HELP!!!! stuck in albany ny

zubzub · July 24, 2011, 04:27:42 PM

FWIW I have seen a few pics of '04s and '06s for sale with a hose suspended along the side from the fuel tank to the engine bay. A kind of get it home fix. If I wanted to trouble shoot the fuel line I might do the same, sacrifice a garden hose, stick it down the fuel fill hole, and run it to the back, you would need to prime it, and sad as it is to say, I know for a fact that sucking on a diesel hose is not as nasty as sucking on a gas hose. That being said , you should get a prime pump as covered here all over the place....you can plumb it in in various configs and get fuel to the FP and on to the secondary filter. BTW the fuel line can collapse inwards with age, or the pick up can become to blocked to allow fuel through, or other scenarios. All this has befallen many other busnuts, and may have befallen you. Hey while we are talking prime, your bypass electric prime pump when plumbed in should help diagnose a blocked fuel supply.

desi arnaz · July 24, 2011, 05:07:56 PM

on the spline is there a shear pin? that may of sheared? also where are the flappers? seems i have hit the button but it never did anything. i will spend the day in the impound yard tomorrow.
i really wish the rear start was still functional, i think when gem did the rebuilds they just cut the wires.

zubzub · July 24, 2011, 05:44:27 PM

Not too hard to find the starter relay in the back panel and you can then wire a temp switch or whatever to start.

luvrbus · July 24, 2011, 05:50:43 PM

No shear pin the pump has a small square shaft that slides into the drive yoke the blower turns doesn't sound like you lost the blower drive or the pump drive probably just debris build up inside a fitting has stopped the fuel pickup remove and inspect the check valve for debris

good luck

desi arnaz · July 24, 2011, 06:19:14 PM

i see the check valve on sec 12 page 1 but i have no idea if i have one installed.
that was another one of my thoughts. i will also stick a camera down the filler tube to try and get a look at the pick up....b.t.w what color should my fuel be? seems i have green in there now but i always thought it should be clear?

luvrbus · July 24, 2011, 06:32:34 PM

Green color is fine for fuel most all the new fuel is a green tint now

good luck

BUR · July 24, 2011, 09:56:20 PM

I had a similar problem last year in Wyoming, What we found was a chunk of rubber, probably from inside a fuel line, in the bypass valve holding it open. Cleaned it up and it has worked great ever since. (replaced the fuel lines) Wilbur

pvcces · July 24, 2011, 10:52:11 PM

The flappers are inside the air horn, the casting on top of the blower. Since you have no smoke when cranking, they are not the problem.

Concentrate on why there is no fuel to the injectors, including making sure that the governor stop lever is in the run position when cranking.

Good luck.

Tom Caffrey

Busted Knuckle · July 25, 2011, 01:01:56 AM

I know you say you should have plenty of fuel. But the first thing I'd do is add 15-20 gallons & see what happens. That would narrow it down real fast.

desi arnaz · July 25, 2011, 04:02:28 AM

where is the governor stop lever?? also i have 100 gallons of fuel on board, i had just done a fill up at smokin joes 200 miles before.

rampeyboy · July 25, 2011, 05:07:45 AM

the fill up assumes no leaks....that being said, I would run a fuel hose along from the filler neck to the filters, and prime it. Bet it starts. You can then drive it home and finish the repairs at home?

Boyce

ps I feel your pain trying to have a nice time with the family, and things going bad. Been there done that multiple times!

Barn Owl · July 25, 2011, 06:37:34 AM

It would be worth it to put new filters in even if you don't think you have a problem with them. Process of elimination when you are not sure where to start, and your troubleshooting time is worth more than a filter change. When I fulled three weeks ago at the Seneca reservation in New York ($3.61 gal) I noticed shortly after that my fuel pressure dropped. Not enough to make me change the filters, but it did make me think I got some dirty fuel. The previous owner installed a pressure gauge on the fuel line so he could tell when to change the filters.

thomasinnv · July 25, 2011, 07:43:38 AM

Another possibility is that if your fuel level was way down when you filled it up, you may have disturbed some junk in the bottom of the tank which got sucked up and created a clog. As stated before, change the filters and add some fuel. Probably the least expensive and easiest place to start. Fuel pump is way way down on the list of probable causes. If a filter change and adding some fuel doesn't get results, then do like others said and run a test line from the filler neck.

For those in the know, is there usually a screen on the pickup tube like on gasoline vehicles, or is it open?

loosenut · July 25, 2011, 09:16:56 AM

My mysterious losing power then cranking without starting was electrical. The front to back switch in the engine compartment was failing causing a loss of power as it intermittently worked. The crank and not start happened when the switch failed. Easy test is to change switch from front to back and see if you start up.

Mike

jjrbus · July 25, 2011, 09:36:24 AM

There may have been a screen when it was new! Over the years who knows what happened? My MCI had a functioning back flow/check? valve on the pickup tube in the tank.

Because of check valve if you want to pressure test the line, unhook at the tank and test. Also only use light air pressure 10 lbs or less for test. JIm