The '81 SD has been running great for several months, until this morning.
On the way home from work I sensed just a little hiccup a couple of times on the 35 mile highway drive home. No change in RPM, but it seemed like the speed decreased just for a fraction of a second.
I pulled to the stop light at the end of the exit ramp and the car died. Several cars behind me started blowing their horns as I re-started the car. The car sputtered and I limped through the intersection and to the side of the road and died. It felt like I was out of fuel, despite my new fuel sender saying I had half a tank.
I had 5 gallons of #2 diesel with me that I poured into the tank and then tried to re-start the car after exercising the new style primer pump that is about 6 months old. It turned over, but died a second later. This was repeated several times.
I swapped the feed and return lines thinking the tank strainer may be plugged. I changed all the fuel filters, filling them with diesel before installing them. After swappping the lines and after each filter change, I tried to start the car again. No luck. Things only got worse as it went from turning over and running for a couple of seconds to not turning over at all.
I had a bottle and made a mini fuel tank, like doing a Diesel Purge, and bypassed the primary filter. When I exercised the primer the fuel would flow from the bottle, through the hose, into the spin on filter and a trickle came back into the bottle. Still the car would not turn over at all. Maybe I drained the battery with my earlier attempts?
My wife met me (not what she wanted us doing on Mother's Day
) and we put jumper cables from her car to mine, but no difference. The tow truck showed up and he also tried to jump the battery with a portable battery charger. It sounds like the engine will almost catch and start, but it doesn't quite do so.
I got towed home and my wife said I better not touch the car today. She's feeling slighted enough with the searches and reading I have been doing here already.
I read about cracking the injector lines while cranking. Should I crack one and then try to start the car to be sure fuel is coming out of the line? Is that a two person job, one to turn the key while one looks at the injection line connection?
The battery is on a trickle charger now and I will try to find the time to look at the car tomorrow.
Any tips or direction are appreciated. I wish my mechanic skills were more than sub-novice
