Possible frozen fuel line

[TexCaliBII]

All,
Well I got my 88 BII with the 4.0 swap running and everything working! Yeah!! I pulled it out of the garrage and drove it around quite a bit and filled it up with gas from the same place I get gas for my other BII and my truck, neither have had an issue in the last winters here. Well after spending the night outside in -30 but with block heater, batt heater, trans heater and oil pan heater she would not start this AM. Vexing as she ran fine last night and man o man is there a difference from the 2.9. Engine turns over and the lights don't dim much so I'm thinking it's not the batt. Have to check the batt too though. Did not have time this morning to check fuel pressure and such but I suspect that after sitting for bascially 2 years with minimal gas in the tank that the gunk/water in the tank got mixed up into the fuel lines and then froze overnight. Gonna try heatng the lines with my heat gun tonight and see. Otherwise it's push it out of the driveway to pull my 87 back out to drive, in 2 wheel drive and push this on back in. Bummer....

 

[voodoochylde]

I'm in the same situation. Locked myself out 3 weeks ago and finally got time to break into it this past Saturday but now it won't start Wishing for warmer weather...Good Luck!

 

[srteach]

Sitting that long ... did you replace the fuel filter? A plugged filter from the dirty tank could cause this.

Add 2 bottles of HEET or another isopropyl alcohol to the tank, let it sit for 20 mins and try again. Heet and its' like will melt the ice in situ and remove the water from the tank by taking it through the engine.

 

[TexCaliBII]

Yeah filter was changed and it ran the day before for quite a while and started back up after refuleing with no ptoblem. It fails to catch after sitting out all night so I really suspect that the lines are the issue. Hopefully I can get it in the garage tonight so it can thaw out. Tried pushing it in last night on my slight uphill and snow covered driveway with my other BII that currently is only 2-wheel drive, no go. I also heard about seafoam that is supposed to be good for this condition. If I can find that locally I'll give it a try as well. Thanks!

 

[TexCaliBII]

Well, back to square 1... Got the truck into the garage and left her overnight. I also put in a bottle of seafoam and shook the truck, just in case. Well the next day she started and ran rough for a couple minutes then lined out and ran perfectly. So I ascribed the rough runnign to the ice/water.gunk I suspected being in the lines. I pulled her outside and drove around all good, except the fuel and temp gauges aren't working Kinda of important but will wait another day. Anyhow I parked her outside and gave it a couple hours, started right up, excellent. Gave it a few more hours and she started burt was runnign WAY rich. Hmmm. Started getting reallty cold so I left off. Next morning she is back to the orignal problem....... I've still to check the fuel pressure but I am begining to wonder if the 88 fuel pump is up to the task of feeding the 4.0 or if the pump is just not coping with the cold. Anyone got other ideas/experince? Startign to think dark thoughts about this one......

 

[TexCaliBII]

Okay,
This is getting really weird. Spent some time on it yesterday and found the pumps are working. I get proper pressure at the rail and the truck turns over. Anyone every heard of injectors freezing closed??? I've never run into this problem before and am a bit stumped. I'm wondering if it could be the ingnition system. No TFI so that shouldn't ne too hard to troubleshoot, I hope. Gotta push her back into the garage today, sigh.... Also wondered why the alighnment on my "new" D35 on my 87 was being a b.... Well the ball joints are rather um loose... More fun for the weekend.. Thanks again for any help on this non-starting issue.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

You determined the fuel pressure is up to snuff and i take it you confirmed spark. Put a spark plug in the coil wire and set it on a good ground and see if it sparks even brite blue when it not running. put a long screwdriver on the injectors and listen for clicking with your ear up to the screwdriver handle and then pull a plug and smell for fuel set the plug on a good ground and check for spark. If you have spark and fuel to the cylinders she should fire. You can put a timing light on #1 plug wire and check for timing also while your cranking. You can pull the codes and see if there is anything in the memory that might point you in the right direction. If you have wet plugs see it they light on fire if not you still have water issues. Youll figure it out

 

[Duggo]

Your fuel might be contaminated with water. Try srteach's suggestion.

