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1996 6.5 troubles

Just got home from a 30 hour plow shift.

Yesterday when it looked like we were going to get a pushable amount of snow I went out and tried to start her up and thought (no I didn't really think it would magically fix itself) that if I let it idle for a while it might do...SOMETHING to the fuel system.

I don't know what I thought would happen by letting it idle. I just wanted to see how long it would run for I guess. Well, the sonofabitch ran for 1.5 hours, just sitting there idling smooth as anything.

She didn't skip, sputter or buck one bit, no I didn't actually sit in it the entire time but I did spend probably at least 30 minutes of that time sitting in the drivers seat.

So anyway I thought "what the heck, I'll see how she does on the road"

I got MAYBE a fifth of a mile down the road and it bogged for a second and died out immediately.

I got her going again and turned around in a driveway and she died again, it took me 4 restarts to get home (a fifth of a mile tops mind you). It would take two cycles of cranking and heavy pedal pumping to get her going and she'd only run for a few seconds before bogging and dying.

I noticed I can't hear the fuel pump running anymore when the key is in the on position, and the other day I put the key in the on position and opened the T valve and only a tiny squirt of fuel poured out.

Still haven't had time to find the return line on the injector pump, or the pump itself. And I don't know how in the world to get the tops of the tanks open so I can clean the socks.

Had to borrow a friends plow truck to get my accounts done and there is more snow coming on Wednesday.
 
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With yours being a 96 OBD-II the lift pump should run with key on, run the diagnostics in the sticky I sent earlier, jumpered to run the lift should purr, yours being dual tank are you sure the changeover valve is shifting fully and you are getting fuel ? If running diagnostic checks isn't showing fuel then only sure way to know if tank sock is plugged is to drop tank, or maybe remove bed and access from above whichever is an easier proposition for you.

You are in snow country, so another possibility is rotted fuel lines letting in air, them road salt chemicals ain't too kind.
 
he did mention it had a dump box, so hopefully there is enough room around the framework of the box to get to the front tank with the box safety propped up.

good luck!
 
Well I couldn't get it going. I couldn't get into the tanks to try cleaning the socks. Everything is just so much harder since I'm not a mechanic and I'm afraid of screwing the truck up worse. So I was finally able to get into a local diesel shop this morning, hopefully I won't need a new IP. But even if I do they said a new one installed will be about $1500, which is still better than the "at least" $2000 the dealer quoted me. I'll be sure to post what the problem was once they get it figured out. They're calling for heavy snow for my area at the end of the week so everybody wish me luck on getting this sob fixed and back to me by Friday morning! Thanks again for all the suggestions.
 
Its been confirmed, it is the IP. The codes were for the IP, they tried hooking up a different pmd and it had no effect. Said they can have it done by tomorrow or Thursday at the latest.

Sorry to all you travelers but now I hope it snows like hell to help me pay for this expensive repair.
 
manlystanly said:
Its been confirmed, it is the IP. The codes were for the IP, they tried hooking up a different pmd and it had no effect. Said they can have it done by tomorrow or Thursday at the latest.

Sorry to all you travelers but now I hope it snows like hell to help me pay for this expensive repair.
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OOOHHHH NO, They (any diesel repair shop) always say the pump......especially on a 6.5, nobody knows how to diagnose and repair them.....Unless their 6.5 specialists!

Can you pull it out or did they start the job already.....your better off HERE for diagnosis and get a wrench turner buddy for the nuts and bolts.....Maybe even a member here can hook up with you.

btfarm and jrsavoie are already asking where you are located!
 
sorry to say, but "the pump is bad" is an all too common, and all too commonly wrong, diagnosis for the 6.5L. This is a weird engine that isnt hard to work on, but is different to work on, and a lot of shops dont understand different. If it is too late to pull the truck out of the shop, at least see if you can keep the pump, I doubt it is actually bad. For that matter, keep everything they take off.

do you have a buddy that is good at turning wrenches? If so, I would try and enlist them to help out on the project.

I hope that all goes well, good luck!
 
Yeah I talked to jrsavoie through pm, he's a good distance away from me. The shop hasn't started repairs yet but they did order the part and since I told them to go ahead with the repair they could possibly still try to charge me for that much.

