Ok, I have a 2004 2500HD Sierra with just over 60k miles on it. The truck has been relatively trouble free in the 3 years I've owned it except for my injectors went bad a month ago and now it wont start??!!

I went to start the truck in the morning like every other day, it started immediately as usual but then died after about 5 seconds. It died very abruptly similar to when you cut the ignition by turning off the key. I tried to start it for a few mins but I could tell it was useless and didn't want to run down the battery.

I'm having it towed to the dealership but I was wondering if anyone had this happen before? Like I mentioned above, the only thing I can think of is it had the injectors done a few weeks ago but not sure if it's related.

Try priming the fuel system, might have a leak somewhere, then again just having injectors done could be a problem from that.
Bill

Fill out your sig and tell us where you are. Any chance you fuel gelled? (or are you in Florida!:rolleyes:). I would look at that or try priming and see what happens.

Try priming the fuel system, might have a leak somewhere, then again just having injectors done could be a problem from that.
Bill

How do you prime the system?

Fill out your sig and tell us where you are. Any chance you fuel gelled? (or are you in Florida!:rolleyes:). I would look at that or try priming and see what happens.

I'm in Las Vegas...how do you tell if the fuel gelled? and what do you do if it is?

Although it was cold (mid to low 30's), I've taken the truck skiing to Brian Head, UT several times with no problems and it's usually in the single digits and have never had any problem whatsoever.

They took the truck so it's at the dealership now, but have to wait until tomorrow to find out what the problem is...? Thx!

There is a priming bulb on top of the fuel filter housing. Push it until it gets stiff.

Fuel in Vegas does not know what gelling is! Not cold enough for that to have happened. I used to live in Vegas from 89-92 ish.

To prime it, you have to pump the primer on top of the fuel filter, until it it hard. Could take 50-60 pumps after changing the filter. Then open the bleed screw next to the pump and pump until no bubbles. Make take a couple of crank cycles to get it to fire if it did loose prime.

I would go over to the dealer and see if you can prime it and get it to start. The bleed screw is a 1/2 inch bolt head. Be easy on it, very cheap and easy to break.

Your symptom sure sounds like loss of prime to me. Search for that, lots of areas it can loose prime. (NOTE: the fuel system is under a vacuum from the tank all the way up to the CP3 injection pump, so a "leak" lets air in, not fuel out.). I guess they could have left something loose when they did the injectors as well.

New here, just signed up today. I have an '03 duramax dually and had this exact thing happen a month ago. Found out it was an O-ring around the fuel filter went bad and was sucking air. Hope this helps.

Ok, as luck would have it, the truck starts now and the dealer doesn't know what the problem was. Although the truck did not start when the tow truck dropped the car off yesterday, it starts today and they are basically telling me to take it back and bring it back in when it acts up again!?!

I have a feeling it's related to the injectors they recently changed but obviously have no way of confirming and the dealer says (of course) this is absolutely not related. Anything common they might have messed up causing loss of vacuum that I might be able to check? Not exactly a comforting feeling I have with this truck right now...

So you did not do anything to it, it just fired up? Did they run any diagnostics on it?

Try filling up the fuel tank, and pressurizing it to 5-10 lbs with an air hose. Then look for leaks. I don't think you ever tried to prime it, right?

So you did not do anything to it, it just fired up? Did they run any diagnostics on it?

Try filling up the fuel tank, and pressurizing it to 5-10 lbs with an air hose. Then look for leaks. I don't think you ever tried to prime it, right?

No I didn't, the truck was already at the dealer. I did not confirm what diagnostics they ran but he mentioned the checked "everything" and "everything looks good"...for what ever that's worth!

I'm assuming the pressurization test above is something a mechanic would do?

No, you can do it. I just made sure my tank was full, stuck an air hose from my shop compressor in the fill neck, sealed it as best i could with a rag, and set it to 10 lbs. Then just crawl around under it looking at all the rubber hoses at the tank, then up at the filter base on on the engine. If nothing is coming out, you probably don't have a leak on the low pressure side. On mine, I got bubbles out of the plastic bleed screw. I also did this to flush the line out before I dropped the tank, and stuck a second hose in the tank to force drain it to a container so I could drop the tank. (I was checking for bad fuel/algea in the tank to diagnose my problems. Ended up being injectors.)

There is a guy on here that made a fitting out of a spare fuel cap to really seal it up.

Every go 4 wheeling at Mt Charleston? That is what i miss most about Vegas!

