Excursion was running fine till we ran low on fuel and dumped 10 gallons of gas into the tank. Drove less than a mile before we figured it out. Towed to a shop where they dropped the tank, sucked all the fuel out and put 15 gallons of fresh fuel in and new filters. Advised me to drive for a week and change the filters again. Drove the truck home and filled up with fresh fuel from Costco on the way. Life is good or so I thought.
Last Sunday, I took the truck out for a long drive to run the fuel or tried to. Along the way, the "Water in Fuel" light came on and it started dying out. Restarted. Drove a bit more, died out. Drained the bowl and tried to continue but it kept dying out so we drove back home, all the while it tries to die out. Before it dies, it goes well. When it dies, it dies suddenly or the rpm drops very drastically and might recover. Sure, it looked like the CPS so I took out the spare one I had. I thought it was fixed. Took it to work today, about 6 minutes away. Warmed it up as a test and it worked. On the way, it died. Restarted and continued to work. About lunch time, I idled it for 10 minutes and it was fine. Drove home, died again. Kept it for the rest of lunch idling and it was fine. Drove to work and it tried to die again.*
This evening, I took it home and it also died. The CPS is the gray one. I don't think I should be throwing yet another CPS at it. Stopped by Autozone for a scan and no codes. Borrowed their more complete scanner but still no codes. It will idle but driving it isn't reliable. Below are the mods. TIA for any help.
01 Excursion. Gauges with AIH Delete, AIS, CCV Mod, 4' MBRP, BTS Trans, 6.0L Trans Cooler and Intercooler, DP-Tuner F5 chip, ITP In Tank Mod and Boost Annihilator, Diesel Innovation's Regulated Fuel kit, BTS Big Oil system, GTP38R Turbo with 1.15 A/R housing and BDP Stage II AC injectors. Bilstein Shocks with U code front and A code Rear. 203* thermostat and billet housing
I would try and check fuel pressure. I suspect the gasoline washed out the sediment in your tank and may have plugged your in tank filters or boogered your fuel pump.
I didn't see any sediment in the tank when they dropped it. Also we changed out the filter in the engine bay. I don't have a screen in the tank anymore. I took that off with the ITP In Tank Mod. The pump now pulls fuel to it without that screen. Anything in the tank gets sucked into the filter we placed in line which is also a water separator. Turning the bleed screw and there was no water. I must have put about 50 miles since. I was advised to drive a week or a tankful and change BOTH the filters again. Should I do that now or is it too soon?
A quick test showed that the fuel pressure is fine at idle. IDK how to test it under load since my hose isn't long enough to reach from my ITP Regulated Return fuel pressure regulator to the cabin.
May try adding a good dose of Stanadyne to the fuel. Years ago a local refinery released some really dry diesel and my truck died for no reason like you describe. Added Stanadyne and stalling quit next day.
My suspicion is that in all the fuel system pieces being fussed with there is a leak somewhere before electric pump. The hose between steel line on frame and the electric frame mounted pump can be replaced with a piece of clear vinyl tubing so you can watch. Hell, GoPro camera view with a mag mount and camera adjusted to see it. That's the 2019 way to do it....
I drained the bowl and the in line filter. Nothing resembling water. I don't think that there is much in the fuel since it poured out clean and was clear in the jar. I think water would have caused it to look different. Regardless, the filters were tossed for new ones.*Those were red herrings. Idled the truck after the filter change and it started. It ran just fine for 5 minutes before it died. Again, no codes whatsoever. It just hiccuped and died.*
Just thinking. If it is fuel, it should stumble for a bit before dying or so I would think. Not just a hiccup, go on for a couple seconds sounding normal and dying. Of course it started up and idled.
If you haven't swapped the CPS you might try doing that. Or maybe you've disturbed something while mucking around with the filter on the engine (e.g. IPR or ICP wiring?)
Tried that. I am about to try yet another CPS. That was the first thing I thought.
Maybe I will check those in the morning. Would those throw a code? My engine seems to just shut down without any codes. A couple times the WIF light came on but that is about it.
