Hey guys need some advice here....

Plugged my truck in last night, got in this morning and the overhead said minus 5.....Truck didnt act like it had been plugged in at all....

Anyways I cycled it two times and it starts..runs really rough knockin and clattering like a freight train on a cold morning.....I went back in the house to let it watm up and came back out and it had died......Started right back up and idled at 600-800 but wouldnt go any farther even with pedal to the floor...... started sputtering like it had air in the lines and if I touched the pedal it died.....

Now I have half a tank of fuel treated with Howes fuel supplement/antigel in it. I can't think of anything else it could be.....didnt get a chance to pop the hood and check the filter to see if it might have been gelled in there or clogged.....What do I need to do....Can I top off the tank with some fresh diesel? Would that help it or hurt it?

I wonder if I got air in the injector lines cranking it over when the fuel is gelled?

Sorry about the lenght of this but I need to get this truck going and was tryin to throw in every detail. Truck is in Northern Utah (Morgan) and is extremely cold today.

 

Highly doubt it gelled very bad if at all if you had Howe's in it. Mine ran just fine this morning with just straight #2 and Power Service, it was 2°.
When the fuel gels it plugs the filters but can flow everywhere else. This is usually prevented by the fuel heater. My feeling is your fuel filter was close to clogging anyway and should be replaced. Either that or your fuel heater isn't working. If you can't drive the truck into a heated garage the best bet is a heat lamp on the lift pump/ filter area of the truck. Get it started then replace the main filter and clean the one in the lift pump.
Also sounds like your block heater may not be working.

 

I know the block heater works unless it stopped last night.......

How do I know if the fuel heater is working will the filter housing be warm?

The filter has maybe 3000 on it but my truck sat all summer while I was deployed.......

So I need to clean the pre filter strainer assembly? How hard is this?

 

Besides everything being harder when it's cold the pre filter isn't hard to clean, instructions here> http://dodgeram.org/tech/dsl/filter/pre-filt_clean.htm

If your truck sat all summer with half a tank it might have started growing diesel algae and plugged the filters in 3000. You'll know if the the prefilter screen is covered with brown snot.

The fuel heater will get hot to the touch if it's cold enough and the key is on. Most times when they fail the reason is obvious, the wires going to it are melted.
Also check that your shutdown solenoid is lifting all the way up. When it gets real cold sometimes the grime on the linkage gets thick and can cause things to bind.

 

Ive been through a few tanks of fuel since ive been back but will keep the algae thing in mind.....will get new filters and work on it this afternoon.....Thanks zack

 

How about that red jug of power service would that Help anything,and how about putting an electric heater under the motor and set up cardboard around the truck to keep out the wind.Just dont get the cardboard too close to the heater.

 

If the fuel gels, use a can of "Melt Down". It's fuel conditioner that will melt the wax down in about a half hour. Pull the filter and put some in there too. I've used this on a LOT of semis on the side of the road and in rest stops that went north with southern fuel. I always carry a can with me when I go on a winter trip.

 

I had something very similar to this happen to me about a yr ago with my '94. Turned out the lift pump had a messed up spring in a check valve. I suspected the lift pump after i had changed the filter and tried pumping it manually to fill the lines and filter... there was no back pressure as I pumped.

 

Also remember that if you do try pumping the lift pump, it is cam driven so it may seem bad because of no pressure when manually pumping. Try turning the motor over and then try manually pumping again. That might place the lever off the cam lobe and it may have pump pressure.

 

I think The pump you are describing is the older style where the lever operates the main diaphram. The 98 should have the plunger style where the primer pump has a seperate plunger that is spring loaded with a seperate check valve.

 

You are probably correct on that. I forgot I was surfing the NEWER 2nd Gen forum as I am just a plain old 1st Gen person. LOL. Out surfing to see what your problems are on the 2nd Gen trucks. Maybe some day I will move on up to a smoother ride. Just enjoy my 1st Gen's power for now.

 

No big deal. It's easy to overlook a minor detail like that. Good tip for the older trucks.