OK, well, never mind, I dug up a 3' length of pipe and slid over the wrench (the "bigger hammer" approach). I was waiting for the puller to break, but the gear finally broke loose, and I DIDN'T drop the key (yay). I watched the gear and shaft the whole time, tapping a little after each couple turns, and nothing happened at all until it all came loose at once.

Think I'll wait until tomorrow before starting the tear-down.

 

Well I got it put back together and installed. I was bleeding the lines and had a question - should this thing be really hard to turn over? It seems like it will only turn once or twice, then stop, even with jumping from another truck. The battery isn't very old, maybe 18 months, and the starter is about two years. Also, it just quit turning over altogether a few minutes ago. I was giving it a couple minutes between attempts, and let it sit for about 10, but it seems to be dead. I figured to start checking fuses and fusible links, but thought I would get some advice from you guys first.

Darel

 

It should spin over pretty fast. Make sure the battery connections are clean and tight.

 

I just checked with a meter, and I've got 12.91 volts at the battery, and about 12.88 at the starter. Also 12.8.. at the solenoid when the key is turned. I will say the battery connections are pretty beat up - I haven't replaced them, don't know if anyone else has (probably not). You think it could be just bad connections?

 

Check the voltage drop in the batter cables. Put the positive lead on the battery and the negative on the starter terminal and have somebody crank the engine. You should have no more that 0.2 volt drop through the cable while cranking. Check the negative battery cable the same way, except the negative lead goes to the battery and the positive goes to the block.

 

One thing I have found out when I work on my truck for any extended time is the under hood lights (yes I have more than 1) will kill the battery enough to where you will have a hard time starting but after the first time it starts then it is fine.
You always figure you were under there for an hour but it was really four because you were having so much fun.

Also do the rag stuffed in front of the timing gear trick and there is no way the key can fall into the gear case.
Jim

 

Well, fellers, the saga continues. Cleaned the battery terminals and lugs till they shone. Dave, I tested the voltage drop - negligible (less than 0.2 on both sides). Also did continuity test between the negative terminal and engine block (good) and positive terminal and starter lug (also good). The battery was still reading 12.7...% (I've been keeping it jumped during this adventure), so I figured the starter or solenoid had crapped out on me (annoying, I just replaced the starter 3 years ago). So I pulled the starter, had it tested, it was fine. So I took the battery down and had it tested (voltage and load test) and IT WAS FINE. Hooked the battery to the starter with jumper cables, and it wouldn't kick it. So I've either got a starter/solenoid with an intermittent problem (unlikely) or is just really hard to turn(?), or a battery that tests OK but actually isn't (also unlikely). Oh, I also hooked the starter back up to the truck positive cables, but not installed, and jumped the negative terminal to the starter case. Big click, lights dimmed, but no starter action. I'm leaning toward the bad battery theory, but I don't know why it would test OK (this is a NAPA truck/tractor battery, 925 CCA, about 3 years old, about $80 at the time). What do you guys think?

On a battery note, I notice a lot of folks here rave about the Optima batteries. As I was getting mine checked at Advance Auto parts, I noticed that they had the red top for $148 and the yellow top for $188. Seems kind of steep, but folks here seem to like them a lot. If I end up having to buy a battery, is that a good price? What's the advantage of going with the yellow top (which I think is a marine/deep-cycle type) over the cheaper red top? Also, my truck has the single-battery setup, should I consider going to a dual-battery (I know the disadvantage$$$)

Thanks for all the help
Darel

 

In Tennessee, there's no need for dual batteries. I'm considerably North of you and I can't plug in at work, my truck has never even cranked slow.

Have you tried rolling the motor over using the alternator nut? It should turn over pretty easily with a 1/2" drive ratchet.

It's possible the load tester at the auto parts store was pathetic - was it one of those hand-held jobs? Those don't put a good load on a battery, you need one of the big carbon pile testers to put a decent load on a 1025 CCA battery. Check the voltage at the battery while it's trying to crank - you should have better than 10v.

If the motor turns easily and the battery is good, I'd have to say it's the starter.

 

Darel, I know you are preoccupied with the electrical problem, but when you get time, I would like to hear more about the seal replacement. Did you do it yourself?

