Help: L400 loses Power, Dies and Starts Back Up Again

DocWong

DocWong

Active Member
So this is a really weird intermittent but consistent problem.

My 94 L400 usually runs just fine.

However, every once in a while at the beginning of a drive, Delica just loses power and dies. I pull over the side of the road wait about a minute crank her back up and with a little bit of cranking starts back up. Then she runs fine.

It dies after maybe a couple of minutes after start up.

Does anyone have an idea of where I should be looking to troubleshoot this?

My Delica has about 70,000 miles on it, and at about 60,000 miles all routes were changed including the fuel filter. At least that’s what I was told from the dealer I bought it from.

I’ve even taken her on a long trip say a 4-5 hour ride into Snow country where this happened in the morning and then ran fine afterwards
 
I would wonder if the injection pump fuel cut solenoid and wiring could create the issue? How cold is the engine when this happens?
 
DustAngel said:
I would wonder if the injection pump fuel cut solenoid and wiring could create the issue? How cold is the engine when this happens?
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Engine is warmed up anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes, and the breakdown occurs within five minutes of taking off. But this just occurs maybe one out of 5 to 10 starts.
 
Does the van run rough before this happens? I am trying to figure out if this is happening because fuel is not warm enough or if there is something electrical going on. There is not much electrical, so wondering if you try warming van up for longer would help. What is ambient outdoor temperature when happening?
 
DustAngel said:
Does the van run rough before this happens? I am trying to figure out if this is happening because fuel is not warm enough or if there is something electrical going on. There is not much electrical, so wondering if you try warming van up for longer would help. What is ambient outdoor temperature when happening?
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No it just loses power for about 30 seconds and dies while driving. Outdoor temps have been in the 60s but the same thing happened in the snow. But ran and started up fine the day before in the snow.
 
DocWong said:
So this is a really weird intermittent but consistent problem.

My 94 L400 usually runs just fine.

However, every once in a while at the beginning of a drive, Delica just loses power and dies. I pull over the side of the road wait about a minute crank her back up and with a little bit of cranking starts back up. Then she runs fine.

It dies after maybe a couple of minutes after start up.

Does anyone have an idea of where I should be looking to troubleshoot this?

My Delica has about 70,000 miles on it, and at about 60,000 miles all routes were changed including the fuel filter. At least that’s what I was told from the dealer I bought it from.

I’ve even taken her on a long trip say a 4-5 hour ride into Snow country where this happened in the morning and then ran fine afterwards
Click to expand...
I think you need fuel delivery service including injection pump, iP main or fuel filter body assy.
 
If this is only after sitting for awhile (overnight or longer) than it is probably air getting into the system. Possibly from the front seal of the pump or the filter assembly. The fuel filter is the highest point, may want to try and bleed it after it sits for a day or two and see if you get air out of it.
 
Awesome, great suggestion, I'll bleed the fuel filter and see how it goes. Yes it only happens after it sits for a bit. Very intermittent though.
 
DocWong said:
Awesome, great suggestion, I'll bleed the fuel filter and see how it goes. Yes it only happens after it sits for a bit. Very intermittent though.
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Is it worse if you park on an incline with the front up? Or better with the front down?
 
It would be most interesting to see if there is air in the return line after the van sits for a day or two. Perhaps you can replace the return line rubber hose with a temporary clear vinyl hose to observe air in system. Did you notice anything in the fuel filter when you bled it?
 
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately I did not replace the fuel filter, the dealer said he did.
 
Seems like an easy test would be to push down on the fuel filter primer and see if it's easy after it's been parked. On mine, it'll move maybe 1/8" once, then it's solid.
 
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