Horrible Mileage...STILL...after alot of work/troubleshooting

[calebessent]

Awesome.

[Doakster]

My luck did not last long, the car died on me today after only 60 miles on the new pump.

The car started to loose power and sputtered and died on the side of the road. Not very pleased.

After investigation I can not pull a suction on the line out of the "Out Bolt" to pull fuel through the pump. When i do this, the pump just makes a gurgling sound. If I do this for a little while, the car might fire, but it just dies shortly after, it appears the pump is just not pumping fuel.

I've checked all my connections, all lines are tight, no lines are plugged, I have 12v to the solenoid with key on.

I'm not sure what to do, I need to get a hold of Giles, but he's not open until the 4th

[rabbitman]

You mean it just pulls air through the pump?

[Doakster]

You mean it just pulls air through the pump?

thats what it seems, i cant seem to get it to hold a prime, and when i do get a little fuel into the pump it will fire and then die, i easily could pull a prime right after i finished the install.

it seems odd that it ran perfect for 60 miles and now wont pump fuel

[Vincent Waldon]

I would suggest isolating the pump by applying suction at the out connection on the filter...my guess is an obstruction upstream of the pump.

Usual causes include frozen water or crud at the tank pickup or inside the filter.

[Rabbit on Roids]

check the outlet of the fuel tank, check the inlet at the banjo bolt on the fuel filter, check for fuel leaks along the entire length of the fuel line. check every connection where it goes from rubber hose to solid fuel line. check to see if your clear fuel hose going from the filter to the pump, make sure no air is getting in there.

[Doakster]

I would suggest isolating the pump by applying suction at the out connection on the filter...my guess is an obstruction upstream of the pump.

Usual causes include frozen water or crud at the tank pickup or inside the filter.

I did in fact apply suction at the out connection on the pump, trying to pull fuel through the pump and ultimately through the out connection of the filter, and that's where i can't pull fuel through the pump and just get the gurgling.


I'm going to start at by pulling the fuel pickup, investigate and work my way toward the pump, if I have to rig up a 5 gallon fuel tank straight to the pump to prove the pump is good/bad, then so be it.

[Doakster]

check the outlet of the fuel tank, check the inlet at the banjo bolt on the fuel filter, check for fuel leaks along the entire length of the fuel line. check every connection where it goes from rubber hose to solid fuel line. check to see if your clear fuel hose going from the filter to the pump, make sure no air is getting in there.

I have checked a few of the connections you mentioned, haven't gotten to the entire system, just got too frustrated and didn't have time.

I'm going to thoroughly check each connection, air test, etc. maybe even put in a new fuel filter.

[Vincent Waldon]

I would suggest isolating the pump by applying suction at the out connection on the filter...my guess is an obstruction upstream of the pump.

Usual causes include frozen water or crud at the tank pickup or inside the filter.

I did in fact apply suction at the out connection on the pump, trying to pull fuel through the pump and ultimately through the out connection of the filter, and that's where i can't pull fuel through the pump and just get the gurgling. 

My suggestion was not to apply suction at the out connection on the pump but rather at the out connection on the filter.

Running the car from its own diesel supply, as it sounds like you're gonna try, is another good way to isolate where the issue is, though.

[Doakster]

My suggestion was not to apply suction at the out connection on the pump but rather at the out connection on the filter.

Running the car from its own diesel supply, as it sounds like you're gonna try, is another good way to isolate where the issue is, though.

I got ya, basically what your saying is to try and pull a suction from the tank to the filter, I'm definitely going to check those lines.

I also want to check the fuel/water separator, I've never drained that before, any suggestions on how to do it?

[Doakster]

looks line i need new supply line check valve, pretty sure it failed and it's hard to open. I looked through the entire system, ran the car right at the filter off a can of diesel and the pump was good.

Blew down all the lines and the car still died after running a few minutes. I ended up cutting out the supply line check valve, and a temporarily re-plumbed the system without one, the car ran just fine.

I have to what until monday for the parts stores to open up due to the holiday, so i can get a generic check valve.

[Doakster]

Don't know where to turn, removing the check valve completely didn't help this issue, all the lines are clear, i checked all the fittings, can't find any leaks. I'm still trying to work the air out of the system after i opened the lines/system. And i still get  some slugs of air into the pump, don't know what to do next

[Doakster]

Looked at it again, there is mass amounts of air on the return side of the pump, while only a little bit on the supply side, seeing as how i check the entire tight back to the tank and clear, i would assume the pump itself is sucking in air. 

I have no where to turn at this point, stumped.

[Smokey Eddy]

if only the pump was bleeding pressure somewhere, you could cover it in soap suds and see it bubbling. Is there anyway to do the opposite of that and see where it's sucking from??

To me, if you have the pump sucking from a jug of diesel up front and returning to that same jug... and STILL getting heaps of air into the injectors the pump sucks in air VERY badly... from somewhere.
Guess Giles just goofed on something? maybe something was forgotten and wasn't torqued down on/inside the pump?

[Doakster]

if only the pump was bleeding pressure somewhere, you could cover it in soap suds and see it bubbling. Is there anyway to do the opposite of that and see where it's sucking from??

To me, if you have the pump sucking from a jug of diesel up front and returning to that same jug... and STILL getting heaps of air into the injectors the pump sucks in air VERY badly... from somewhere.
Guess Giles just goofed on something? maybe something was forgotten and wasn't torqued down on/inside the pump?

We'll i haven't found any visible leak on the pump body, i would have found them when i primed the pump because i'm using a little hand pump from a can of diesel to push diesel through the pump, when i do this all the air gets forced out of the return line and turns to clear diesel and the pump is slightly pressurized.

I'm going to pressure test the lines from the tank to the filter today and see if they are good before i absolutely point my finger at the pump.