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6.5 turbo, starts and quits, but read this---very BIZARRE

K

kgw51gmc

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Point Marion, PA
I just bought (last week) 1997 Chevy 3500, 4x2, 5 speed, flatbed with 259K miles. Truck looks GREAT, frame is good, test drove it and not much power but sounds good/runs good etc. Drove it 70 miles home at 70MPH. Ran fine. Filled 'er up with fuel and found the tank has a leak in it at about 2/3 full. The guy I bought it from claimed, "truck needs nothing, good truck", and then when I found leak in tank "I didn't know about that..." He also said he owned it 2 yrs, but the title shows (i just noticed) 1 yr of ownership.

SO, drove it 70 miles home and parked it with a leaking tank. Plan to replace tank. Okay. We'll then I figured out non of the cab lights and rear running lights work (probably a ground), and prev. owner said he didn't know that either.

Went to drive it to our farm from the house the other day and it started right up like normal, ran it 1/4 mile and it quit. Shut off, dead in water. No noises, no smoke, ran perfect, then quit.

Towed it home with tacoma. Next morning, FIRED right up, PERFECT. Ran perfect for 4 minutes then shut off, and then would not even try to fire. Batteries good, crank-crank-crank.....no running.

ONE time per day it will start and die within 4-5 minutes............and then will NOT start back.

Accurate diesel website said to pour cold water on the Pump Driver Module to cool it off and try to restart, didn't work. Everyone blames PMD.

I can hear lift pump working. Took fuel filter off near firewall and watched it fill up with fuel from lift pump after I drained with the brass t-handle at front of engine. I ran engine with T-handle open too a few times.

It acts like the key is shutting off, no sputtering, no anything wrong, just turns off..........

Could PMD have been rigged to make it home when I bought it last week, only to die within 24 hrs????? The seller was a cheat/liar, but how could this drive around 70 miles and then be dead the next day?

Lift pump works, I ran it iwth fuel cap off (My chainsaw once stalled within 5 minutes and it was fuel cap so........), has 2/3 tank fo fuel in it. Glow plugs work great, started up in cold the other day.

ANY IDEAS!? :mad2:
 
CHECK GROUNDS! Clean/replace all of them, thats cheap and fairly easy.

Then the tank sock is a possibility, if the tank has a hole rotted in it I would think it would be possible to have rust/junk in the tank.
 
PMD relocation kit just because, and I don't know much about Diesel trucks anyway, if the tank has a rust hole in it then the tank filter or "sock" is probably clogged with rust and crap like mine was. I would guess the filter in the fuel manager is clogged as well. How bad were you beat up by this "gentleman"? Paid 3200 for my 3500
 
Well there IS a reason the PMD's got the bad reputation and that is because they deserve it. Carry a spare PMD is good advice.

By the book, the first thing you need to do is check for air. Then by this site's experience is clean grounds. Specifically the ground by the trans oil dipstick for the ECM. Checking it taking them apart and cleaning them no matter what they look like. You appear to already have ground issues from the lights. Adding a big 3 ground wire kit always is a good idea and sometimes solves problems.

Checking for air is a clear 1/4" line from the top of the IP to the fuel return rail and look for bubbles. Air from a kinked line, plugged sock, pinhole in the fuel pickup, etc, will stop the engine quick. Run the engine out of a 5 gal can to quickly rule the tank as the issue or not.

Pull the codes out of the computer. It may or may not help with air or ground issues.
 
PMD, grounds and fuel delivery are what these trucks are about. You put in the fixes for them all and you have a reliable truck for cheap.
Carry a know good spare PMD (x2 WW).
Bad grounds on itake will cause engine to shut off, like you turned the key off (x2 Tanner).
Tank sock is a PITA and if cloged will stave IP of fuel and shut engine down or atleast run poorly (x2 Drago). Since you need to r&r tank it would be a good time to trash the sock and install a pre LP filter.
 
Hot wire the lift pump - the little plug on a red wire in the harness behind fuse box and under power brake booster - so you get sure your lift pump is well powered.

Once it stall, try to wiggle the harness under the steering column, that's the one which contains ignition switch. Try to restart then.
Not so common as PMD failure, but not rare
 
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