Try one more cps just to convince yourself that that is not the problem. Run at least one full tank of fresh diesel to clean out any trapped bits of gasoline that may still be in the fuel system. Test the fuel pump more carefully because you may have damaged the fuel pump by running gasoline that has much less lubricity than diesel. Also, you may have damaged the injectors because of lack of lubricity. Pistons, wrist pins, and/or connecting rods may have been damaged due to uncontrolled detonation of gasoline.
Make sure when you try that CPS that you look into the plug on the harness side. If it has black on the terminals, or even a hint of green, then most likely the CPS is fine, and its a corrosion issue. I just dug 2 CPS out of the garbage because I thought they failed, and they didn't. I found the corrosion, just a hint of it, cleaned it up and both CPS I thought were dead, work perfectly now. Check the plug. Also, take a bottle of Stanadyne, Drain then fill the fuel bowl with Stanadyne alone, no fuel. Fill her to the top. Start and run that through for many minutes. That will guarantee there is no gas anywhere past that point. Gas in fuel usually wont cause the motor to die. It will cause it to rev up uncontrollably , it will over heat, then it will seize up. Not all instantly either. You clearly didn't experience that. I think you have a pump problem, or and electrical issue, like CPS.
The CPS looks fine. Obviously I can't test electrical but there is no corrosion. I usually dump a generous amount of dielectric grease on all my sensors. I will try yet another new one soon as I can.
Someone Suggested: You need to get an active fuel pressure readings. One key on, engine not running, one at idle and lastly at the point when it stops running.
Key on, engine off. 68-70 psi. Idling it is about the same. Hard to read while driving but the go-pro we taped seems to be about the same when you drive around the block. Dips a bit and then catches up from a stop.*
What it is doing at stop is hard to know since all you are doing is letting it idle till it does die and that is unknown. I do know that if you turn the engine off, pressure drops rapidly but that could be the regulator setup?*
I am trying idling WITHOUT the chip so that might rule it out if it still dies without the chip?*
New symptom. This morning I went to start it. I have the THEFT light blinking and wouldn't start. Pushed the chip around and it started. Slammed the front door a couple times and it died. I am thinking that in the cold, the chip isn't making good contact and it kills it when something goes off? Maybe take the ECM out and clean the contacts again?
I think you mean the PCM. There shouldn't be any play in your chip to PCM contact. That thing gets bumped at all with the engine running, the PCM will be shot. Adjust that play/slop where it makes proper contact then duck tape to the PCM.
A couple weeks ago, I jarred the wires around since I had to remove the dash to install a new head unit and a backup camera for the RV. Head unit failed and rather than get a new or used one, I wanted the backup camera and a more modern unit. I had to take out the chip so I rerouted the wires a little for the newer position. Maybe in the cold, it became more apparent.
This evening I took out the chip, gave the contacts a brush over with some scouring pad and put it back in. Took the time to tape it tightly with Duct Tape. Everything reassembled and is working. Let it idle and it was fine. "Slam Test" passed so fingers crossed. Everything seems to be in line and working. May have to sacrifice a carburetor to the Powerstroke Gods.
Drove it further by about 20 miles in the snowy weather each way. Stupid but I didn't want to wait any longer. Seems to work fine. I had re-positioned the chip to hang from the cubby hole where my brake controller sat and finally made a pair of L shaped brackets, one on top and the other on the bottom to hold the chip in place. So far, so good. Getting bolder as the week goes on.
If this keeps up, I think I will be able to declare the problem fixed and put the mistake behind me. Gotta burn to learn that I need to keep my mind focused. Thanks to everyone on the board so far for the help and suggestions. Will be changing filters by next week when the tank is done.*
My bad. The truck is fixed. I was simply dealing with too many issues. I had to a plan of what I was doing and the wife was panicky about the fuel so I changed plans and it threw my timing off and I had a brain fart. Everything is running good now so I'm happy to report back. A few hundred dollars and some anti anxiety meds later, life is good
Getting older, lots on my mind ?, and owning 3 other vehicles that take gas prompted me to get rid of my black filler cap and go to a green (Diesel) cap— It happens
I have the green diesel fuel cap also. I haven't made that mistake yet, but I guess it doesn't hurt to have that little reminder there to help remember.
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