Journier

took a good 10 seconds of trying to start the truck yesterday, and then it blew out a huge load of white smoke... and it pretty much died after it started, had to restart it, then give it some gas! to keep it from dying!

after the engine was completely warmed up, it idled like normal, but when it was still warming up, the engine would like drop to such a low idle it would shake the truck like it was a couple rpms from dying!

Also, after I got to where i was going with the truck, and shut it down, for like 5 minutes, it would do the extremely rough idle thing again...
That was yesterday.

Today, it wont start!!! help...

... I was thinking the grid heater? but i dont know jack about the mechanical on 3rd gens.

This is my truck in my sig, i have no Mod's none at all.. umm appreciate reply's, see if i can get her running today, maybe its something really simple? or ill have to call up the dealer, and have her towed in..

thanks for any help and info, and if its something i can check please include some direction

also, it was 60 degree's out when i went to start it today.

oh another thing, the truck isnt throwing any codes yet.. , by doing the on off key trick 4 or so times it doesnt show any.

mikmaze

I might be suspicious of a lil water in the fuel, give the drain a good splash to a pan and check and then be on your way, tiem to time water builds up and finally makes it to the pickup and thn as the truck tries to burn it doesn't have enough fuel to go along with it and dies out. sure there is enough to smell liek fuel but that doesn's take much.

TORQUE

Sounds like a bad lift pump, as they have had issues with 3rd gens also.

Journier

drained the fuel, did it twice actually, still no go, ill let the dealer take her in.

mikmaze

well keep us posted, a quick test on the lift pump would be to loosen the fuel filter and crack the key to run and see if it squirts out of the filter or only oozes..... meh let the dealer check it over good, and don't take nothing wrong with it answer, get the problem documented in case you gat a rare truck built the day after a holiday or heaven forbid after the superbowl........ this way if other things go wong ya hit the magic number and its time for lemonaide

Journier

how do I get it documented? or find out if everything else was documented??


this is the 3rd time ive had this truck in for various things for over a day. #1 was the 70 mph vibe #2 was seats and this is #3, whatever it is.

actually now that you said that i was thinking about it. what counts for lemon law?

its at the dealer today, the diesel mechanic decided to leave at NOON, to go home!

he said "before he left" they got the truck started and did the TSB for white smoke, and he was going to call me in an hour to see if that helped it any, if not they were going to replace the lift pump. What i didnt ask is how well it started, maybe i could have started it if i sat there cranking it for 2 minutes

lol so im waiting and waiting and i decided to call the guy up, and to my suprise he left for the day... hahahah. real nice.

So tommorow im supposed to go there and check it out at 10 am tommorow.

I cant believe they got it started like its supposed to start, watch me go all the way over to the dealer, and go to start it, and have it cranking and cranking :/

will keep yall posted

RCW

Watch your grid heater light carefully and be sure it goes out before you try and start the rig. Contrary to popular belief it is very common for people to flood the common rail engine trying to start them when cold. If that happens, just shut off the ignition, then let it go through the heater sequence and then shut it off again for 30 seconds, and then let it sequence once more. Then hit the starter when the wait light goes out, and you will get a blast of white smoke and it will start.

Never floor the throttle to try and clear the engine, as that will just make it worse by injecting even more fuel than the engine can handle.

TORQUE

Sounds like they could have c/o lift pump already, or are in process of it like I mentioned previously, and just didn't inform you of status. Contact the Service Manager, he can tell what was done, and what is left to check. They routinely ask to keep units overnight to test when cold, IF they cannot pinpoint problem, or to confirm diagnosis. I don't think you got a lemon, you got a lemon DEALER.

Journier

hah gotcha

well i was doing the grid heater correctly, waiting for it to completely heat the air coming in.

ive had this truck for going on like a year and a half, and last winter the thing started up with no problem, even though the grid heater took 20 seconds to warm up the air, when it was like 5 degree's outside :/

Journier

the dealer called me up yesterday morning saying the truck wouldnt start, and they were going to order a lift pump.

even though the day before yesterday they told me they got it started no trouble at all, and that the truck was starting up just fine, and to come pick it up...

so they ordered a lift pump yesterday, when they shoulda ordered it the day they said they had "fixed" the problem...


lol, i knew they didnt fix it :/ so today at noon, it "might" be fixed.

SBishop

At least they are continuing to work on the problem. And they did test the starting on a cold engine and found the same symtom you had. Keep us posted on the outcome.

Journier

got her fixed today, fuel pump failed, and now i have the fuel pump in the fuel tank, its pushing instead of pulling now :/ guess it was worth my time.

sounds like my warranty will be voided for my fuel system, if they find the stuff in it next time I need service on the fuel system...


the guy said I had bacteria growing inside my fuel tank, he showed me the lift pump he pulled out, had some kind of garbage stuck on it.. hopefully it was just some bad fuel? I bought some "Diesel Kleen" supposedly it kills bacteria and boosts cetane. hopefully ill be good to go... I run Lucas fuel lubrication every other tank... thought that was supposed to help bacteria also?

Now question I wonder if my warranty is already voided from here on for the fuel system, or if they find it next time... if it is, i guess ill be trading the truck in for something else, i wont be dropping a few grand for an injection pump.

any answers for the question would be helpful..

RCW

Stop by a Cummins, or any name brand diesel engine dealer and pick up a can of algaecide. Dose up the tank to kill the algae, and then use a good fuel injection system cleaner to get the crap out.

You will have to change your filter(s) several times once the algae dies and starts letting go of the tank. If you can swing it, pick up a Racor prefilter and install it in the fuel feed line before the OEM lift pump. It will pay for itself in one change with all that algae in the system.

The white smoke symptom is not typical of a plugged tank screen or filters. What you should get is low power, hard starting, and a bit of grey smoke that goes away as it runs out of power and starts warming up. White smoke is unburned fuel from a cold or low compression engine. That will only happen in the starting sequence if your injectors are partially plugged and drooling the fuel instead of spraying a nice clean pattern. With algae in the system you can be guaranteed you have partially pllugged injector tips. So get the best injector cleaner you can afford and run it for three or four tanks of fuel.

The warranty issue is somewhat dealer dependent. Any modification of the intake, exhaust, or fuel system on the 03 and up will officially invalidate the warranty on the system as certified by EPA. Technically, if a dealer finds any of those systems tweaked they can terminate the warranty. Really knowledgable dealers with good diesel skills will not invalidate the warranty on a rig with a good professional grade diesel service engineered booster pump, such dealers are a bit hard to find.

Journier

LOL, this is a joke!!! my trucks starting really bad AGAIN!!! just like before. really rough idle. for about 10 seconds. just did it this morning :/

i did the algaecide into the tank, and im thinking its possibly my fuel filter now, Ill check that tommorow! sigh :/ Im really bummed lately, im scared to drive the truck :/

I sure hope its not my fuel pump AGAIN (trucks only gone 80 miles since last work done)

Guys how difficult is it to replace the stock fuel pump?

The dealer told me instead of dropping the tank, they lifted the bed off the truck? Is that a viable thing to do with me and 2 other guys?

The pump is now "in the tank" the new fuel pump pushes.

sigh, i think ill buy a FASS unit for the truck, or go with the Racor prefilter setup + a good pump.

need some suggestions for my possibilities, I really dont want to bring this truck back to the dealer to have my warranty voided :/ or find out that it already is

TORQUE

Change fuel filter, it's probably plugged with algicide. You may have to keep doing it routinely until you've gotten rid of bacteria. Add another double dose(and every tank until gone), and, double dose of fuel injector cleaner, that should help. Hopefully you won't have to remove tank and clean out.