'96 6.5 dies on road and wont start (even after cooldown)

[Maximator]

Hello,

Im all new to GM and especially to Diesels. I have a 1996 Sierra K1500 with 6.5 TD.

This is what happened: I was driving back on a hot saturday, on a twisty road with 1/4tank left. All of a sudden, the engine died. Pulled over, and let the PMD cool off and poured a bottle of water on the homemade heatsink (my PMD was relocated to the top of the maniford and a homemade Aluminum heatsink was placed on top.) Waited 2 hours, but it only cranked over strong, but never fired up. Got towed home...

I tried a spare PMD i had here, but still got no start. When I turn the key, the frame rail pump pulsates but sounds different than normal. The wait to start light comes on, then off, then on, then off again, and finally the frame rail pump stops. I crank it and it just wont fire up. Could the tank sending unit be at fault? Have I missed something?

I was getting a check engine light randomly go on and off this week. I bought this truck last week, and now im at a loss and even thinking of ditching it:confused:. Please chime in with your comments. Thank you.

[JTodd]

The lift pump along side the frame can make noise, but still not pump. First place to check is the fuel filter. There should be a small knob on top to bleed air. Loosen it a couple turns and hit the key. If fuel comes out, then the lift pump is working. If nothing then move down to the pump itself. Disconnect the output (front) and turn the key. Put a bucket under in the event it is still actually working.

[JohnC]

If you don't get anything out of the filter, try adding a couple of gallons to the tank. It sounds just like running out of fuel.

A crack in the fuel pickup or a plugged screen on the pickup can cause the same behavior, even with 1/4 tank.

[Maximator]

ok thank you both. I will try this this week. I was really down today when the spare PMD unit wasnt the problem. I guess its also possible that the sender is giving a false reading and the tank is actually empty...

Lets say that the fuel sloshed to one side while on a tight turn on the road and the sender sucked in air... What's the procedure if I sucked in air in the diesel fuel system?? Do I have to crack open all the injector lines to get rid of the airlock?

Thank you.

[JohnC]

I would open the bleeder on top of the filter and cycle the key off and on to get the pump to run. Repeat until you get a good solid flow out the bleeder, then close it and crank it over. It should bleed itself enough to catch in a couple of cranking sessions. Once it catches the system will purge itself. Just be sure not to overheat the starter. 15-20 seconds of cranking followed by a couple of minutes of cool down time.