HELP 99 Ram Stuck on the side of the freeway.
 

Help. First time towing anything.... Have car trailer and ranger on it. I towed good... Not very much smoke except initial take off. Stoped to eat then went to leave and when go on freeway truck started sputtering and white smoke. No dummy lights. No warning lights. Ran like garbage then died. Tried draining water just in case but nothing. Just cranks. Has holley black LP but dunno how old. It primes for a second at ignit on. Help. I am stuck over 100 mile from home (117 mile south of cleveland on rt 71). Save us :(

Do you have fuel pressure?

Cycle the key on/off (I usually dont recommend this but I doubt you have a code reader with you).

Dont want to alarm you but white smoke "can" be your Injector pump going.

You need to make sure you have fuel getting to the injection pump. Crack the line right after the fuel filter and try to start the truck. For your sake in doing this I hope you have no fuel getting there. If it makes a big fuel mess it sound like an IP.

Check your Fuel Filter

Tried running the lp by cycle key. The pump runs for a second but not continuous. It starts after like ten runs for a couple then runs a second off a few on a second. Manual says it should run for twenty five after doing water drain. Any ideas?

Bump the starter.... The Pump should run for several seconds. Any codes?

Can fuel filter be checked without tools. We are lacking them.

Fortunatley I have a good best friend and he is sending his slideback for me. But still not out of woods with truck. Sigh. 11000$ investment is broke THAT sux

If you have a pair of pliers you can get the fuel filter out. Check the filter because im almost 99% sure this is your problem.

hoping its fuel problems before the pump do you have pressure with the line cracked

Right now I don't have any tools to crack line. Will have to check that tomorrow.

The day I got my current truck I put in some home brew bio diesel and within 3 miles my truck was dead. My truck was doing this exact same thing. It was the fuel filter. Started blowing white smoke, loosing power then finally died. It would start and idle but that was all it would do.

Mine started one then idle for second then died. Won't start again. I did run one quart of mix oil in and just polished that tank off and filled with LSD

No codes either

Pull the filter

I bet its the filter had some problems like that with a freightliner. Did you just fill up with fuel?

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if you just got fuel and started having problems I'll bet it was mostly water with some diesel mixed in and stopped up your filter. I hope for your sake anyway. Go and throw the filter through the gas station window if it is

Last fill up was 28 gal of ULSD and 1 qt of 2 stoke oil by friend suggestion. Ran that out. Wife put in 10$ of diesel at BP I drove to work on way home I filled with LSD then picked up car trailer and drove 170 mi. Pick up car and drive like 20 mi. Stop and eat. Then start drive one mile now stuck here

Im bettin you got some bad fuel and stopped that filter up. been there done that, several times

That would shock me from the speedways lsd. But there was the teb gallon of BP which I never got before. Ick BP

You sure the wife didn't mix in a few gallons of gas by mistake when she fueled up. This would also do this same thing.

Not from a key cycle. If you bump the starter (without starting) it should run for 20 sec or so.

You need a fuel pressure guage.

If you dont invest in one, your $11000 investment with substantially increase.

i want to say fuel filter. when mine cloged it was like putting a bag on the turbo. no powe and then it died. since then i have always carried a spare filter. sucks when you have no tools to.:ouch:

Thats a good point - Im guilty of not always carrying enough tools. Its a really good idea to carry some basic hand tools and a spare fuel filter. (dont forget a 19 mm or 3/4" wrench for cracking injectors)

No she knows better. She pretty smart when it comes to that. I will make sure tho lol.

Any luck yet?

I'm with these guys on fuel filter.. and I learned not to fill up at BP after I got a tank of mainly water and who knows what else 3 different times from the one in bainbridge. and where on 71 did you end up? wish I caught this last night.

Were you able to get your truck home? Sounds like you are/were not too far from my place. I'm about 10 miles away from exit 169 on I-71.

:pca1:

We were stuck headed north RIGHT by a sign that said 117M Cleveland. Right off the 31/32 exit i believe.

I did get saved but got home at 6AM!!! Just woke up so i can dig into this thing.

I was looking into getting the 3 gauge kit but money has been so tight working 32 hours i can barley pay the bills i have.

I did that and it would run... I would say for more like 5 seconds if counted 1 - Mississippi... 2 - Mississippi... 3 -Mississ.... and so on.




Going to dig into it further today. I am going to start with the fuel filter as everyone suggested. I will go from there. I will probably see how much a fuel pressure gauge is while im at the "Zone" or "Advanced Auto". Just need one of the push on ones.

Sounds like Filter or that Holley has taken a Dump.


:pca1:

I am going to look through the MASSIVE book of paperwork that came with the truck i believe the LP is in there i swear i saw it. I think its 2 years old though (20 or 30K on it).... Whats the life expectancy on the Holley black? Holley doesn't even support diesel as an application!!

its a toss up how long they last, some will last a year some have been known to be bad right out of the box...its like a beating a dead horse but we just cant stress how much a good lift pump is (FASS or Airdog)

I would love to have a better unit but parting with over 600$ is tough when you dont have any cash and 3 kids lol! Thats why i was hoping the Holley would last.

i gotcha i know its tuff i dont have the kids, but i have bills...kids just drag ya down :D



I would start at the filter chances are good that is problem

Found the reciept for the LP... He bought it 3-14-08 so probably installed a couple days later!

If he didn't install some type of filter before the Holley they usually dont last longer than a few months. If it turns out to be your LP give me a shout and we will see what we can work out.

Luke
828-399-1556

Pulled the fuel filter... How dirty is this? It doesn't look that bad?!!?

No there is no pre-filter. Im not even sure how he is drawing from the tank. Its got upgraded lines (1/2") but isn't there an in tank pump? Could it be drawing through there?

That is not correct at all - a push on guage isnt any good. The fuel pressure at idle in meaningless. You need the gauge mounted in the cab so you can see the fuel pressure at cruise and Wide Open Throttle.

You can install a guage for less than $50. I think a $50 investment that could save you a $1500 bill is a good investment. JMO.

Sigh your probably right. Everything for the in line gauge was 20$ Should just spend the 25 more and get a in cab gauge.

I think it is the lift pump.. on prime it makes some wierd noises... Groans and intermittent grunts then free spinning sound...?

For years I ran my gauge out by the windshield wiper. I just ran a piece of Stainless hose right up from top of the filter canister, under the hood between it and the cowling and the gauge just sat right there. Cheap, easy and could see it all the time.

Pulled a plug out of the elbow feeding the lift pump... It flows fuel, a decent amount too... However when i put my finger over the hole it doesn't feel like much pressure. It wont spray past my finger. Also when i do the pump pretty much shuts down... Is there a pressure sensor in there that stops priming when a certain pressure is met?