I get the vibe that the shop I went to isn't into intensive research or trouble shooting. I'm sure they took the same approach to diagnosis as the dealer did but at least they are much much cheaper. I would love to be able to get together with a couple friends and a guy that knows these motors and get to the bottom of this problem but that just isn't an option for me. This truck must be operable in two days, no way around it.

By the way, I bought a new ops for it when I put the new lift pump on, I never did actually put the new ops on though. I called the shop this morning to see if they'd throw it on for me and they said sure but they couldn't tell me a price because they had no idea how long it would take them...
 
By the way, I bought a new ops for it when I put the new lift pump on, I never did actually put the new ops on though. I called the shop this morning to see if they'd throw it on for me and they said sure but they couldn't tell me a price because they had no idea how long it would take them...
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Please don't take this personally, but they saw you coming. And if they can't give you a price on the ops than they have no buisness working on your truck.

You can do it yourself in 1/2 hr. BTW you should only do one thing at a time to eliminate the original problem. If you do both at the same time you won't know for sure which part actually fixed the problem. That way if they do the pump and you still have the problem you don't have to pay for their mis-diagnosis. As a tech of over 20 years we all make mistakes because all vehicles are different and have their own issues. The key here is to keep them honest and keep as much of your hard earned money in your pocket

Be blessed and have a safe and happy CHRISTMAS.
 
Have you checked the grounds yet???? The two biggest ones I have had trouble with are:
1 on the passenger side head/ intake near the firewall
2 undernieth the turbo on the frame rail.
These being bad will through all kinds of codes and chugs and stalls, etc.

How old is the filter?
 
No offense taken, I am the first to admit that this is an subject where I am nearly as ignorant as a toddler. I was a little taken aback when the guy said "I don't have any idea how long it will take", but I will say that he probably said that because he isn't the diesel mechanic, he just makes appointments. I think when he said this it was more an indication of a lack of professionalism than it was them trying to shaft me.
 
I just hate to see you throw money out the window.

I for one am thankful for the help here because I was no diesel mech. and the people here saved me a ton of money on mis-diagnosis and unwarranted repairs and just want to pass along the good will and do unto you that was done unto me.

Listen to 625 above if the problem persists, after you drop $1500.00 those twenty dollar ground straps will be a drop in the bucket.

I have stalling and cut out issues also and checked my grounds and they are so corroded that I need to replace them.
Grounds are important and cause more mis-diagnosis than any other factor,and that goes for all computer controlled vehicles.

People here are trying to save others the pain they went through when wet behind the ears and that's what makes this site the best.
 
OOOHHHH NO, They (any diesel repair shop) always say the pump......especially on a 6.5, nobody knows how to diagnose and repair them.....Unless their 6.5 specialists!

Can you pull it out or did they start the job already.....your better off HERE for diagnosis and get a wrench turner buddy for the nuts and bolts.....Maybe even a member here can hook up with you.

btfarm and jrsavoie are already asking where you are located!
Click to expand...





I know it's hard to trust a bunch of strangers behind a computer screen.....but you really won't get any better advise/diagnostic info from any "Place" else.....(No pun intended):hihi:

If you can swing it.....get your rig out of there, get a wrench turner buddy and log back into "Thetruckstop.com"......Best bunch of guys and Missy on any forum!
 
I'm too far from Springfield (and so are the others up here) to just run over and jump on it or I would... but like Louis said, there are a whole bunch of guys here that could talk you right through this. Unfortunately, though, I'm still in 6.5 gradeschool...;)
 
You guys have all been great, and thanks to GM Guy for suggesting I visit the forum. As I said, this truck must be ready to push snow by tomorrow night/Friday morning, so this time around I'll have to bite the bullet and hope that the repairs the shop makes are worth the cost and get me going.
After all I've been through with this truck I'm worried that after they fix the IP it'll be something else I have to replace. I still need to figure out why the truck only draws off the front tank so I'll be turning to you guys after I get her back and (hopefully) a good looooong plow shift in over the next few days.

By the way, is this a good site to sell trucks on? I think I may just try to sell it for what I've got in it after its fixed.
 
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