Backstage

So Damn Close...

I bought my fuel transfer pump over the weekend... Yesterday, I fought the good fight, and managed to get everything torn apart, and mostly put back together... I did this in my garage while it never made it about 30degrees outside, thanks to the kindness of one of my neighbors at my shop... He lent me a propane fired radiant heater, and damned if it isn't amazing... It got the garage up to 50, or 55 I imagine... The garage isn't absolutely airtight, so I wasn't too worried about suffocating, but I still don't work in there for more than 2 or 3 hours, and if I get tired, or a headache, I'm out the door, which fortunately didn't happen... Near the end of yesterday, I went to drop in the new fuel filter, and discovered that I didn't have one... So reconstruction ceased for the evening...

Picked up the new filter today (along with a spare) and slapped it in... Bolted the starter back in place, and pumped the manual pump button a few hundred times to get fuel from the tank through the system, and the air out... Dropped the truck off the jack stands, and plugged in the block heater for an hour while I cleaned up a bit... Moment of truth, start the truck... Truck sputters and dies... Resist panic... Start truck again... This time it runs like a clock... Resist celebrating as it always runs well at idle... Pull it out, and let it warm up for a while... Drive to an ATM and get cash... Drive to gas station and fill tank with diesel... Check under the hood while pumping, and note no leaks... Allow mild satisfaction, but then I haven't really run it at speed yet and that's where the problem really presents itself... Run up to the interstate... Hit the interstate, and manage to reach 78mph before traffic stops dead... Allow mild celebration, but keep it under control, the test run was not very long... Run back down the side roads to the house... Truck dies at a light... Start and continue, but truck dies whenever attempting to idle... Coerce truck to get back to garage... Look under hood to find diesel on various parts... Sort of good as it simply means air in the system was killing the truck...

Let the truck sit, I have no time tonight to take another bath in diesel as I have to fly to Florida tomorrow morning (very early) for a site survey... We fly back tomorrow night, but quite late so the truck will have to wait until Thursday night... I am however cautiously optimistic as I suspect it is just a bleed bolt, or the filter cup nut based on where the diesel was... One can hope at any rate...