Neighbor picked up a 2000 2 wheel drive with 237,000 miles on it. Long story short he replaced all the fluids and filters. He got done with the fuel filter and fired it up. It ran for about 30 seconds then died. Now it won't start. Turned the key on to fill up the canister where the filter is and then opened up the release switch and no fuel came out. Is there air in the lines or does it sound like the pump is going bad? Give me your ideas any and all appreciated.

Thanks

 

I would check to make sure the lift pump is working properly. if he keeps trying to start it without any fuel pressure he'll kill the VP44 injector pump.

 

thanks Drew. is there any way a guy can check to see if the pumps is working without taking it to a mechanic

 

first you can listen to see if the pump is working, you would hear it running, second put in a fuel pressure gage. you should see better 14psi or better with the engine not running.

 

update, I'm no diesel mechanic so bear with me. turned the key to the on position not start and listened. The fuel pump ran for like 15 to 20 seconds then turned off. turned the key off and released the valve on the cannister where the fuel filter is inside of. no fuel came out. makes me think the pump. He has like an 1/8 of a tank of fuel and i figured that would be enough to pick up and pump it to the filter. haven't tried a gauge yet but that will be the next step before a trip to the mechanic. Thanks for the input Drew.

 

According the manual you need to add 5-10 gal of gas then try to prime the system by cranking for 1-2 seconds then relaseing it and leaving it in the RUN position after 25 seconds try to start it, if it does not work repeat but never crank for more than 15 sec.

 

we decided to be on the safe side we should add some fuel. we'll do that and give it a try thanks for that info.

 

since i can't seem to find it. is there a manual primer on the 2000 cummins motor that you can use to prime the system.

 

When I ran out of gas- It took 4 hours trying to start it. Thought it was the pump. Put some fuel in primered it and still nothing. So he finally cracked the injectors a little and fuel started coming out- them Whaaa Laaa! She started.

 

filled up the tank to over half full now. checked and the electric pump that sits behind the fuel filter cannister is not pumping any fuel. neighbor figures that pump must be out. I'm not sure about that but he seems to think that since its not pumping any fuel when it is running it must not be working. makes sense but i'm inclined to think there's air in the lines. i'll see if we can figure it out today. if not i guess a trip to the local mechanic is in order. anyway thanks for all your input.