also check your codes
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...s-t224833.html

 

I will try that first thing in the morning after work. So if it does not drain 2qts then presumably the pump is bad?? Another question and sorry if I sound like an idiot but im reading in different post about this issue and I see both Fuel pump/Lift pump are we talking about the same thing here? When turning the ignition on Im almost positive I hear a buzzing for a short period of time and I believe that was mentioned as well in the previous post.

 

Oh and as mentioned before I checked again and still no codes at all.

 

Dont listen to me too much but:
I got so paranoid about the many lift pump failures reported on DTR that I bought a new rail mount pump to install (but I havent done it yet).

Yes, fuel pump/lift pump are the same thing.

If you are hearing the buzzing, that is a good thing but it doesnt totally mean that it is pumping the right amount of fuel. Kinda wish you werent hearing the buzzing than we would know for sure it was the LP.
I know some people have made it a lot of miles with the original lift pump but so many 03 owners have had failures that I no longer trust my original pump.
Hopefully somebody else will chime in.
My goal is to get my new lift pump installed along with a pressure gauge before my original gives out.

 

No bark I appreciate all I can get!!! Im almost positive I hear the a buzzing but I will double check in the morning when I run the fuel pressure test. So is the lift pump the actual unit housing the fuel filter itself? Being that Im on a tight budget im thinking OE from genos if it is the LP. Would I just be swapping out the old fuel pump for the new OE from genos? If the fuel pump could still be buzzing but not delivering the right amount of fuel im wondering if the test on the fuel filter will help much or if I should find somewhere to have the pressure checked.

 

Ok guys update. I had found a little free time at work and decided to do the fuel test. Drained fuel filter, got a gallon jug and put it underneath drain tube, bumped the starter and she started pouring out. So now im back where I started, crazy it runs great, like new when its running but it will just not start on its own.

 

You have a leaky injector or two. Since you are out of warranty, you can replace the worst leaky ones till she starts fine or go ahead and replace all six. My truck did the same thing twice before I bit the bullet and got new injectors. Instead of ether, I drained the fuel filter canister and filled it up with Seafoam. After some cranking, she started a few times. Always ran great, no fuel in the crankcase. The 03 and 04 models had poorly built OEM injectors.

 

I had the same problem over a year ago. Thought it may be the FCA on the CP3. Changed that and it seemed to run fine until last week. Got home and then get ready to go someplace and no start. Disconnected the grid heaters and gave it a shot of juice and it started and ran fine.

During the no start conditions, I had only 100-500psi at the rail (need about 2500psi for the injectors to fire). Lift pump was putting 18-20 to the CP3.

Monday night, Tim at TRE Diesel put in 6 new injectors. He said that he has never seen an 03 go more then 150k on the original injectors until mine (199048 when changed).

Truck runs like a top now, thanks to Tim....

 

How long would the see foam work? A couple of starts? Would the truck run fine when started if it was injectors? I'm starting to think its something other than the LP but I'm not sure. Someone else mentioned a fried heater grid could this also have anything to do with it not starting? Thanks again everyone