Water in fuel light, drained, cleaned contacts, now WONT START! - Diesel Forum

dacunn · 07-19-2009, 09:16 PM

Here's what happened....Friday I was driving home from work, and as I was almost home, I got the water in fuel light. We were headed somewhere for the weekend, so I let the truck sit all weekend and did my research on this sight as to what might be the problem since I change my fuel filters religiously every 15k and got my last tank of fuel at the same place as always, a high volume Safeway store that sells lots of diesel.

Anyway, I decide to change the fuel filters, drain the HFCM, and pull the cover off the HFCM and clean any crud off the sensor, since it seemed as if that was the likely cause.

When I drained the HFCM, there was no water in the fuel, but a lot off black crud around the fuel heater and water in fuel sensor. I cleaned all around the inside of the HFCM with brake cleaner, dried it off, and put it all together.

Then I started the truck.

At first it ran good, then it started loping like a gas engine with a serious cam in it, then it started chugging, and died. Since this, I have tried starting it, and it will just crank roughly and will not fire over. Also, when I go back under the truck and pull the HFCM drain plug after trying to start, there is no fuel coming out of the drain like there is every time i drain the HFCM. It's almost as if there's no fuel getting pumped through the HFCM???

Can anyone help me? As a background it sounds exactly like it did when I had injectors go bad at 56k miles and it turned out being a bad # 1 injector, but they changed #1,3,5. The truck has 87k miles on it, and I have always changed filters every 15k miles since i bought it at 12k miles.

It's out of warranty, so this is my money I get to spend, so obviously, I'm freaking out right now. Thanks to anyone for their help, and if anyone wants an even bigger history on this wonderful truck, I'll go ahead and list it, just to make myself feel better. (I would have gotten rid of it long ago, but when the economy turned and diesel hit $5 a gallon, the truck became worthless...)

Anyway, in 87k miles,

Turbo
Egr valve
Injectors 1,3,5
Another EGR valve
EGR cooler hose
Another turbo
Another EGR valve
Head Gaskets
AND NOW THIS!

Obviously, my last Ford with an International engine, but I've got to keep it for a while, so thanks again for the help in advance...

Dave

Ljutic SS · 07-19-2009, 09:29 PM

Did you pull the cover off the engine fuel filter and crank it over to see if fuel is getting to the housing?

djshum · 07-19-2009, 09:31 PM

I would recheck the connections at the fuel pump. I ran across this with a customer that brought a truck to our shop. They replaced fuel pump, and still wouldn't start. They had fuel pump and wif connectors swapped. The wif circuit has 5 volt v-ref, which won't run fuel pump. It takes somes effort to plug them in reversed, but it can be done. I believe the grey connector is the fuel pump, I would start there since it won't start immediately after you had it apart.

Smiley1 · 07-19-2009, 09:54 PM

If you changed the fuel filters it sounds like the one under the driver side was not installed correctly. After it is installed correctly, cycle the key several times to make sure you purge the air out of the system. Ljutic SS is correct. You need to make sure you are getting fuel to the engine bay.

dacunn · 07-19-2009, 09:57 PM

I pulled the cover off the upper fuel filter a few minutes ago,and there was no fuel in the bowl, so now I know I'm not getting fuel up to the top of the engine. I know I have the connectors on the right ones, cause I didn't take them off in the first place, I was able to do all my cleaning with the fuel lines and connectors still connected to the HFCM.

Also, when I turn the key on, I hear the fuel pumpp run and can climb underneath and put my hand on it and feel it running....Just no fuel is getting to the top of the engine.

Thanks for the help so far, any other ideas????

dacunn · 07-19-2009, 10:05 PM

just pulled cap off of upper fuel filter and removed filter. Bone dry. Turned ignition switch on/off a few times to purge system with cap off, no fuel being pumped to filter even though it sounds like pump is running when i listen to it under the truck...

Still out there working....

Ljutic SS · 07-19-2009, 10:17 PM

Looks like you will have to pull the fuel feed line from the tank going into the pump. You mentioned there was black sludge in the filter area of the pump, so there could be a blockage.

Gofasterdammit · 07-19-2009, 10:31 PM

Try this:

1. Remove secondary fuel filter cap (ontop of engine).
2. Cycle the key, leaving it on for 15 seconds each time, do this for 5 times.
3. Check for fuel entering the secondary fuel filter housing, it should fill up.

Sounds like you may have air locked the fuel system, no big deal. When you started the engine and it ran for a few seconds and then cut out, it was running off of whatever small amount of fuel was left in the secondary fuel filter housing, the lines going to the cylinder heads, and the cylinder heads. Do the above and see if the bowl fills up. If it doesn't and the fuel pump is working (should be noticable when the key is on for first 10 seconds of key on) you might have to pull everything back apart and double check everything went together right.

dacunn · 07-19-2009, 11:07 PM

GoFaster, That's exactly what I just did a few minutes ago. I left the cap off up top and the filter out and cycled the key probably 10 times. The fuel bowl is still dry, all I hear is a very faint gurgling sound at the filter housing up top, but VERY faint. Down below I hear the HFCM pump working and didn't remove any lines, but it just seems like I'm sucking air somehow, I just have no idea how.

Could I dump some diesel in the secondary filter bowl to get it started to see if that works?

Just down to my last options till I bite the bullet and either buy a HFCM on ebay assuming that somehow I brned it up or shorted it out somehow, or just take it to the dealer.

Oh, and one last thing, I did check all fuses at the main panel and the FICM one under the hood...all ck good.

dacunn · 07-19-2009, 11:19 PM

After much research, I've just maybe figured it out. I did re-use the HFCM gasket when I put the cover on, and after a few searches, I found a few posts with similar problems where someone said you have to use a new gasket or the HFCM will not seal.

Maybe I'm getting an air leak at the HFCM?

I'll be getting a gasket tomorrow morning and I'll post my results...

Albin · 07-20-2009, 08:12 AM

Air leak at the HFCM cap is my bet.

Make sure to lightly oil the cap threads and the new o-ring when you re-install and make sure to not cross thread the cap.

Good luck.

Al

dacunn · 07-21-2009, 09:52 PM

Fixed it!

Got a new HFCM cover plate gasket from the dealer and installed it. Pump immediately started pumping fuel up to the top fuel bowl. The old gasket I reinstalled, although it looked good visually, must have allowed an air leak. Runs great now and no water in fuel light.

Thanks everyone so much for the help!

And one last comment, with 87k on the truck, there was probably a teaspoons worth of black sludge built up on the sensor, so something for everyone to keep in mind as a maintenance item every once in a while...