Anyone Here Know About Diesels?

[Ghettoboom767]

Hi everyone,my friend and I have a 1995' E350 ambulance van style and it ran when he bought it but they had put starting solvent into it to get it to run.It sat around 2 years and was missing the gas cap.
So after getting it home and it started several times and then we went to put freon in the A/C system and it held freon and was blowing cold air.
After that it wouldn't fire when we tries to start it again.
We tried to use starting fluid that was supposedly safe for diesels and it would run for a couple of seconds and belch some smoke out the exaust.
Now we did a little research and I replaced 4 glow plugs on the passenger side bank(a bitch!) and I replaced the gas filter to,it was pretty dirty but no visible water or anything bad.
I checked the solenoid relay for the glow plugs and it checked ok and it does click when I hit the key and wait for the wait light to go out.
So even after checking all the regular fuses in the fuse box no firing just cranks.
Is there some other fuses or relays I could check?

I'll tell you that vans suck to work on especially diesels! It's the 7.3 Power Stroke diesel and was running good,been rebuilt to.
It again was running good and we started about 6 times before we put the freon in and we're baffled.
We have checked online for troubleshooting this but I feel there is something not getting current (Glow plugs) or something.
Anyone have any suggestions? Very trying,never had a diesel like this and we would love to get this going.
Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks.

 

[trippy1313]

Did the van by chance run out of fuel ever? Not having the gas cap might do this too, but these powerstrokes have really high pressure injector pumps. When they run out of fuel air gets trapped in the injector pumps. A real pain to get started. I had it happen once, Im trying to think of what I did to get it started. First thing if you havent is get a fuel cap. I'll post again when I remember.

I remember one trick was to get fuel in the tank. And use an air compressor to pressurize the tank while someone else tries to start it.

I was on the side of the road so i couldn't do that.

 

[trippy1313]

I can tell you that you are going to want at least 10 gallons of fuel for anything you try. The more the merrier.

It'll probably run terrible till the air gets out of the injector pumps and fuel lines. Probably 15 mins or so.

Another possibility with these motors is usually the cam or crank sensors. They're pretty notorious for going bad on the 99-02 models.

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

My guess is that the fuel system is holding air. Just because you used the engine starting fluid and it ran doesn't mean there isn't still air present. It can sometimes take some time to have the engine turn enough revolutions before the air is expelled. Be careful how much concentration of starting fluid is sprayed into the intake at any such time as the octane of the fluid is much higher than diesel. Keep spraying a small amount in so revs are kept to a reasonable level until it idles on it's own.

Failing that, you then have to turn to the injectors/pump.

Was the pump rebuilt with the rest of the engine?

James....

 

[Ghettoboom767]

Hi, no never ran out of fuel,2/3 tank.
I am replacing the other 4 glow plugs next week and testing the fuel pump.
Hi James, I'll try that if I don't have success after replacing the other bank of glow plugs.
It felt a little like it was going to fire slightly after we charged the batteries, they're brand new to.
Thanks for all the advice guys, I'll keep you posted.🚑🚑

 

[trippy1313]

You did get a gas cap though right?

 

[Ghettoboom767]

Oh yes,right away after he got it home.
It started and ran a few times after that.
I'm afraid that you guys may be right,moisture,water and or air in tank and lines.
Will be checking this out after I get the other bank of glow plugs replaced.
Thanks for all of your advice!!

 

[trippy1313]

Very possible if sitting for a long time without that cap.

Good luck!!! Let us know how it's going.

 

[trippy1313]

Any luck with this?

 

[Ghettoboom767]

Well so far I've replaced all 8 glow plugs and put in a new fuel filter,checked all fuses and tested the glow plug relay and all checks out ok.
New batteries but still won't fire!
I can hear it kind of muffled like trying to pop but I feel all the old gas has to be purged out and put in some new diesel.
This will take place in a month or so.
Thanks for asking.
Anything else I should check?
Replacing those glow plugs wasn't fun especially on the E350 van!

 

[trippy1313]

Yeah, new fuel in the tank sounds like a good idea. I'd get as much of the old fuel out as you can. That's odd they had to use solvent to get it it run, hopefully it didnt ruin other things.

 

[Beosystem10]

Not that odd if it's been standing for a couple of years. Have you done a compression test on it?

 

[Ghettoboom767]

Engine is in very good shape, been rebuilt.
it ran earlier this year and seemed fine, not a smoker.
I'll keep you informed after we get the gas out of there.
Thanks guys.