 

Dave, I assumed (I know - always a mistake) that a high-compression motor like this would be difficult to turn over manually. I will try to turn it over tomorrow. OTOH, since the starter won't kick even out of the truck on this battery, I'm assuming (or maybe hoping) that it's the battery. I'm afraid to even ask the consequences if it's the motor itself.

boiler-rat, the only thing I replaced was the o-ring between the pump body and the distributor head (where mine was leaking). It was a little scary, especially when first taking it apart, because all those springs and other small parts are going to come loose (do this somewhere clean and light where you can see everything). I looked very carefully at everything as I took it apart, and made drawings of where every part went. Reassembly is difficult, because the springs and other parts tend to fall out as you put them together. It took me about 4 tries. I found http://dodgeram.info/tsb/recalls/605.htm and
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ighlight=bosch
and especially http://www.vwdieselparts.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5392
to be very helpful.

I will point out that I don't actually know if it worked or not yet. I am at the point where I am getting fuel to the injectors, but because of my starter problem, I don't know if I've screwed up the timing or not yet.

I'll tell you my what I think, although I know some here will disagree. Having someone rebuild your existing pump is going to cost you at least $650, and you still have to pull it and reinstall it yourself (not a trivial job). Buying a rebuilt pump is at least $1000, and again, you're still going to have to pull the old one and install the new one. I don't what a new pump would cost, if you could even find one, but I bet it's over $2000, and you STILL have to pull the old one and install the new one. Unless you're going to pull it in (or have it towed, if it's not running), and just tell your mechanic to have at it, which I can't imagine the cost, you don't really have much to lose by trying to do it yourself first. The rebuild kit will cost you less than $20. You'll spend a few hours pulling the pump, doing the rebuild, and putting it back on. I know this isn't true for everyone, but I tend to have more time than money, most of the time. Best case scenario, everything works, you've spent several hours, gotten totally filthy, learned something about your truck, and saved, let's say, $600 (at least), or $2000+. Worst case scenario, you're back where you were, and you can take your choice of the other options. Obviously, YMMV, and if it's your only daily transportation, your time may be worth much more than mine. Fortunately, I can walk to work (a bit chilly, these days), and my wife's truck works to get groceries and such.

And of course, I could still end up having mine rebuilt, but I MIGHT have saved a lot of money this way (don't know yet, so I could be full of edit). Anyway, that's my 2 cents, you'll get other opinions from other folks on the forum.

Darel

 

I thought you meant that the starter was in the truck when you jumped to it.

Either the starter or the battery is toast. Put a good load (like cranking an engine) on the battery to check the voltage.

You can get brushes and contacts to rebuild the starter.

 

OK, bad starter, despite testing good the day before (?), and let me just say, thank goodness for lifetime warranties, since I just bought one three years ago. So we're turning over good and strong, got diesel pumping through the injector lines, but won't start. I've bled the lines every way I can think of, 3 and 3, all 6 at once, one at a time - I'm still getting air. I've checked at the banjo fitting above the fuel filter, no bubbles there, and the fuel inlet fitting on the IP, no bubbles there, but I'm still getting bubbles through all the injector lines. As soon as I crack an injector, bubbles start popping up, and the squirts coming through the lines look foamy. Any ideas where this air is coming from? Have I just not bled enough (seems like a lot to me, but I've never done this before)?

 

If you're still getting air and all your connections are tight - keep bleeding it. Do 3 at a time until it fires, then bleed them all while it's running. One at a time until it smooths out.

 

Sounds to me like you are sucking air in the pump since you have not touched the injectors themselves? If all injector lines are foamy and there are no fuel leaks I would suspect a pump assembly problem. The pump is filled with fuel internally so it must be coming via the return line where I would expect that return fuel pressure regulator acts as a one-way valve as well? The return line does get some compression gas leakby from the return off the injectors themselves. Worth having a look since regulator is accessible banjo fitting without disassembing or removing pump. I guess you could also try pinching off rubber return line with visegrips but remove quickly if it fires - do not know what kind of pressure it builds up and the pump relies upon return fuel flow for cooling.

 

Well, I kept trying to bleed it all yesterday and today, and I'm still getting bubbles. I wondered about that return line, so I tightened it down, but ran out of light and time before I could bleed again. I understand that the return line sometimes leaks - I'm not seeing any fuel leaks, but would I see any at this point (hasn't run yet)?

Darel