Difficulty Starting 'on my 93 L300

[philmeup1]

Hello everyone,

My van has been running stellar over the past few years, and I just recently completed a near 4000 K trip covering many places in Ontario. But lately my van has been a bit reluctant to start. When I turn the engine over, I have to give it a bit of throttle once it starts to fire up in order to keep it running. I also noticed on a few occasions that when I was slowing down coming up to a red light while in town, the engine would almost want to stall out and I'd have to give it a little more throttle to keep it running smoothly again.

I'm always amazed at how well this thing has performed for me over the past 8 years I've owned it. I do my est to look after it which has certainly paid off. But this little glitch has got me perplexed. And I'm guessing it's only going to get worse if I don't address it sooner than later. I was planning one more big trip this month, but don't want to go too far out before dealing with this issue first.

Any thoughts, advice, words of wisdom etc. are always greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Phil

[deskinthewoods]

Hi Phil,

The first thing that comes to my mind is an air leak in a fuel line. GBNZ suggested to me to temporarily replace the fuel hose from the fuel filter to the Injection pump with a clear tube and watch for bubbles. I believe I used 3/8" ID, about a foot long. It's an easy hose to swap. Attach it to the fuel filter housing first, prime it full using the pump on the top of the fuel filter housing before tightening the end on the Injection pump.

This one:

IP line.jpg (40.82 KiB) Viewed 29397 times

Bubbles (while the engine is running) would indicate air being drawn into the fuel line somewhere between the tank and the Injection pump. It may be just a loose clamp on that actual fuel hose (or a pin hole in it...)

Don't leave the clear hose in as it will eventually melt from the heat of the engine...

Good luck and stay safe,
Alex

[philmeup1]

Thanks for this Alex. I was thinking of a possible air leak also. I was out in it driving today and it actually stalled out at a stop sign. I managed to get it to fire up again by giving it some throttle. I'll do as you and Growler suggest and see if there's bubbles in the line.

I believe the fuel is under constant pressure, so should I do anything to mitigate fuel spraying out when I remove the original fuel line? Or is this even an issue to worry about? Mechanically declined person showing my true colors, lol.

Thanks again for the advice:)

Phil

[philmeup1]

Here's something else. After dinner I decided to go have a look at the van over a few cocktails. All of the fuel lines appear okay. I couldn't see any visible leaks or anything. Then a friend popped by and was looking at things with me. He asked when was the last time I replaced the fuel filer, to which I responded, Geez, I dunno... It's been at least 4 or 5 years for sure. Maybe even longer. I have a new one here that I kept as a spare from Steven at Rising Sun. Perhaps I should be installing this on the van regardless of anything else?? That's why I have it here.

Anyway, I'll have it done at my garage. I'm concerned that it'll be a stinky diesel mess if I attempt to do this in my driveway. Especially since I have no clue about this side of things.

Stay tuned for further updates....

[deskinthewoods]

The fuel is actually under suction between the tank and the Injection Pump, the IP drawing fuel as opposed to a pump in the tank pushing fuel, I believe. I certainly didn't get fuel spraying everywhere. Regardless, with the engine off, no fuel is moving.

Yes, changing the fuel filter is an excellent idea! And yes, there will be some stinky fuel spillage during that process

[sk66]

Stalling out is a possible symptom of an IP pump seal letting air in; usually the shaft seal.
But I would start by looking for filter restrictions. Changing the fuel filter is a good idea; it's due. There is also a filter screen in the IP pump's outlet banjo bolt, and there is one behind the inlet banjo bolt on some of them as well.

[philmeup1]

Thanks guys, I did have the injector pump rebuilt shortly after I got the van, Probably been 6 or 7 years ago now. It was leaking all over the place, so I had to get it repaired. I'm not sure how long they normally last after being rebuilt, but it had 75K on it when I had that done, and I'm up to 159K on it now.

But besides that, it's probably been 6 or 7 years since I last changed my fuel filter. And I think I read somewhere that these filters need to be changed more often in diesel motors, something I already should have done. Luckily I have a spare here. I'm going to try that first and see what happens.

Thanks again for the help. I'll post the outcome once I get the filter replaced:)

Phil

[philmeup1]

Well I'm hoping this is the final chapter to this story. I had a friend help me change out the fuel filter after watching a 12 min video on YouTube. It's a pretty easy job as most on here will know. I originally tightened the filter on to the top part as hard as I could by hand. Shouldn't have done that as fuel was leaking out the top big time. Luckily I was able to remove the filter, back it off a bunch and reinstall it. No leaks now.

The drive home was not so great as it stalled out on me a few times. I decided to take my chances and went to visit a friend an hour away. There drive there was not too bad. I had to fill up just before I arrived. I spent the night, and the next day it started no problem and has been trouble free ever since.

I think it's all good now. Thanks again for the advice fellas. Heading up north to go camping at various places this week. Really enjoying the van and the summer.

Stay safe everyone,

Phil

[deskinthewoods]