Any Ideas?

[Dennis1209]

Well, the other day after the cold snap, went out to start my Dodge Ram diesel pick up and it will not hit a lick it acts like it is fuel starved. Thought there might be some water in there somewhere so waited until weather got above freezing last couple of days and tried a few more times.

 

It fired up fine prior to this last blast and being a diesel I'm leaning towards a fuel problem. Any suggestions guys?

 

I did not treat the fuel with anything prior to the cold snap as I was not going to go anywhere in those temperatures and it has 1/2 tank of fuel.

 

Thanks

Edited January 10, 2014 by Dennis1209

[Dolomite_supafly]

Is the fuel gelled?

 

The lines runnign from the tank to the engine could be gelled up preventing fuel from moving.

[glock55]

which engine do you have

[Dennis1209]

Even with the temperatures in the low 40's?

[Dennis1209]

which engine do you have

 

Cummings 5.9 liter

[nightrunner]

What year?

[Raoul]

Water in the lines?

[Dennis1209]

What year?

 

1998 Dodge Ram w/ 5.9 liter Cummings diesel engine.

 

It's possible I have some water in the system, and no doubt it froze during the cold weather. But it should have been melted the last three times I tried it when it was 40 and 43 degrees outside I would think.

[glock55]

if you can get me the engine serial number I will access cummins web site and pull you some trouble shooting on it

[Dane]

Any one know if the stations put anti gel additives in the fuel around here? I'd put a heater under it for a while and you should be fine for now. Add some anti gel additives during cold weather to prevent it from happening again. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[glock55]

Resistance Check TOC NOTE: The following checks apply to brick typed intake manifold heater elements only. Cylindrical type intake heater elements do not have any external ground wires.

Disconnect the ground cable from the battery. Remove all wires from the intake manifold air heater.

 

SMALL | MEDIUM | LARGE

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Use an ohmmeter to check the resistance across both terminals.

 

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Use an ohmmeter to check the resistance from the ground of each positive heater terminal.

The resistance should indicate zero ohms.

If high ohms are indicated, inspect and clean or repair all heater electrical connections and grounds and recheck for zero ohms.

1. Meter reads zero = good heater (both elements)
2. Meter does not move = defective heater
3. Meter indicates, but not zero = dirty or corroded connections. Clean and repair, as necessary.

 

SMALL | MEDIUM | LARGE

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Check the resistance from the ground wire to a known good ground.

The reading should be less than 10 ohms. If not, replace the heater ground wire.

 

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one thing to check is the intake heater this is the procedure

[Rowdy]

I'm old enough to fume over diesels since the 60's. Don't spend any money on any thing except some Power Service fuel treatment. Most likely your fuel gelled and it could take 3 or 4 days to return to liquid after these near 0 temps. Leave it alone till tomorrow afternoon, it's supposed to be in the mid 50s tomorrow. Try it then, if it starts, double dose it with Power Service, if it doesn't you have ruled out gelled fuel. I believe it will start. Let us know.

[Dennis1209]

Thanks guys!

[tnguy]

My wife's diesel beetle had an issue where in cold temps, the o-ring on the fuel filter would let a little air slip by and it would crank and crank for minutes before it eventually caught. Probably not that but worth a check.

 

I have never had problems with gelling in the lines, even in the recent temperatures. For the engine though, I definitely recommend something like one of these if you can get it for your vehicle, especially since diesels are so reluctant to heat up.

 

http://www.frostheater.com/frostheater.htm

 

Edited January 10, 2014 by tnguy

[Dennis1209]

You can hear the fuel pump charge up the first 5 seconds when the ignition switch is turned on as normal. Took off the fuel line that attaches to the top of the fuel filter and turned the ignition switch on and no fuel came out. So now I'm assuming the fuel pump went bad?

[jtmaze]

You said you can hear it in the 1st five sec. But no fuel. That is strange. Usually on an electric pump if you can hear it it's good. Those lift pumps have a paper filter on the bottom of the lift pump that could have been fouled if the fuel started to gel around it in tank. I am thinking line blockage. JTM We the People of the United States, in order to form a more Perfect Union......

[Dane]

[quote name="Dennis1209" post="1093371" timestamp="1389470419"]You can hear the fuel pump charge up the first 5 seconds when the ignition switch is turned on as normal. Took off the fuel line that attaches to the top of the fuel filter and turned the ignition switch on and no fuel came out. So now I'm assuming the fuel pump went bad?[/quote] If it is gelled then no it wouldn't come out but you would still hear the pump. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD