problem starting
 

Hi everyone, I own a 97 dodge ram 3500 with cummins turbo diesel. My son has been using it and last week it did not start. The oil light stayed on so I checked the level and it was five+ quarts low. I filled it up but the oil light still stay on. The engine turns over strong but will not start. I was wondering if there was a low oil shut-off relay or fuse that must be reset or replaced? I suppose that the low oil could have nothing to do with the starting problem.
Any help would be appreciated. :humm:

After doing some investigating we found to issues that may preventing the engine from starting and need some advice.

1. the rubber primer button that is attached to the lift pump is cracked and comes right off... and when we pump the primer button six times we can then hear air leakage..... Does this constitute an air leak and if so is it most likely because the rubber is cracked or the O-ring is bad?

2. we disconnected the line going from the fuel filter to the injector pump and fuel does pump out when we turn over the engine, but we do NOT get fuel coming out of the lines from the injector pump that lead to the engine cylinders...

Does this mean that it is a problem at the fuel injector pump and if so what can we test for.... or can a possible air leak still cause this "no fuel" issue described in #2

Make sure the fuel solenoid on the pump is pulling up. Very common problem. It will pull up when the engine is cranking and stays up until the key is shut off. If it does not pull up, with the key on, reach down there and manually pull it up, then try to start. This is the first of many things to check.

Hi and thank you for your response. I actually did confirm that the fuel solenoid is engaging and stays up until I shut the key off.

If there is fuel getting to the injector pump does this mean that the problem is from that point forward or can there still be issues preventing fuel from pushing through the injector pump?

I also hand primed the lift pump with the primer button to push any air out the bleeder valve.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks
Mike