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1st Gen. Ram - All TopicsDiscussion for all Dodge Rams prior to 1994. This includes engine, drivetrain and non-drivetrain discussions. Anything prior to 1994 should go in here.
At the beginning of winter, I used my 1st gen to plow snow for the 1st time. Had problems with the plow, but the truck ran fine. The 2nd snow, the plow worked fine but the truck craped out. Been nonrunning ever sense. Bleed the injection system, it would run smooth for half a minute then choke out. White smoke, misfire, backfire if you try to rev it. Fuel was jelled and had ice in it. It has been slowly warming up, so I gave it another go. Drained the fuel filter and pumped some fuel with the drain open until it came out clear. Closed the drain and opened the bleeder and pumped some more until I got fuel with no air. Was going to bleed it at the IP but couldn't get the line loose. Bleed the injectors. Tried to start it and the same thing. Run a few seconds then chokes out. Bleed it a few more times and got it to run smoothly in gear for about 10 minutes. Take the load off and it chokes out. Repeated and got the same thing. Gave up on it for now. Thinking either a restriction on the return because I do have fuel running down the back of the engine were the line come together or my tank isn't venting.
Any ideas?
I know your getting fuel but it still sounds like an air leak/air trapped or more contamination.. More likely you still have water in there. You can remove or loosen the fuel cap to vent the tank see what that does.. I think I would Change that filter and fill new one with power service red bottle because a new filter is never a bad thing and this is an inexpensive (by todays standards) place to start. Remember not to assume anything fuel problems can be misleading. Transfer pumps do funny things sometimes on there way out.
I know your getting fuel but it still sounds like an air leak/air trapped or more contamination. More likely you still have water in there. You can remove or loosen the fuel cap to vent the tank see what that does.. I think I would Change that filter and fill new one with power service red bottle because a new filter is never a bad thing and this is an inexpensive (by todays standards) place to start. Remember not to assume anything fuel problems can be misleading. Transfer pumps do funny things sometimes on there way out.
I need to make an adapter to pressurize the tank to check that. The fuel is no longer jelled, so that issue is out of the equation. In the meantime, I was going to pull the cap and check my tank venting. I need to check my archives for the larger fuel filter part numbers and get one ordered.
Originally Posted by KRB
Is it still sitting outside or were you able to get it into a heated area?
Nope, still sitting out in the cold. I have no place to bring it in. But it is warming up outside. Got up to 40° yesterday, last night only down to 30°. I was thinking of one of those "garage-in-a-box" units from Shelter Logic. Unfortunately, I don't have a sheltered area to put it up. Our winds would rip it to shreds. It's parked in a bad spot and the plow on the front doesn't help.
Progress is going to be slow, but at least I'm sure the IP and injectors are okay. I still plan on "detuning" it back to a more reasonable level.
Snow has mostly melted off and it has warmed up for this fat old man to do some more work on the old 92. I made the tank adapter and pressurized the tank to 5psi. There it was, running off the frame next to the starter. Probably rubbed through on the frame rail. Sounds like a job for a skinny young man or woman.
Snow has mostly melted off and it has warmed up for this fat old man to do some more work on the old 92. I made the tank adapter and pressurized the tank to 5psi. There it was, running off the frame next to the starter. Probably rubbed through on the frame rail. Sounds like a job for a skinny young man or woman.
Glad you found your leak. I'm still looking for mine. It sucks air when my tank gets below 1/2 and loses prime. I have pressurized my tank the same as you but I can't find the leak. This summer I plan to tackle it again to see if it's maybe something else.
Well at least you found it quick and easy. I've come across vehicles where folks just run a new line and never bother to snake the old part/piece out. Quicker & easier fix but it irritates the crap out of me and I have to refix it even though it works. Maybe you could do the same until you find that young skinny person.
I guess I need to rig up a cap like that and test mine. Runs great, but if it sits for any period of time (like a week or more) it will crank and crank before lighting up.
Glad you found your leak. I'm still looking for mine. It sucks air when my tank gets below 1/2 and loses prime. I have pressurized my tank the same as you but I can't find the leak. This summer I plan to tackle it again to see if it's maybe something else.
