Starting Problem - Please Help

[wilkyflex]

Hi folks,
My 1992 D-250 Intercooled truck doesn't start. It surges like it is going to start, but never kicks over. with the injectors cracked open, I get fuel squirting strong out of only two lines. I do get less powerful squirts out of the other lines, but I think they are not as strong as I believe the fuel is coming from the return line attached to each injector. So if the nut on one injector is tight, and the next one to it is loose, I believe the fuel can be forced through the return line. Is this correct thinking?

So the truck doesn't start and I'm getting a little smoke from the exhaust. Not white or grey, but more dark, but not black smoke. I thinking that maybe the timing is off? Or maybe it is electrical? Here is what I did for the timing:

TIMING:
Placed pump on bench and rotated pump clockwise with nut on end of shaft. Rotated until shaft clicked through so the key way was close to the timing mark on pump. I then put an indicator on the back of the pump, and zeroed it out. I then rotated the pump .069" and locked the pump in place. I found that the keyway was exactly in the middle of the timing mark at this location. I rotated barring tool in counter clockwise rotation until timing pin pushed into cam gear at top dead center. The keyway in the gear housing was at about the 5:30 position when looking forward at it from the driver's point of view. This would be about the 6:30 position looking at it through the oil fill spout while standing in front of the truck and facing the engine. I then put the pump in, connected lines and it tried to start, but would not. Took it off again and did the same thing and got the same result.

Electrical:
I see there are two wires to connect. One wire is the bigger of the two and has three connections on it. A small blue wire that hooks up the fuel shutoff solenoid, a connection into the auto-transmission sensor, and then the end connector to the front of the engine for something.

The smaller of the two wires has two clip connectors on it. I think one goes to the KFC solenoid, which I don't know what it does, and the other goes to the fuel shut off solenoid? I don't know. But I have left both of these connectors on the smaller wire, unattached to anything.

Can you help me resolve this starting problem?
Is it my timing? Should I rotate a gear tooth so the pump moves position? Should I time it differently? Can I use a timing light?

Is the problem electrical? Should I connect the other two wires? The blue wire on the going to the solenoid gives me 12 volts when the ignition is switched on. The other two connectors on the smaller wire don't give me any voltage with ignition on.

Thanks alof for your help folks.

Gotta love these awesome Dodge truck and cummins engines
Dean

[Mark Nixon]

The fuel system may just need thoroughly bled out.
First off, even though it is time-consuming and a real PITA, make SURE you have air tight connections on the fuel supply from tank to pump inlet and prime it, making sure there is clear fuel with as little air in it as possible at the pump.
I always crack the bleeder at the filter, get clear fuel, THEN I open the line's inlet fitting at the pump and push the primer until fuel runs clear there, too.

Next, crack ONE injector line, then crank for a few revolutions and see how the fuel sprays out.
Repeat bleeding the injector lines, ONE at a time, as needed then try to fire it off.
It may fire off and run before this is all done. Let it, it'll clear the rest out by itself, if it can.

Air can be very hard to chase out of a totally dis-assembled system, especially if your components, like the lift pump, are old and possibly worn.

Mark.

[wilkyflex]

thanks Mark for your reply.
So you don't think the timing is off?
I will proceed to day to thoroughly bleed the system.
Dean

[Mark Nixon]

Unless you somehow jumped the gear when you removed the pump, it shouldn't be off in timing.
They way I usually pull the pump means I never even take the tin cover off and it's hard to get the timing off if the gear can't come out of the case.
Sure, it'll flop around in there, but it's not easy to skip teeth with it in there and behind the cover.

Of course this all is moot if you actually had the gear removed, by doing that, it's possible it's out of time, but even then it should still push fuel at the same pressure when the lines are cracked.

Mark.

[wilkyflex]

Mark, I cracked the first line, cyl. 1 and cranked on engine. fuel dribbles out and does not squirt out. In fact, I could not get fuel to squirt out at all out of any of the lines
I just don't know what to do.

I have moved the gear after I've taken the pump out. I can rotate the gear and I've done that in the past so the injection pump is rotated further from the engine for easier access to the screws etc. And I was told that the gear position doesn't matter. As long as the pump is timed to the timing mark on the pump, and the engine is at top dead center with the pin in the crank, then the pump is timed to the engine. And it doesn't matter where the gear is or how the pump is positioned.

[Mark Nixon]

Let's go back to square one.
What started the issue? What happened that you started taking things apart?

Mark.

[dazedandconfused]

Are you sure the fuel shutoff solenoid is working? You should get a nice click when 12V's is applied to it.

[wilkyflex]

I thought the pump was leaking fuel. It wasn't leaking, it was a bad seated injection line at the pump. Anyway, I took it apart to inspect. After inspection I set the pump according to my original post above.

Could it be possible, that I should take the pump off and rotate the pump another 360 degrees to the timing mark? Would this make any change?

I will check the fuel solenoid.

[Mark Nixon]

Did you actually take the Head and Rotor apart from the case?
If so, you MAY have the rotor 180* out from the crank.

Mark.

[DodgeFreak]

Did you have the full power screw out??? Turn that in a couple turns, if its backed out to far it won't start.

[wilkyflex]

No, i did not pull the head or rotor apart. The fuel screw was turned out about 2 years ago, and the pump has worked fine.

Here's a new symptom. I get fuel squirting out of cylinder number 3. Fuel is not squirting out of any other cylinders.
What do you make of that?

[wilkyflex]

PROBLEM SOLVED. The problem was that there was air in the system and I could not get it out.
Here's how I did it.
I took off the intake tube and put a thick rag over the turbo intake. clamped the ring around it real tight. put some gasoline on the rag, so the engine could run on fumes. I did that a couple of times and it forced the air out of the system. BINGO. ENGINE RUNS FINE.
Thanks for all your help
Dean

[Mark Nixon]

I've bled a lot of dead dry systems and never had an issue unless something else was really wrong.
Don't be surprised if it does it again down the road.

Mark.