OT dodge cummins no fuel at injectors

Hi all, had an intermittent problem the last couple of months. If the truck (1998 - 1st of the 24valves)is plugged in all seems great, starts no problem. But if it"s in the garage overnight or outside then when I first go to start it, there is no fire, it cranks great, but I can get no fuel at the injectors. last couple of times to start it, I"ve ended up taking the fuel filter out and adding diesel melt of some form and 1/2 an hour later it starts... I change the filter last week and it started fine after that, and it seems like the lift pump puts out lots of fuel (sprayed all over the engine bay when I loosened the pressure check ports on top of the filter). I"m stumped as to what"s causing it? I don"t think it can be a gelling issue as I use good quality diesel (that"s not causing a problem in any of my tractors)and anti gel too. but that is what it seems like to me.

Anyone else have any other ideas. Thanks.

There is no need to prime the filter by taking it off. Doesn't your lift pump have a primer button?
20-30 strokes or until you hear a squishing sound should do it.

Park the truck heading down a hill. If it starts right up the next day, you have bad hoses where they transition from the steel lines under the floor near the engine. They will leak air (vacuum) before they leak fuel.

Hi Wardener,

Truck has an electric fuel pump, and it runs ok, and seems to make pressure.
Will try the parking downhill idea tho, sound like a possibility.

You need to do a fuel pressure, volume, and leak down test on your fuel delivery system. These year trucks are notorious for th electric fuel delivery pump on the side of the block going bad. Often when the delivery pump goes bad it takes out the injector pump. When I replace the delivery pump, I use a kit from the dealer that puts the new pump in the tank.
Ted

What temperatures are you starting up at? Water contamination is common problem with diesel fuel and it happens from condensation on the tank walls.If the temperatures are below freezing, the water can freeze in the tank bottom restricting the outleet and/or on the water filter/water separator. usually jelling is a problem at -20°F and colder unless you are running a summer fuel. I use PS White or Stanadyne because it has a water dispersant that holds the water in suspension. That prevents icing in the tank but the filter can freeze. That"s easier to deal with than a frozen tank outlet. Block heaters don"t help the problem because they heat the coolant. A clean filter, draining thewater seprator and a water dispersant in the fuel are the only things short of draining the tank and decanting off the fuel to help with this problem.

Hi Jerry,

temperature in the garage is just below freezing, if the truck is outside it can be down to -30f (I"m in Manitoba)

strange thing is this morning, no fire at all and only a dribble of fuel at # 3 and 4 injectors (all the rest had nothing) plugged the truck in (it has a circulating heater NOT the original element style) and two hours later she fired right up... it"s like something is freezing in the pump... is that even possible?

Your problem might be a faulty fuel control solenoid on inj pump.

oj anything is possible with the combination of water contaminated diesel fuel and below freezing temperatures. Hopefully you have winter fuel in you tank. otherwise at -30°F, you could get the fuel jelling.

I"m not familiar with the details of the Cummins I strongly suspect you might have the water freezing in the fuel tank near the outlet but it just as well could be the fuel filter/ water separator.
Do you have a water separator on the engine? If so It should have a drain. Get a blow dryer or a heat gun and if you can heat the water separator and the fuel filter with that you can melt the ice, if it"s there. Becareful though; those things are hot. After you getting them warm, drain them and collect the drainage in a jar and see if you get a lot of water out of them. It"ll settle to the bottom of the jar. Keep heating until you get itall drained. Bleed the fuel system and see if the lines to the injectors have fuel.(Charge your battery well before you bleed the system.)

I have never tried this but there is a product called 911 in an orange bottle(No, I don"t work for them!). You replace the fuel filter and fill it with 911 and dump the rest in the tank and wait a while and it"s supposed to get you going if your filter and fuel tank are frozen.

The best way to avoid the water problem is to keep the tank full because the water gets in bvia condensation. Change your filters before winter and use a fuel additive that has a water disperasant in it. I use PS White or Stanadyne but i"m not plugging either one. teh dispersant will keep te water in suspensiion and if it freezes, it will freeze in the filter and not the tank. Then you just have to chage the filter. Drain your water separator regularly to minimize water in the filter housing. Prevention is a lot better than having the engine stop onyouin the cold Canadian prairie country. It"s not an inconvenience there. It could be life threatening.

I hope this helps you.

It could be fuel yelling.
But as the other poster said.Do a fuel press test.I had last year a neighbor truck in my shop.
the lift pump was running but not pumping fuel.
Because of that I Ended up replacing the IP as well.
LP gone,IP is next shortly after.
It would be wise to install a permanent fuel pressure gauge in the cab.
An IP and liftpump don't come cheap

I don"t don"t disagree, but I think you"d agree that jelling would be less likely at "just below freezing" in his garage. I"d agree if he was keeping it somewhere where it was really cold. That"s why I suspected water freezing.