Hard Start when nearing empty

Nenw

Nenw

Well-Known Member
Over the last several months I've been running into the issue where when I'm nearing empty, let's say over 300km on a tank, and I go to start the van up it is like it won't be pulling enough fuel. It will take repeated turning over and sometimes pumping the pedal so when it does catch it injects a bunch of fuel. Then once its going, it will idle low, sometimes even die. If I press the accelerator say to 1000rpm, it will rev fine for a few seconds, then will pick up another 500rpm. Once I let off the accelerator its fine and idles at 750 steady as ever.

At first this started after I repaired the hole in the rear tank and replaced a few of the fuel hoses. Turned out they weren't quite tight and I was losing prime. The difference being it happened all the time. Now it's only when I am getting low on fuel.

If I am not mistaken fuel will draw from the rear tank first and then from the front tank. Am I correct about this? This would make sense why it is only affecting startup when low on fuel and would point to a leaky hose somewhere between tank one and tank two.

The pickup in the rear tank is clean, I made sure of this. Could be a dirty pickup in front however then it should affect fueling not just at startup.
This is not isolated to cold starts. It will happen sometimes after sitting for only 30minutes.

Thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Last edited:
Nenw said:
Over the last several months I've been running into the issue where when I'm nearing empty, let's say over 300km on a tank, and I go to start the van up it is like it won't be pulling enough fuel. It will take repeated turning over and sometimes pumping the pedal so when it does catch it injects a bunch of fuel. Then once its going, it will idle low, sometimes even die. If I press the accelerator say to 1000rpm, it will rev fine for a few seconds, then will pick up another 500rpm. Once I let off the accelerator its fine and idles at 750 steady as ever.

At first this started after I repaired the hole in the rear tank and replaced a few of the fuel hoses. Turned out they weren't quite tight and I was losing prime. The difference being it happened all the time. Now it's only when I am getting low on fuel.

If I am not mistaken fuel will draw from the rear tank first and then from the front tank. Am I correct about this? This would make sense why it is only affecting startup when low on fuel and would point to a leaky hose somewhere between tank one and tank two.

The pickup in the rear tank is clean, I made sure of this. Could be a dirty pickup in front however then it should affect fueling not just at startup.
This is not isolated to cold starts. It will happen sometimes after sitting for only 30minutes.

Thoughts would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
My guess is the connecting line between the two tanks. Normally, both tanks are consumed simultaneously and that interconnect line acts as a siphon. If that interconnect line looses it's siphon you will be running off the rear tank only... but your fuel qtty gauge will still be showing the total of both tanks. If either tank actually gets too low the low fuel light should illuminate. The lower the fuel levels are, the harder it is for it to siphon over, causing it to pull in more air (?)... best guess...

BTW, pumping the pedal during start doesn't do anything on a diesel... just press and hold.
 
Last edited:
I just ordered some new metric, diesel rated hoses yesterday. Who knows why exactly it started but it could be due to the fractional hoses i stuck on there. As I mentioned one of the hoses wasn’t quite fitting snug enough and was seeping diesel out the end of it.

sk66, when you say the connecting lines, are you referring to the ones on top going into the pickup? And noted on pumping vs pressing and holding that pedal.
 
ccmickelson said:
How far down should I hold the pedal on cold startup? I've never understood this...
Click to expand...
The owner's manual says to depress it fully; but I don't. IME holding the pedal down will get it to a stable idle quicker; but with a ton of smoke/soot. It also seems like more cold fuel causes the GP's to cool off very quickly and it benefits from using my manual bypass sw more.
 
I’ll go about half way down but as soon as it starts I’ll back off to 1000rpms and hold it there until it warms up and starts to rev higher.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top