Cold Start Problem - Leaking Fuel - Please Help

[Disciple]

The temps here in arctic Minnesota have been pretty brutal during the past week, barely getting up to 0 degrees F. Highs last week were -9 F many times. I didn't have a chance to get my block heater installed before the weather turned this season.

I have good batteries and new glow plugs which are working. I have a full tank of winter-blend diesel with Diesel Treat added. Even with my battery charger on I'm not able to start my truck. A few days ago I tried to start my truck (M1008, cycled the plugs, slow cranking even with the heavy duty battery charger pumping 60 amps into the front battery (I removed my resistor bank, glow plugs pull from front battery) with full throttle. After many attempts it finally fired and roared to life then quickly died. I noticed quite a bit of fuel leaking under the truck from somewhere in the engine bay. I tried again and it finally started but then I heard a bolt fall onto the driveway. One of the bolts for the starter had sheared off with the threads in the block.

I towed it to my dad's house and spent the next two days under the truck. I pulled the starter and got that working correctly then spent the rest of the time repairing leaks and tightening and cleaning things up. It started up fine and was running great. I thought I had fixed whatever the problem was but now it still won't start and is leaking fuel again from somewhere on the motor.

At first I thought it was simply flooded and was maybe leaking from one of the two drain hoses on the fuel filter housing, the housing around the filter seal is slightly wet. The IP and the motor valley under the air cleaner are wet. I can't see where the fuel is leaking from, but assume this has something to do with my starting problems. I saw today that it is not leaking from the drain hoses on the filter housing. It's coming from somewhere else. I assume from somewhere on the IP.

So, first off, is it possible to flood these motors? If so, is there some sort of relief valve that would be causing this leak?

I've never had problems with gelled fuel, but could that be my problem? What are the symptoms of gelled fuel? Does this sound like it could be gelled up in the filter or the IP, or both? Or do you guys think I have bigger problems somewhere?

Thanks!

 

[doghead]

Look closely at the throttle shaft and the fuel supply line under the intake manifold, for the leak.

 

[Miah]

1st off you need to sort the fuel leak completely. diesels must have a steady supply of fuel & no air in their system. leaking fuel means air can enter the system as well as the fuel can drain back into the tank & require cranking to pump it to the engine again.

 

[toyrunner95]

i had a similer problem. the first thing i would do is replace the firewall fuel filter with a housing that has a hand primer. this will save you hundreds in batteries. second put an inline check valve between the lift pump and the tank. this will stop back flow. the original lift pump is good but a replacement is known to have bad check valves. third take the out line off your firewall filter and connect it to an air compressor. NO MORE THAN 5 PSI. slowly pressurize the system and see where fuel leaks out. thats how i sourced my leaks. it is possible to have a cracked hard line if its that cold. the aluminium and steel lines do get on the brittle side espically if they are 25 years old.

 

[MakersTeleMark]

Another vote for the throttle shaft seal on the IP.

 

[donalloy1]

i had a similer problem. the first thing i would do is replace the firewall fuel filter with a housing that has a hand primer. this will save you hundreds in batteries. second put an inline check valve between the lift pump and the tank. this will stop back flow. the original lift pump is good but a replacement is known to have bad check valves. third take the out line off your firewall filter and connect it to an air compressor. NO MORE THAN 5 PSI. slowly pressurize the system and see where fuel leaks out. thats how i sourced my leaks. it is possible to have a cracked hard line if its that cold. the aluminium and steel lines do get on the brittle side espically if they are 25 years old.

toyrunner95, I think this is a problem that I have periodically? Have new IP and from time to time Cold Starting only. I need Crank for a while to get Fuel back where it is needed. Can you give us a specific Check Valve that you used to correct back flow to Tank. All help is appreciated. DMLII sends

 

[biggrizz51]

exsisve cranking will flood the motor and that fuel will leak past the pistons and end up in your oil. just a fyi. you should probably change your oil before you start driving it after its fixed