Turns over will not start

[Papasteveo]

Cummings six-cylinder 12 valve 1994 will crank over and will not start having installed a new fuel shut off solenoid. I am getting 12 V power to the solenoid. Does anybody have any great ideas for me? Thanks for all your help.

 

[Mr P]

Does that solenoid move back and forth with key on/key off?

Why was it replaced?

 

[Papasteveo]

Yes, I do believe

 

[Mr P]

There's doubt there.

If it doesn't move far enough, it won't run, or will run at reduced power.

 

[Papasteveo]

Thank you Mr.P. About a year ago we had a mobile mechanic discover the wire had went bad to the cylinoid and had replaced it and that was the fix. In the past month it has cranked over but wouldn’t start about 3 or 4 times but then would start when tried again. When I removed the cylinoid it did look as though the shaft was worn so I assumed this was the problem. But after replacing it with a brand new factory cylinoid it still will not start?

 

[Mr P]

Are the batteries charged up nicely and providing a fast cranking speed?

What is the approx ambient temp?

If you crank it over for several seconds (20 or so), do you notice grey smoke out of the tailpipe?

 

[Papasteveo]

Yes on the batteries, nice and strong

It is about 60 to 70 out

No grey smoke

 

[Mr P]

No smoke = no fuel.

No fuel = (in no particular order)

-empty tank
-leaky hose between tank and lift pump
-bad lift pump
-clogged filter
-shut off valve not opening

The shut of solenoid can be disconnected and you can then manually move the shut off valve.

You can check for fuel supply to the injection pump, it should pump in pulses as the engine rotates. (Assuming a mechanical/engine driven lift pump.)

If the lift pump diaphragm has ruptured, the engine crankcase may be way overfilled (diesel in oil).

 

[Papasteveo]

Would you suggest I crack a line to see if it is getting any fuel. This is a suggestion that has been made and I just don’t know if that is a good idea?

 

[Mr P]

No smoke = no fuel being injected = not enough pressure to "pop" the injector = you won't get much (if anything) out of an injection line.

My suggestions above....which have you done?

 

[cadillackid]

No smoke = no fuel being injected = not enough pressure to "pop" the injector = you won't get much (if anything) out of an injection line.

My suggestions above....which have you done?

does the 5.9 have a hand primer like the IH and CAT do? if so it may be he has lost fuel prime and needs to pump it up.. the mechanical lift pump itself takes forever if rime was lost.

 

[Mr P]

does the 5.9 have a hand primer like the IH and CAT do? if so it may be he has lost fuel prime and needs to pump it up.. the mechanical lift pump itself takes forever if rime was lost.

I'm only familiar with the 5.9 used in Dodge trucks. Some of those did, it was mounted on the lift pump.

The OP needs to track fuel from the tank toward the injectors. Somewhere in between, fuel is not moving. OR, a suction leak between the lift pump and the tank could be allowing fuel to drain back to the tank and air to fill the line, resulting in a no start, or more likely a start/die, then no start.

 

[Mr P]

Delete this reply.

 

[shorthair-SKO]

Reach under the shutoff and with the key on lift the arm on the shutoff up till it holds up, if not then your not getting power to the shutoff. Sometimes the new relay can be bad out of the box.

 

[nikitis]

He said earlier he would try to crank and it would turn over but not start, then wait and it would.

I've seen nobody mention glow plugs here yet. Fuel may not be hot enough to start on first tries.

Next time try this. Crank turn over, let it turn over for 3 seconds, if it fails stop turning over engine, wait 30 seconds, then try again, does it crank and start?

 

[PorchDog]

A Cummins 5.9 has an intake heater. No glowplugs. And in general, they will start in warm temps without the intake heater functioning.

Loss of prime would be my guess.

 

[nikitis]

Ah good to know. Haven't messed with the cummins engines.

 

[Mr P]

I've seen nobody mention glow plugs here yet. Fuel may not be hot enough to start on first tries.

No need to mention that because I asked about ambient temps (about 60-70 degrees) and fuel smoke from the tailpipe (none). No smoke = no fuel.

 

[sportyrick]

possibly a bad ignition switch causing intermittent power to solenoid.

 

[powderskier]

Starting issues

For that Cummins you need at least 200 rpm on the starter. If you're not getting that high a cranking speed it wont start. Like mentioned crack an injector line and you will see a bit of fuel squirt out if you're getting fuel. The hand primer is just behind the injection pump. It takes a lot of priming if you do have air in the line. The shut off valve can be manually opened with a wire pulled and wrapped around a handy location to prove fuel supply. Hope that helps