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1998 Amtran 40' (4700?) T444e Pusher Eng. Warn. Light no fuel to engine
Intermittent start, will turn over from key on random occasions. Like once every 50 attempts. Previous owner drove it home a year and a half ago, maybe longer, removed front air actuated passenger door and all nearby components, the stop sign and it appears something was done at the rear window as there was a single loose black wire connected to nothing.
The starter is good, starter solenoid good, jiggling shift lever does not help, no wait light for glow plugs (I do not think they are working), engine warning light is on. Tach. does show engine rpm when cranking engine. Relays clicking inside box near the engine with the ECM and rear start.
I bled the oil line to the gauge to the ECM and it now shows oil pressure. Hose was dry and I understand the air in this system can cause failure to start. I do not know if there is still trapped air in other parts of the oil pump system.
I looked for loose wires and could not find any under the engine or from the battery box to the the engine area. There was diesel in the filter bowl, but I am not ruling out a fuel pickup or pump issue.
Gave her a shot of starting fluid and engine runs. I can put 12 volts directly to the the starter solenoid to crank engine. The batteries are old but they charge up and hold a charge, they do not handle extended cranking well 5 to 10 seconds max but I have a charger on them during initial start. They charge to about 12.5-12.8 and settle to about 12.3 or 12.4 volts when off of charger for a few hours.
A solenoid in the panel under the drivers window is in play when operating the key in drivers area, it appears to disconnect the accessories etc. when the key is in the start position. When the key is on accessory or in the on position the solenoid is engaged, and when the key is off or in start it is disengaged. At this point I do not suspect this to be the issue.
I do not know what is causing the warning light, since the engine warning light is on right when the key is turned on, obviously it cannot be for an issue that would prevent the ECM (or sensors?) from defeating startup (electronically activated fuel shut off?) while cranking for reasons such as low crank rpm, low oil pressure etc.
I do not know if Amtran ran their safety interlocks in coordination with the International instrument cluster (engine warning light) but from what I understand, the interlocks are not part of the ECM circuit, so to the best of my knowledge is that, they defeat the ignition system to prevent the engine from cranking, not shutting off fuel to the engine. There is supposed to be a way to connect a hose somewhere by the filter housing to pump fuel into a collection can to check to see if the fuel pump is working, and I am still working on trying to figure that out.
I got the bus thinking that there was the possibility that I could get lucky and find the problem otherwise I would salvage it. Today is day two, and unfortunately I find myself almost obsessed with trying to figure out what the problems are. The engine appears to be in great condition with only 151,000, the brake system holds air well and they work good (pumped air in tank with portable compressor) and most all of the lights, fans, wipers, radio etc. work perfectly. Any advise on how to getting the injectors to doing their job would be appreciated. There is no diesel whatsoever getting to the engine, no coughing sputtering tailpipe smoke or anything when cranking or the couple times I shot starting fluid.
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Linear Mode
