Abrupt problems: Sabotage?

[Keith W]

Hi there: I would be so grateful for any suggestions or thoughts anyone might give me on this one.

I bought a used '98 G3500 last week. It is in very nice condition, and ran VERY smoothly for the week so far (about 500 miles).

I took it to a service station/inspection station here in MD today, where they took forever (4 hours!) and told me I needed new steering and brakes, $1200. Okay, I figured I'd go and get a second opinion. I drove about 2 miles, and it started hesitating. Though it appeared to have several gallons in the tank, I immediately pulled over and put in 6 gallons of diesel.

Almost immediately, the car started lurching and nearly dying. The engine wouldn't respond to the accelerator: it wouldn't die, but it wouldn't break out of a low idle. I got stuck completely going up slight hills several times. There was almost no power. It never died, but it felt like it was going to at any moment. At one point I saw clouds of perhaps bluish smoke out the back, but I was distracted and am not sure how my livid anger and the tense situation might have colored my perceptions. I stopped it for a while in a parking lot about a mile from my home, convinced I was going to have to walk home, and discovered after quickly checking it over and not seeing any obvious problems, that once it had cooled (I assume that was the key thing), it ran with much more power for a minute or two, before it started fading again. That was enough to get me home in a couple hops.

I figure either 1) the folks at the service station sabotaged it (I'd wanted to watch their work but they took so long I finally went to lunch, and then they did it. But, they seem like very nice folks), 2) the timing was a coincidence, &*!#@ happens, and it could be anything, or 3) the gas station was cross-fueled, and I filled up with gasoline I'm very certain I was at the diesel pump, but I have heard of this happening. What does a diesel engine running on gasoline behave like? Or maybe just lots of water?).

I'm sorry for the great length here, I just wanted to get all the details in one place. Thanks so much for reading this far, and thanks in advance for any help. I will probably try to take the time to get more familiar with the engine in the next few days, so any hints about where to start looking for answers are welcome. The only other thing that happened in the meantime was that I replaced several bulbs, including some brake lights that I wasn't strictly certain were the right bulbs, and burned slightly brightly, but I really can't imagine that has any bearing.

Thanks, Keith

[ronniejoe]

The engine is probably a 6.5. With that said, this would be seen by more people posted in the 6.5 forum.

Your problem sounds like either bad fuel, plugged fuel filter or a failing fuel solenoid driver. I would have the quality of the fuel tested and check the fuel filter first. If the fuel is bad, the tank must be drained and good fuel put in place.

[Keith W]

Thanks for your thoughts. I've just put the interior of the van back together (the dealer had pressure washed it before they sold it to me, so everything was soaking wet under the rubber mats, I decided to let it dry out). I've almost completed an installation of a new FSD on a cooler. I have tested the lift pump, which works now (had dirty contacts, I think). I am still considering removing the fuel tank to clean it out, since I'll be burning biodiesel and I think I'll just be haunted by junk in the tank otherwise. I have a new fuel filter to replace it. And I suspect the fuel quality as well: I pumped some out with the lift pump, and it was cloudy, and has remained so for a week or more. Now it's too cold to finish everything up, and I've been too busy for the last week to do much more than get the mats and shelves and seats back in.

Thanks for your helpful thoughts.

Keith

[Bnave95]

Fuel should be blue in color,if cloudy then water has mixed with the fuel.
In most causes fuel and water won't mix and your water in fuel light will come on. If a service station would use a addative that will allow the water and fuel to mix than it will be cloudy.
You do have some really bad fuel,drain ASAP.
There is a fuel filter drain T-vavle at the front(driver side) that should be opened from time to time.
Myself I use Power Service addtive,the white bottle is good for getting water out of the system and anti-gelling. The gray bottle is best for warm weather running,has higher cetane raiting and good pump lube quiltly.

[tommac95]

Such experiences (post fueling) deter from price/convenience shopping for fuel . Good fuel is necessary but not sufficient for proper operation. Keep track of the LP via pressure/flow test at drain valve up front.

Many here keep the fuel tank more than half full to aid cooling PMD and FuelInjectionPump.

Suggest (re)establish sustained smooth operation before transition to any biodiesel , and add fuel filtration for new fuel. Engine electric and fuel feed mechanical components must all be OK for fuel to arrive at FIP.