I've got a 1999 western star that has been sitting for 5 years. ran great when parked but now cant get it to run for the life of me. will turn over all day fine and busts off on either but won't run on its own. I've changed the battery's both filters hand primer and checked fuses any help is greatly appreciated. I'm just about bald after 3 weeks of messing with this thing and pulling my hair out. also please be kind im new to diesels but very handy on gas engines.
welcome to the forums Someone will be along with some questions for you. I don't know enough to be helpful on the subject.
5 year old fuel? What did the fuel look like? Is the check engine light on? Can you retrieve any flash codes? How about vermin damage, any chance the harness has been devoured? Did you remove the air cleaners, any bee or birds nest? There should be 2 10 amp fuses, either at the batteries or at the starter connections, how are they? These are the most basic checks. Good luck
You need to make sure it has fuel pressure while cranking. A guage on the pressure tap on the fuel filter housing is the best way to check that but if you pump the hand primer while cranking and it gets really hard to pump that is good, if it doesn't that is bad. Does the hand primer get real firm and do you hear a little squeak when pumping it without cranking? There is a pressure regulator valve that could be stuck open if not. Usually the only thing that keeps those from firing up in my experience is the ecm has lost power or ground (or failed but that is very rare), low fuel pressure that can be caused by a few things, or a failed crank sensor if it is the version of motor that only has one. Does the tach move while cranking? Those are a few basics anyway. If you post the serial number of the motor someone can tell you which pins at the ecm are power and which are ground, there are a few of each.
To retrieve flash codes turn the key on, turn the cruise control on/off switch off and hold the set/resume switch up for a few seconds and watch the check engine light. They are 2 digit flash codes and if there are a few it takes a minute to cycle through so it might take a few times through them to make sure you have them right. A 55 code is "all clear, no codes".
A couple things come to mind for me, as mentioned the ECM fuse, fuel pressure and related fuel system issues. Sitting 5 years and not knowing what shape it was in before it was parked I wonder if you don’t have injector o-rings that are dried up/junk and/or injectors that are shot from sitting with nasty fuel/oil in them. I’ve had some come out that looked like they sat on the bottom of the ocean. Might not hurt to pop a valve cover and see what things look like under there once you exhausted all the external issues. I’m leaning toward a critter getting into the wiring.
primer pump gets hard just sitting and while turning over can also hear a squeal or fuel going into the tank check engine lights don't cut on I'm starting to think a wire is broken or a mouse chewed it somewhere ill have to trace it all out also tac moves but goes from zero and drops down below zero also any way to test the cam/crank sensors with a volt meter or something
I think those are hall effect sensors iirc, measuring with ohmmeter kills them. You need to measure frequency coming out. It's been forever, maybe someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
A handy tool to have in cases like this is a Cat Harness Bypass P/N 129-2018. Code for Engine Speed/Timing Signal-{190-02}.
where could i find one of those at ?
i havent located any broken wires found a 20 amp fuse behind the ignition that was busted up swaped it still no start got underneath looking for and broken corroded or any wires hanging chewed etc and discovered the starter is extremely loose other than that nothing interesting for now ill keep yall updated and keep searching
sorry for all the posts i believe the cam sensor has power and is working the tac moves when turning over fluctuates a 1 or 200 rpms when turn over also have power at the plug im at a loss on it
Tach is driven off flywheel speed sensor. Engine position should be on bottom of cam gear housing. Should have 4 wires going to it. Additionally, Engine speed sensor for engine should be on front of flywheel housing close to engine block, opposite starter. Sometimes, again , it's been forever, i think you could remove the cam sensor, pull the little blue probe out a little and stick it back in. Don't take that for gospel, its been 20 years.
The check engine and stop engine lights should both come on when the key is turned on, if neither do and they are not burned out it sounds like there may not be communication between ecm and cab. I believe there should be 3 positive pins at the ecm, 2 are battery voltage and 1 is keyed voltage. The fuse for that may be in the fuse box and I believe the one that will cause those lights to not come on. If you can post the serial number I might be able to give you the pins to check at the ecm if you are not sure. If everything is grounded through the starter that can cause problems as well.
An engine Serial Number gets you an electrical schematic that should help you in tracing wiring.
ill have to grab the vin tomorrow after work there are alot of grounds on the starter ill have to find a socket to fit the starter bolts never delt with any of this desighn also i havent seen the check engine lights on yet it i believe someone cut the wires for the pins behind the dash the data error light came on when i removed a fuse but the starter being loose and not grounding everything off sounds like a good place to start i will give a update tomorrow if i can find a socket to fit that star looking bolt
also thank yall for the patience and info also sorry for sounding goofy about the bolt been a long day at work a 5/8 12 point socket will work on that bolt ill tighten it up tomarow if if iv got one
The truck VIN is not going to help much here. Need the Cat engine serial number that should be on the rocker box cover. I know the older 3406's also had ESN stamped in the block on R/H side inline with the camshaft
ill grab the engine vin than and look for that stamp
According to my cat schematic pin 35 tps +, pin 6 battery + key switch, pin 4 + unswitched. This truck didn't have Cat ID theft deterrent possibly?
no clue on the anti theft
well now its acting like it has dead battery's but they are charged so the search goes on for burnt wires 1 jumper wire on the batterys gets really hot iv changed it out and only the wire connected on those 2 batterys stays hot even if i switch the wires out
Heat equals resistance to current flow. How are the ground cables ran? To starter or frame? How is the cab grounded? There should be a 10 ga cable from the negative starter post to the frame and from the frame to the cab. It's critical to verify all grounds are clean and tight especially on machine that sat so long. Plenty of time for galvanic corrosion between cable and aluminum cab.
Still waiting for an engine Serial Number. From your post above it sounds as though you are in need of a schematic more than ever.
the engine is a 2ws also ground goes from one side of the battery's right to the frame behind them then the other on the other side goes to the starter and the starter has grounds going to the frame and else where
i think iv got it down to a fuel issue it keeps draining the fuel from the water/seperator so if im thinking right iv got a air leak on the sucktion side the primary side will build pressure but not enought to crank up
Might try running it from a bucket so you can see if it does leak back. I've plumed in a temporary fuel primer before with a cheap electric fuel pump into the fuel filter and let it clack till you have fuel going out the return. Should fire right up at least for a minute like that..
ill have to try that iv got some cheap hose i can put onto the fuel filter fitting then stick that into a bucket
does anyone know the torqe specs for the fuel transfer pump im looking for the info on the multiple small bolts in the rear of the pump