LBZ: Ran out of fuel

[06_6.6]

Well, i guess it had to happen once. Not sure how i did, but i ran out of fuel. The dic has been super accurate in reading the level of fuel used until this superchips i put on it apparently. Anyways, waiting on 5 gallons of diesel so i can prime it up via fuel filter assembly but i was wondering if there's anything i should do to help prevent air in the lines. Do i need to run some diesel 911 in it? Truck has 356000 miles on it and dont want to risk any injector or pump problems.

Sent from the drivers seat of an 06 dmax

 

[Hot COCOAL]

if you dont have a lift pump, you will have to prime it, air may be an enevitibility, but you can take the filter off and pur diesel into it to try and help, you can also crack a fuel line(furtherst from the filter) and pump the primer to try and pjush the air out, but im not sure that is necessary, also if someone is with you, pump the primer while they turn the ignition, i have never ran out of fuel on a dmax, and i have a lift pump so it does the work for me anyways, but this is the steps i do if i run a piece of equipment out in the feild

good luck

 

[jraymer]

crack the bleeder and pump the piss out of it till fuel comes out. I see no need to crack a fuel line.

 

[06_6.6]

It's primed with 5 gallons in the tank and still just cranks. I had a duperchips tuner and reset to stock just in case and still nothing

Sent from the drivers seat of an 06 dmax

 

[slipclutchms]

They can be a real bitch to prime when you run out..... Best bet is to pressurize the fuel tank somehow.... Take an old fuel cap and thread a Schrader valve into it or something. Or use just compressed air and a rag with the bleeder open to get fuel up there..... Sometimes even if you have fuel coming out the bleeder valve when just hand pumping after running it dry there can still be air there.
Good luck

 

[Kspen90]

Pump the primer til the button gets hard then wait 30 seconds and repeat and it should fire right up. I've put a new fuel filter on before and forgot to prime it and after it died I primed it and it fired right up. Have you ever rebuilt the fuel filter head? It may be pulling air into the system.

 

[ikeG]

Ive had to crank em for minutes on end too after priming twice.

just when you think there is no hope and batteries are getting pretty drained, it lights.

 

[06_6.6]

Just changed filter 3k ago. Fuel came out if the bleeder but it still doesnt wanna start.

Sent from the drivers seat of an 06 dmax

 

[04D_MAX]

air locked maybe?

 

[paint94979]

Keep trying

 

[blk smoke lb7]

Not sure if it helps or not but it seams to me that if i press the pedal down after i start cranking it seams to bleed the air faster.I know its like im trying to start something with a carb but ive done alot of them and it seams to help.Otherwise keep hitting the primer till it gets hard.Your going to be pumping for a long time but it will prime the lines.

 

[06_6.6]

Finally got it to light. My gf cranked it while i hit the primer button and it took the 2nd crank. Ran a little lopey but runs fine for now. Now to fix this damn fuel gauge. Thanks for the advice everybody.

Sent from the drivers seat of an 06 dmax

 

[DAVe3283]

I've run my truck out of fuel 6-8 times now. Turns out there was a piece of paper (!!) in the tank that kept sucking up onto the pickup and blocking it...

Anyway, just crack the bleeder screw and pump until clear diesel (no bubbles) comes out. You will probably dump a bunch of diesel out before the bubbles go away. Then, close the bleeder, pump until hard, and crank it for 30 seconds. If it doesn't start (it probably won't), pump it up again, and repeat. It can take 2-3 minutes to start.

Like others said, you will think your batteries are going to give out. Just stay with it.

you can also crack a fuel line(furtherst from the filter) and pump the primer to try and pjush the air out

DON'T do this. There is absolutely no need to loosen an injector line. The primer is incapable of pushing fuel through the CP3 to the high side, and with the pressures they run at, a loosened injector line can be trouble (and fatal, if you get your hand near it while running).

Not sure if it helps or not but it seams to me that if i press the pedal down after i start cranking it seams to bleed the air faster.I know its like im trying to start something with a carb but ive done alot of them and it seams to help.

This does nothing at all (on a LB7, at least). Look in the tune, and you will see a cranking fuel quantity. That is what will be injected while cranking, regardless of pedal position.

I thought it may override that table if your floored it, so one time when I ran out, I floored it while cranking, and kept it on the mat when it caught. It simply sat there and idled, totally ignoring the fact that I had the throttle floored. In fact, it did not respond to any throttle input until I fully released the throttle back to idle, then gave it gas again.

 

[06_6.6]

I put 4.5 gallons in before priming, 22 at the pump after i filled up. Dic showed i only used 20 gallons, low fuel light came on at ~13 gallons instead of 16. Seems my chip has messed with my dic or i reset the fuel used at the wrong time

Sent from the drivers seat of an 06 dmax

 

[blk smoke lb7]

I have seen a cracked dip tube at 1/4 tank before and the truck runs out of fuel

 

[06_6.6]

Dip tube? Still a fng to the diesel business

Sent from the drivers seat of an 06 dmax

 

[blk smoke lb7]

Thats the tube on the sending unit that goes to the bottom of the tank also called the draw straw among others.You have to drop the tank and pull the sending unit.Id throw a 5 gallon can of diesel in the back and start testing to see if your running out before the tank is empty.

 

[DAVe3283]

I thought my dip tube was cracked, and bought a new sending unit to replace it. When I was in there, I found the paper blocking the pickup on the bottom, so it would die when the tank got low. Tube may have been cracked too, so I just put the whole new sender in anyway. The tube was really stiff/brittle, and discolored.

I do recommend keeping some spare fuel in the back, and if it keeps running out when there is a lot of fuel in the tank, then you might have to drop the tank (or pull the bed, which is easier, IMO).

 

[Duramax One]

(or pull the bed, which is easier, IMO).

I'm with David on this one. You can pull the bed in ~15 minutes and 3 medium size guys can move it around. You can set it on a couple of saw horses while you take a look at the tank.

If you've ever had to drop a tank, especially one with the tempermental modern fuel connections, you will have a much easier time with the bed off.