Who can diagnose this?

[captgrady]

When it works I'm on top of the World, but it's depressing when there's a problem!

Went on a 2,000 mile trip to the mountains. Hit a hard bump in Atl & lost 6" section of fill tube into tank between frame & wheel well liner. (oh yea, I was missing bump stops on both rear leaf springs, which may have contributed to extra leaf spring movement) Didn't know this till after I poured 35 gallons on the ground. Thought I had spilled a little & my boots kept slipping on the grass. Filled tank, checked under there, saw a drip, thought I'd have to tighten loose hose clamp. Laid in puddle of oil & found fill tube gone. Man was i so p!ssed after I just toted it 800 miles, to pour it down the mountain.
Got home, dropped tank & there is still 5 gallons in tank, okay, I thought I ran it pretty well dry since v3 switched off. Had fill cut off & re-welded new 1 1/2" 45* fill tube, angled outboard. Used 1 1/2" ID marine white hose, 4 1/2' long & routed to inner wheel well tube. Cleaned mesh screen, Replaced filter, purged. Found pump was very loud, like no liquids going thru. Pull intake hose @ V3, blew, & it was clogged, but blew until I heard bubbles. purged again, checked return line & oil shot out under purge (didn't see if pump returned oil). Now with pump running I should hear it dripping into tank thru fill cap, No? No sound.
Here's what was happening:
Light was going on and off before I cleared pickup line. But not rapidly. Pressure drops to 45 psi when it comes online, then under acceleration, pressure drops to 40 & system goes back to diesel. Pressure used to be like 68 psi when online.
System will only come on @ idle or de-celleration. Shuts off under acceleration.
My thought is fuel pump was stressed running w/o oil? On boats, impellers have to be replaced when a pump runs dry. I'm not familiar with this Fass pump, & how much abuse it can take. From what I see the purge selinoid does the purge, but does the pump return oil to tank when offline? Pump runs at all time in Auto mode, correct?
So basically I'm not building enough pressure?
Pump is not as noisy now, but is it working, or is there something else?
still have low pressure @ 45 psi also.

[captgrady]

Looks like since I angled tank for deepest spot @ pickup tube, there's some crap in tank that now accumulates there & is constantly clogging pickup tube. I'll give the benefit of doubt to the pump for now.
Why TF didn't I put a drain fitting in the tank when I had it out???, Like I told myself I was gonna do!

[Wilson]

sux man...1st- Did you check the pump prescreen?

2nd-
I put my filler out back like stock because I didnt like that idea. You could still put a drain on the tank while its in the truck.

Just drill a hole in the front of the tank as low to the seam as possible with a 1/4" bit.

Then any veggie i there will come flying out on you :-) Ream the hole out to desired size with unibit or other... tig in your drain plug.

[Employee under the stairs]

yes try the prescreen then if that doesnt work try a new filter

[captgrady]

Well,
I drained the tank before I was going to drop it by pumping out from the fill. But then I decided to pump out or pull oil directly out of a 5 gallon jug placed right by V3 with extra 3' hose from V3 to jug.
Results:
Pump is still loud like it has air trapped in it, or it's just not pumping properly. The pump was barely pullin' oil from jug at very slow rate. when I pulled hose out of jug as pump was running, it went completely quiet, put my thumb over hose end, and there was minimal suction pressure.
I'll check the prescreen again for sh!ts and giggles, but I think I may have a failing pump problem, perhaps from shavings clogging fill tube & then pump running dry, or can these pumps run dry w/ no problems? Perhaps the pump issue explains previous pressure problems?

[Clay]

If the pump runs dry, the pressure switch should turn it off.

[captgrady]

Thanks C,
Got my permi-vegigrin on again! I like that "Vegigrin", it's what all new customers get when they first start cookin'!
Anyway, I trouble shoot electronics for a livin' & time & time & time again, "it's the simple things" that are usually at the root of the problem.
Here too. Two words, Compressed air. I took out the EX after cleaning mesh screen again, I found a mesh ball stuck in passageway, used pic to get it out. Tryed flushing with motor, won't work. On test drive noticed slightly better pressure, I figured a restriction was the culprit, Thanks to James for calling me back Saturday( see you are a better trouble shooter over the phone than you thought!).
Got back home, pulled screen out, then blew 100 psi into tank to clear line. Then blew the air into V3 fuel intake nozzle w/screen out & WALLA, out comes 20 grams of aluminum mesh. Poped in screen, turned her over & BAM back upto 70 psi!
This thread can be moved to customer feedback if you want.

Now I will find a clear throwaway filter inline before V3. I'll just make sure it will meet Jason' s recomendations.
Thanks Guys AGAIN for a great product & support.
Chad

[Wilson]

cool

so you had aluminum shavings stuck in the rubber line? Or did it make its way into the v3 block and got stuck before the screen??

good info, maybe a prefilter is a good idea? just need to make sure it's pretty high micron. Probably no less than 100?

[captgrady]

Yes it was stuck in the V3 before screen. I may have had some stuck in rubber hose too, will find out eventually, but I blew out hose also.

[Clay]

your V3 prescreen should be the only screen you need - thats why its there.

[captgrady]

I prefer clear filters I can see, & therefore know exactly if I have fuel or not, without having to disassemble fuel lines.
Something like this:

Would have instantly let me know about this:

In the marine environment we have to have redundancy, it's for a reason.

[greasyX]

Yankee engineering

Use a Whole house water housing with a 100 or 50 micron sediment filter.On my truck I tucked it under rear ac motor.When there is a issue I can see it,I can change out that filter,in less time then the one i can't see inside,and save my money not being spent on Donaldsons toward a Racor pre-pre-filter.I think that would be triple-redundency......grease out