somis13

today on the job site I went to move my truck and sure enough it would start then die. after the fourth time I knew right away to check the fuel solenoid to see if it was in the up position with the key on and it wasn't. I left the key on and lifted it with my hand, then the truck would stay running. do I buy the solenoid itself or the relay or both?

Diesel_Dan

I would say do a test and see if you are getting power to the lift circuit of the solenoid. Use a test light and a buddy unplug the three wire plug and probe the wires one will be a ground prob black, one will have power with the key on, this one will be the hold circuit and one will only light up the test light in the crank mode this one will be the lift circuit. if you have power to both hot leads then odds are that the solenoid is bad, if you do not have power to the lift circuit then prob a relay? One more question, did you have a good full charge? I am not sure how much voltage it takes to lift the solenoid but if you have much less than 10 volts it might not have enough power to pull the solenoid. Hope this helps.

somis13

thanks diesel Dan, the batteries had good charge. where is the relay for the fuel shutoff solenoid? also could it just be hanging up from no lubrication? I did notice there wasnt a boot covering the rod.

jester1542

Make real sure the wire connections are good. I had a similar problem and traced the cause to a bad connection at the battery terminal. The voltage was good before cranking the truck but when the solenoid tried to engage the corrosion prevented enough current draw to engage the solenoid. I posted a diagram of the circuit on a different thread on the forum a couple of days ago.
It was in this thread:
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=135030
Regarding the relay, in my 97 it is on the firewall just to the right of the cylinder head when looking from the front (there are two right beside each other). Yes the missing boot could cause it to hang. The solenoid is a bit expensive, around $200, and the relay costs about $50 from NAPA (you can get it cheaper but when I bought mine they were out of the less expensive one).

somis13

thanks, do you think it will stay running once I get it started if this happens again in the morning. I need to leave early in the morning and cant do a replacement til saturday. but at the same time need to drive the truck.I guess what I want to know is; can I tie it up with wire if worse comes to worse?

jester1542

If the solenoid stays up when the key is on the truck should stay running as you have observed before. Actually if it stays up for a while and then drops then I would have more of a tendency to suspect the solenoid then if it stayed up all the time. I have read the solenoid can be "wired" up but haven't tried it myself. If you wire it up you will have to manually "unwire it" to shut the truck off. Personally, I'd just pull it up by hand after turning on the key unless the shaft won't stay up later. It could be a bit of a safety issue if it is wired up and there was an accident. Also, I'm a bit lazy and wouldn't care to open the hood everytime I wanted to shut off the truck (especially if it is cold).

somis13

not to rub it in, but it got up to 74 degrees here in southern california.thanks for your input. I feel pretty confident being able to bootleg it for the next couple of days, or until I get an opportunity to work on the truck.

ddestruel

bungee cord the valve open, i do this vs wiring because its not as hard to pop the hood and shut the rig down. the arm just has to stay up for the valve to stay open. i drove from arizona to montana after loosing an alternator as well as a few other eletrical components watching the voltage drop to zero then buying two more batteries to keep the lights working for the last 200 miles.

on saturday night and thru to sunday no parts stores seemed to be open in that state and overall stopping was not an option.

infidel

Your saying truck starts then quits plus the fact the boot is missing indicates to me you have a mechanical problem rather than electrical. Remove the solenoid, clean the inards well and apply a thin coat of of silicone grease to the barrel. Replace the boot with one from http://www.fostertruck.com/dodge/default.htm
or make your own with a short section of bicycle inner tube and two cable ties.

GAmes

I agree with the cleaning, but I have run without a boot of any kind for over 300k miles. I think they are priced too high. About every 60 or 70 k I have to pull it apart for cleaning, takes about 20 minutes, start to finish with a beer break.