Tackling the no start aggravation.

[phantom309]

Today was the day,.. i,ve been plagued with a no start,. or start up and die situation for a while,.and it,s the classic case of air in the lines etc,.i,d hot wire the fuel pump bleed the fuel filter etc,. etc,.then it,d wind over for quite a while and then mebbe fire, of i,d have to start all over again so the GP's were hot,.
I noticed that it got progressively worse as the fuel level dropped, so that was my clue,.
I dropped the tank and sure enough the pickup line was rotten,.

admittedly in this pic you can see where i just pulled it off rather than mess around and try and undo the line,.

Here's a pic of the new unit, along with the barbed fittings adapters i,m going to use,.i,m a firm believer in rubber fuel line and good clamps over barbed fittings,.
and it makes it real easy for diconnect next? time.


I,m going to use a racor filter mounted high on the firewall drivers side, so it has a nice gradual downhill slope to the pump,.
I also bought a new fuel pump, the old one was an E3309, and even tho it was working it didn't seem to be moving much fuel,.took forever to fill up a small water bottle,.(10secs) so i bought an E8153 pump, identical in everyway except output,.it takes 3 secs to fill the same small water bottle,. and it was cheaper than an ac/delco stock pump,.(e3309)
i,m also looking at putting a check valve right at the pump so it doesn't bleed back from the filter,.and again barbed fittings in and out on the pump and all rubber fuel line from tank to IP,.(stuff is expensive)
I also will add the bigger 3/8ths IP fitting when it gets here, the factory stuff is rather weenie,. it's all 3/8ths till it comes out of the fuel manager, where it,s only 5/16ths to the IP,.

I,m also going to add a relay that powers the lift pump when the glows are on,.later OBD2 trucks have this feature which helps to take up any slack in the fuel supply before the motor fires,.
The stupid speed nuts on the tank straps spun of course,. so i had to take my 4" cutoff wheel and cut the bolts,.haha the tank drops real quick that way,.(oof!) To reinstall the tank i,m using threaded rod and locking nuts and new speed nuts up on the cross member,.
If this doesn't cure the problem,. it just might catch fire,....

Nick

[rameye]

your lucky...my tanks was wedged up there between the frame rails...had to really pry on it to break it loose!

glad you figured it out...drove me nuts....so much nicer now!

[JohnC]

The pump has 2 check valves. No need for another...

[phantom309]

The pump has 2 check valves. No need for another...

Thanks john, thats good to know!! 1 less connection i less expense,.

Nick

[phantom309]

did the re and re on the tank,. bought new tank straps, the originals were getting nearly see thru,..i put new speed nuts up on the frame then made myself some extra long bolts out of threaded rod,.it was the best idea i,ve had in a while,. balancing the tank on the jack till it was wedged up into place was enough aggravation initself,. the new straps were not so co-operative about bending around the tank edges,. but with the extra long studs, it was a piece of cake, although it did take a while turning them up with an open end wrench,.
Ran the pressure side hose to the pump and then up the driverside inner fender and up to the master cylinder area, i haven't received the new filter assembly yet so i plumbed the factory one in just temprorarily hung off the master, and it was interesting to see it leaking around the top where you undo the black retaining ring, so i switched it for the spare i have and it did the same thing,.
So swapped out the cheapo chinese filter, and put in the filthy dirty ac/delco cartridge,. and no leak,. maybe the chinese cartridge can't take the extra pressure,
Note to all,. when hot wiring an E 8153 pump, don't unscrew the plastic bleed screw too far,. fuel fires up out there like a geyser!!
I ran it for a while till she was purged,. it certainly idles a lot smoother,. shut it off for 1/2 hour,. and re started it,. man what a difference some fuel pressure makes,. it lights off with anice rap and settles down to smooth idle immediately,. exactly like a good running 6.5 should do,.
i'll post some pics later when i get the new filter assembly mounted,.

Nick

[DieselDavy]

Nick,
Great posts. I'm looking forward to the photos.
What is all the stuff on the original photo. It isn't clear enough to show what it all is.
(what kind of crud is it?)
Dave

[phantom309]

Nick,
Great posts. I'm looking forward to the photos.
What is all the stuff on the original photo. It isn't clear enough to show what it all is.
(what kind of crud is it?)
Dave

Just a nice thick paste of years of road grime, i had to scrub around and thru the crap just to find the retaining ring tabs,. liberal dose of diesel fuel to help soften things, and the shop vac,.

I,ve decided to go with a bigger filter setup,. or tho i won't know exactly yet what sort of bracket i'll need to fab up,. but i definitely want a big 2 micron filter,.Napa filter head 4770 for $32.00, and 3674? for about 28.00? filter,.with the 1-14 threads it'll give me a whole range of choices,.
i used the factory return line inder the intake and down the back of the motor,but replaced the first four feet from the tank along the frame with 5/16ths rubber line,. mebbe in the cold weather it might put a little heat back into the tank,.and thats also why i want the filter under the hood, i always use howes additive anyway,,.

I went out this morning and the old girl fired up with just 1 cylinder lagging behind for 5 secs or so, bit of smoke till it kicked in,. guess i'll have to pull all the drivers side glows and test them on the battery, and make sure that there is still some sort of contact left on those old connections,.maybe even replace 1 or two,. gotta remember this is a 17 yr old rust belt special,.....and the new stuff they are spraying on the roads these days is just murder on wiring,..

Nick

[JohnC]

Just a nice thick paste of years of road grime, i had to scrub around and thru the crap just to find the retaining ring tabs...

Are you sure they didn't spray the whole tank wit some sort of sealer?

[phantom309]

Are you sure they didn't spray the whole tank wit some sort of sealer?

yes I,m sure

nick

[phantom309]

went to the neighbours place today and poked thru the scrap pile and made up a filter mount,.
I know there's a few of you here that are good fabricators,. i could have ground down all the welds,.(even the crappy one where i tried to weld uphill with the mig) rounded the corners had it powdercoated etc,. but the damn truck is old and cruddy,. so in a few weeks the filter mount will look right at home after it gets rusted over,.
Sure makes a difference in starting when it,s able to hold fuel pressure,.
you can see i just welded right to the alternator bracket as it,s quite strong,.
i used rubber fuel line from tank to pump to filter to IP,.left plenty of extra,.

you can see where i tried to weld uphill looks kinda blobby,.
I know it looks a bit hill billy,. but i,m happy with it,. it,s a 2 micron filter,.
and i,m pleased with the newer higher pressure pump,. after the fuel has smoothed out going thru the big filter,. the motor idles as sweet as can be,..
i just need to put a small bleed valve for filter changes,.

Nick