Edwin
Mr Edwin, usually a situation like that is the pickup tube in the tank. You will need to pull out the sending unit which usually means you need to drop the fuel tank. Fun times.
Originally Posted by KRB
Well at least you found it quick and easy. I've come across vehicles where folks just run a new line and never bother to snake the old part/piece out. Quicker & easier fix but it irritates the crap out of me and I have to refix it even though it works. Maybe you could do the same until you find that young skinny person.
I guess I need to rig up a cap like that and test mine. Runs great, but if it sits for any period of time (like a week or more) it will crank and crank before lighting up.
You might want to take a good look at your return lines, particularly at the "T" at the back left side of the engine. If the return leaks it could cause a drain back situation.
Funny, I didn't think my truck was that heavy. Had the truck taken to a shop yesterday. While loading it on a roll back, its hydraulics blew. Now the roll back was fairly new and looked to be in good shape. The driver said he had just hauled a piece of heavy equipment, around 12,000lbs the day before with no trouble. The shop I took it to has no experience with diesels, but they were willing to let me instruct them on how to bleed the system.
Dropping the tank isn't that bad as long as you have most of the fuel removed. However, lifting the bed isn't bad either because you're not on the ground and you can clean stuff up under there. Running new line is a good idea. It's almost inevitable at some point and it does eliminate a major variable. Just use a good quality hose and be sure to protect it any place it might rub. Old garden hose zip tied around it looks a little cheese but works very well. My old lines are still there but when I clean and do rust prevention this summer, I'm going to finally remove them.
My truck was moved to someone else's shop and wasn't told about it and has just been sitting there. This other shop works on diesels and is quite familiar with the 12 valve Cummins in Dodge trucks. So, it's wait until they can get it in.
You guys mention dropping tanks and raising beds but nobody is mentioning the more sensible thing to do = cut a hole through the bed floor and then finish it out with a neat removable door.
Two of the trucks sitting out here, both of them had to have access to where the lines connect above the tank.
I cut a neat hole through the bed floor on both of them quicker than I could crawl under the truck.
I fabricated a neat cover and now the next time access will be super-simple.
I know you already got your problem found/fixed; but, for the next time or for anyone else with an engine that refuses to stay running, if the engine has a piston lift-pump, the first place I would look is in that screen at the fuel pump inlet.
On my truck, it just up and died right in the middle of a busy intersection.
I managed to beg it to creep out of the way and onto the shoulder before all forward motion stopped.
After exhaustive trouble-shooting beside the road, a big tri-axle milk truck and a short log-chain got me home where I could better figure out the problem.
It would start and run just long enough to make you think everything was okay and then die again.
I almost never found it; when I removed the piston lift-pump and got it out in the daylight, there was a big wad of "algae" lodged against a screen that is inside the fuel inlet.
When the engine would die and the pump quit sucking, the blockage would fall back and allow a tiny amount of fuel to get through; fire it up and the blockage would suck back in there and shut off the flow.
After that nightmare over something so simple, on every truck on the place, I routed a long loop of fuel line up near the left side hood hinge where I cut the line and added one of those simple see-thru inline filters and put half-a-dozen replacements in the cab.
Anything that would block that screen gets stopped within the see-thru filter before it can get there.
I can swap out one of those filters while standing on my hind legs with my Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes on.
I don't know whether the little diaphragm pumps have a screen in them or not.
I use an additive called Byobor in my transfer tank which I use to fill both my trucks. It also has a 10 micron filter and water trap. The Byobor prevents the growth of algae in the tank. As for cutting holes, I did that to a Jeep XJ because it had an in-tank pump that kept failing. I've only had to drop 2 truck tanks in 55 years. The first was the rear tank on a Ford F250 because it rusted out. The second was on my 01 Dodge because the in-tank pump failed. It now has an external pump. As for troubleshooting, if it hadn't happened going into the worst part of winter up here, I would have had it fix a long time ago.
03-17-2024, 05:50 PM
Still troubleshooting
