Died and wont start back?

Cummins Driver

Cummins Driver

THE Cummins Driver
A boy brought me his 1st gen to work on yesterday. I havent had a chance to look at it yet, but he says it just died and wont start back. He said it was spraying fuel out of the injection lines, but im not sure how much since i havent looked at it yet.

Are there any electronics on the VE pump that could cause it not to run? My buddy had one and it would blow a fuse every now and then and kill the engine. I saw 2 connections on the VE pump. Are these supposed to be both just 12 volt hot with the key on?

I figure it may be either the lift pump or something with the injection pump.

Thanks for any help.

Eric
 
The important connection on the VE pump is the one on the top rear section; that's the fuel shut-off solenoid and the far-and-away most popular cause for no-starts. That's the only electrical issue that'd cause a crank-and-no-start. The solenoid needs a nominal 12 volts to run. Even with it totally unplugged you can still see fuel at the lines when you crank the engine, but it won't run.

That's the most likely cause of a stall-and-no-start, because it covers both symptoms. Alternatively it could've gotten a big dose of air from a suction-side air leak, or the fuel system could've gotten restricted in a hurry.
 
Thanks. I will check it out here in a minute. Im thinking that must be the problem, but ill have to see. Thanks again.

Eric
 
Alright, I went out and messed with it some.

I wiggled the 2 connections on the shutoff solenoid before i did anything, and then i cranked it over and got it running. It seemed to be running just fine, but then i started revving it some and at certain spots with the throttle, It would try to die until I let off of it again. Sometimes it would try to die at idle too. Sometimes it would just fight itself the whole time it was trying to run. Then sometimes it would run perfect.

So i got to messing around and i saw that the shutoff solenoid had an ever so slight amount of smoke coming out of it. I got my flashlight, and put it up close and i accidentally grounded out one of the pins on the shutoff solenoid and the truck cut out just like it does when its not running right.

That got me to thinking it could be a wire grounding out on something. Most likely the throttle arm(s) somewhere since it died with throttle most of the time. So I felt around and couldnt really find any bare spots, but i pushed the wires back away from the throttle stuff and it seems to be running perfect now.

So, Im pretty sure its only a problem with the wires grounding out somewhere.

What about the shutoff solenoid smoking though? Im guessing it was probably from where it kept getting ground out, but im not sure if the solenoid could be bad too, or what?

Eric
 
Sounds like a "bad" solenoid. It grounds through the case, I can't see that being an unwanted resistance; if it's smoking it's probably a coil overheating and phasing in and out.

As long as you shop for a pre-'98 VW, the solenoid should only cost $40.
 
I think the solenoid must be bad then.

It will fire right up when its cold, but as soon as you shut it off after running it for a minute, it wont start right back. If you wait a couple of minutes though, it will fire right back up. I think its getting hot and then wont work until it cools back off some.

How hard is it to install a new solenoid?

Eric
 
You need a 24 mm open-end wrench.

There's a plate on the back of the injection pump that goes around the six delivery valves/ injection lines; there's a tab on the plate that sticks up and prevents you from getting the wrench onto the solenoid. You need to let the plate rotate out of the way by taking out two either Allen or Torx-head bolts, then loosening a third one.

After that plate rotates out of the way you can thread the solenoid out with a wrench.

Don't let any debris fall into the hole; from that hole, fuel goes directly into the microfinished pumping element.
 
Cummins Driver said:
I think the solenoid must be bad then.

It will fire right up when its cold, but as soon as you shut it off after running it for a minute, it wont start right back. If you wait a couple of minutes though, it will fire right back up. I think its getting hot and then wont work until it cools back off some.

How hard is it to install a new solenoid?

Eric
Click to expand...

That sorta sounds like a tired VE. Try dumping a gallon of cold water on it after it's been running and then try starting it again.
 
Well, i may lean that way myself, but i messed with it some more today, and im pretty sure that its the solenoid.

It was smoking quite a bit for the minute i had it running today, and then it died, so im pretty sure the solenoid is just shot because the trucks runs perfect when its running.

Ill keep you guys updated, and thanks again for the help.

Eric
 
Well, I got the thing in today, and she is running great again!

Fires right up and shuts right off now. It sure was a pain to get the old solenoid out, but the new one went right in, and is working great. He is coming to get it tonight, so im sure he will be happy.

Cant beat $14 shipped for a solenoid. Thats cheaper than a pull cable.

Thanks for the help guys, i appreciate it!

Eric
 
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