Engine running great then all of sudden dies on me

M1008 with 51k miles

Truck was running great, had to make a trip to the drop off some stuff for donation which was 10 miles away so the truck is fully up to temp. Was in a parking lot going slow, light throttle then all of sudden it dies. Try to crank it but the engine just spins and never starts. I'm getting fuel at the fuel filter and the fuel filter is new. Tried to bleed with at the stock filter housing and I have electric LP so its easy. Seems to be getting plenty of fuel at the filter. No air that I can see. If I crack an injector line there is no fuel coming out. Getting 11 volts at the IP on the pink wire and it is clicking when I connect it. Finally gave up in the parking lot and its the first time I've had to use AAA towing on the truck.

What would cause it to just die all the sudden with no sign of any fuel problems? Did my IP finally crap out on me? Going to do some more troubleshooting when I get off work.

My guess is if you never serviced the injection pump. It has called you out and needs rebuilt. Not a bad job about + - $400. and about 4 hours work. Good Luck. I change mine before they let me sitting. Mileage has nothing to do with pump. It is still over 30 years old and living on borrowed time. Hope it all works out.

cucvrus said:

My guess is if you never serviced the injection pump. It has called you out and needs rebuilt. Not a bad job about + - $400. and about 4 hours work. Good Luck. I change mine before they let me sitting. Mileage has nothing to do with pump. It is still over 30 years old and living on borrowed time. Hope it all works out.

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The IP has never been out and I totally agree with you. Where do you like to get yours rebuilt?

I use Diesel Care Products out of Memphis. I hear a lot of crap about them and everyone else. No one seems to have anything good to say about anyone anymore. I never had an issue. I did have issues with brand new pumps that I bought as NOS. So give them a call. If you search under 6.2 diesel injection pump on Ebay. They come up. A local shop used to do mine. they long since closed. Internet killed the block and mortar businesses. Good Luck. Keep it stock. Not worth cranking it up.

Had this same kinda of thing happen to me, few times plowing, push into the pile, truck shuts off... cranks right back up and goes.

Driving down the road, made a turn, truck shut off... fired right back up... had no clue what it was and happened so rarely I never even tried to figure out the issue...

Go out one day to put the plow on... trucks dead, crank no fuel. Stole the top of the IP off another truck (for the fuel shut off) fired right back up never had the problem again.

Want to try cheap and easy, pick up one of those. Worse case you have a spare. Of course if you want to do a fresh IP, it's just alot more work and $$$.

Appreciate the advice. I'm going to troubleshoot a bit more and make sure its the IP before spending the $$$. Someone else told me they sheered off the timing crank key so I need to make sure I have compression with valve timing as well.

A word of caution. The 10/24 screws into the pump cover are steel. the pump is aluminum. What happens when steel screws are in an aluminum housing? 10/24 screws at that. Unusable core. I will say no more. Proceed with caution.

8 years ago I had a M1009 that the idle was just wrong. It started, went down the road great and got really good mpg. But, the idle wasn't "right." I was told here on this website that an IP rebuild was my best solution for now and the future. I spent the time calling all the Stanadyne shops in my area. Every single one of them said the IP has a shelf life of 5-8 years. Anything more than that is just borrowed time. That is why buying a used IP or even a claimed to be brand new never installed 30 year old IP as anything other than a core is throwing money away.

If you have an IP of unknown age and the engine has issues. Consider the money spent as "cold dark rainy night middle of nowhere just outside of cell phone range break down insurance" besides just required preventive maintenance. It is also a good time to fix a seeping valve cover gasket, replace the 1/4" fuel line from the filter to the IP and a chance to bond with your truck.

Good info! Appreciate the advice.

So......would it be a good idea to back up the 6.2L IP with an electric fuel pump? Ease the load on it?
thanks

cucvrus said:

My guess is if you never serviced the injection pump. It has called you out and needs rebuilt. Not a bad job about + - $400. and about 4 hours work. Good Luck. I change mine before they let me sitting. Mileage has nothing to do with pump. It is still over 30 years old and living on borrowed time. Hope it all works out.

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Noob question.....you can service your IP?

I had a problem with my IP years ago. It would run, then start running rough, then shut down. Let it sit for a few minutes and it'd start up, then repeat. What was happening was bits of the elastomer ring were breaking apart and plugging up the return port on the pump. (Looks like coffee grounds) Sometimes you can knock the glass check ball out of the return fitting and get a little more run time out of them. It however affects timing by doing this, the pump uses internal pressure to adjust timing. Like others have mentioned, the best solution is a rebuild or a replacement rebuilt.

KamikazeKunze said:

Noob question.....you can service your IP?

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Special equipment and training required.

KamikazeKunze said:

Noob question.....you can service your IP?

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I service it. Remove it and replace it. Then it has been serviced. I have snapped cover bolts off a few also rendering them in-serviceable. I meant serviced as getting it rebuilt at a competent service center. Have a great day.

Did a quick compression test. My gauge only goes to 300psi and after a few cranks it was almost maxed. I didn't want to hurt the gauge so I quit cranking. I think its safe to say my timing gears and cam are turning. Unfortunately I'm going out of town so its going to have to sit until I get back and start looking at the IP.

BTW- This one had the adapter for the GP holes. Going to look at getting a higher reading gauge later on.

rodent said:

Did a quick compression test. My gauge only goes to 300psi and after a few cranks it was almost maxed. I didn't want to hurt the gauge so I quit cranking. I think its safe to say my timing gears and cam are turning. Unfortunately I'm going out of town so its going to have to sit until I get back and start looking at the IP.

BTW- This one had the adapter for the GP holes. Going to look at getting a higher reading gauge later on.

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425psi is a good pressure, very good is close to 475, poor is 375 or lower. On the good 6.2 I do I see 475 alot, 6.5 I can see 500 sometimes. The next step up in gauge is probably going to be a 1000psi gauge.

FYI glow plug thread is an M10-1.0.

Sent from my SM-S920L using Tapatalk

Good info on compression. Thanks!

If it stopped running like someone threw a switch and it spins faster than normal when trying to start it, it is the Solenoid (pink wire connects to) has failed ... Scott O&O

The number 1 common failure with the db-2 pump is the quil shaft breaks insid ethe pump because something jams up. the shaft is relieved in a section so the shaft will break rather than taking out the timing gears. the #2problem is wear in the transfer pump ring, this could be a #1 problem if you ran jp-8 or diesel arctic in the truck, the ring wears and starts and wont ramp the pressure up for the delivery valves. this can be diagnosed by pouring some ice water on a hot pump than it will start again #3 is the shut off solenoid. just because its clicking doesn't mean the rack is traveling the full distance to allow fuel delivery this can be checked by removing the top and running the engine you will have to move the lever in the pump to shut it down,once the top is off you will see what I mean

Update:
After getting back from my trip I finally had some time to troubleshoot. I made sure the filter was fully bled. It looks like I'm getting some small air bubbles but it's hard to tell. It did finally start but only stayed running for 20 seconds them died.

I think at this time it's best to replace all the fuel lines and stock filter housing with a spin on filter since the stock housing cold be sucking air. I want to install some clear tubes temporily to see if air bubbles are present and maybe a permanent pressure gauge at the filter housing. If it still gives me problems then I'll be replacing IP.