 

[TexCaliBII]

Well,
It ain't contaminated fuel. I had checked for spark on the first day this was happening. I had just put in new plugs so I thought that might be the issue, nope. I can hear all injectors cycling with my stethoscope and all plugs are firing. Cylinders 4 - 6 are a bit wet with fuel as I would expect but 1 and 2 are bone dry. Hmmmm. I also got another clue as there is quite a bit of collant under the truck. Guess that explains the squeling the other day.... Now I thinking my block heater is bad and the coolant froze and that put enough back pressure on the motor to prevent it starting. Never ran into that before but it fits with my symptoms and I've never lived in -40F before either. The cold here can indeed do weird things to cars, and people....

 

[TexCaliBII]

Well,
It gets weirder.... I needed to move the truck into the garage and thought I'd give it a try for starting as the weather had come up to 20 above. Took a bit but it started and ran like crap but enough to get into the garage. Took a look and the first thing I found was the fan sitting on the tranny cooler lines, YIKES! No damage to my radiator and that fan was on tight. The serpentine belt is corretly routed so I am defintely scratching the ol noodle on this thing. Starting to think the 4.0 swap might not have been the way to go after all....

 

[TexCaliBII]

I should have known! When I put this motor in I made the mistake of putting in Autolite plugs, cause I listened to the NAPA guys. I recalled this weekend the issues I had on my 87 when I was getting it running and read somewhere about this plug issue. That these engines don't run well without using the Motorcraft plugs. I found that to be correct on my 87 when I put the Motorcraft ones in and it ran, and still does, like a champ. No parts places up here carry the Motorcraft plugs so I swapped my 87 plugs into the 4.0, no it was not fun to swap/regap plugs, and it ran like it should. Aha, there's one thing down. Then I had to regap and put the plugs back in the 87 to drive today to get plugs for the 4.0 from the Ford dealer.

 

[n_grimm]

You've had quite an adventure. When it's been that cold, it's a miracle when anything starts so I wouldn't be too hard on your truck. Back in the '70s in Montana when it was cold like that I tried to start my dd 56 Ford pickup with a 351w swap, no go. I tried my other dd a 70 Barracuda 383, nope. All that was left was the 69 Dodge Coronet that had been sitting for several months but recently buried under four feet of snow. Once I was able to get in it, it fired right up. After I dug it out I used it to jump start the "good" cars. A couple things I learned is: 1. most spark plugs are ruined once they have been gas fouled, 2. Wasn't worth the effort in below zero unless I had a good engine heater.

 

[TexCaliBII]

Think I found it...

Well,
As we are finally a bit above 0 degrees I'm been able to get back to this truck. Got the in-tank fuel pump/sender swapped out and she starts now, YEAH!! The fuel gauge still does not work though, bummer. Started driving the truck around and was getting low power and an odd popping sound like it was backfiring throught the exhaust. Hmmm..... Well the next day I thought to look under the truck after starting it up to see what was the problem with the exhaust. In retrospect the really rusted exhaust I swapped in from the donor should have been a clue. I found a weld just aft of the cats that was not perfect and water was POURING out of it. Oh man. I shut it off and pulled the dip stick expecting the worst, it was still good. Popped of the rad cap and could see to the bottom of the rad, not good.... Pulled the plugs, yep the heads are coming off. Looks like I am dumping coolant right into the exhaust of at least 2 cylinders. Just hoping it's the head gaskets and nothing cracked. We'll see.....

 

[trail B2]

That happened to me when I put in a 4.0 too.Put in new gaskets its been running good ever since.

 

[TexCaliBII]

Good to know. The truck runs fairly good even with this issue. Gotta order the gaskets from Rock Auto as NAPA wants way too much for them.