No, you can do it. I just made sure my tank was full, stuck an air hose from my shop compressor in the fill neck, sealed it as best i could with a rag, and set it to 10 lbs. Then just crawl around under it looking at all the rubber hoses at the tank, then up at the filter base on on the engine. If nothing is coming out, you probably don't have a leak on the low pressure side. On mine, I got bubbles out of the plastic bleed screw. I also did this to flush the line out before I dropped the tank, and stuck a second hose in the tank to force drain it to a container so I could drop the tank. (I was checking for bad fuel/algea in the tank to diagnose my problems. Ended up being injectors.)

There is a guy on here that made a fitting out of a spare fuel cap to really seal it up.

Every go 4 wheeling at Mt Charleston? That is what i miss most about Vegas!

No I haven't, that area is so nice I assumed it was off limits for off-roading. I will have to check it out, they are getting lots of snow already up there!!

So the dealer figured out what the problem was...a fuel heater assembly was leaking so I'm pretty glad about that, thanks to you guys for all your help, I used your input to gently nudge the mechanic in the right direction.

However, one nasty thing I learned is that my Major Guard GMPP isn't worth the paper it's printed on with respect to the Duramax so I had to pay the $100 deductible. Not a huge deal, I'm just happy they found the leak, but what a scam on this extended warranty! When I bought it they said what's so great about this warranty is that everything that's NOT COVERED is spelled out. If it's not specifically identified as NOT COVERED it's COVERED. The dealer said the GMPP only applies after the Diesel Engine warranty has expired, at which point my GMPP has also expired. WTF?!? lol

Thanks again guys, as usual!

No I haven't, that area is so nice I assumed it was off limits for off-roading. I will have to check it out, they are getting lots of snow already up there!!



It's been over 15 years since I lived there. I remember it was the road that leads up to the reasturant, you turned off somewhere. You could travel up through the pass, then past some old stone huts, and come out near Pahrump. Some of the areas we used to go are housing developements now!:mad:

It's been over 15 years since I lived there. I remember it was the road that leads up to the reasturant, you turned off somewhere. You could travel up through the pass, then past some old stone huts, and come out near Pahrump. Some of the areas we used to go are housing developements now!:mad:

I will definitely have to check that out, I've lived here for ever and never knew about that.

One more thing I wanted to add about the truck. I noticed sometime ago that my truck was smoking under accelleration, I especially noticed this at night if someone is driving behind you with headlights. I dismissed it as normal diesel behavior. ...well it's not and it much have something to do with the fuel heater assembly that was replaced. Now my truck smokes only a quick burst if you quickly accellerate, the ongoing smoke is gone.

im sure you got a bill for the service, but only had to pay the $100 deductable. did the bill say how much the fuel heater was? just curious.

Ken

Fuel heater is all part of the filter head assembly iirc. Does that look like it has been replaced. Dont think the heater would really cause smoke, especially in vegas.

im sure you got a bill for the service, but only had to pay the $100 deductable. did the bill say how much the fuel heater was? just curious.

Ken

Interesting development on that...I called GMPP to complain because I did not see this in the "WHAT IS NOT COVERED" section of my warranty paperwork...and they said the repair, is in fact COVERED and reimbursed me the $100 deductible.

The dealer still insists it's not so it's a back and fourth between them but at least GMPP sent me a check, so those warranties aren't a complete waste after all.

Getting back to your question, no it does not say how much the fuel heater assy was just description saying it was changed.

Fuel heater is all part of the filter head assembly iirc. Does that look like it has been replaced. Dont think the heater would really cause smoke, especially in vegas.

I'm assuming you mean the fuel filter...if so, yes that has been replaced as well. Do not have a part number, it just said replace fuel heater assy.

Regarding the smoking...I'm not sure it was the heater, per se, that caused the smoking, but maybe whatever was broken inside of it that caused the loss of vacuum to begin with?

Honestly not sure, but I will tell you that I am not easily convinced about stuff and this has definitely caused a huge reduction in the amount of smoke my vehicle produces, I just towed my boat today and going up hills I used to get a steady stream of smoke, not real heavy but noticable. Now it is all but gone. Just a quick burst at the start of acceleration then it's gone.

Interesting development on that...I called GMPP to complain because I did not see this in the "WHAT IS NOT COVERED" section of my warranty paperwork...and they said the repair, is in fact COVERED and reimbursed me the $100 deductible.

The dealer still insists it's not so it's a back and fourth between them but at least GMPP sent me a check, so those warranties aren't a complete waste after all.

Getting back to your question, no it does not say how much the fuel heater assy was just description saying it was changed.


looks good on your part! at least you got your money back, and a good warrentee.:) now its up to them to hash it out. thanks for the update.

Ken

I just wanted to say this morning that my truck ran for about 5 seconds and died. I tried restarting it without any success (though it turned over fine, but it sounded like no fuel was getting there.) So I called my dealership and talked to an auto mechanic that said it could be the bleeder valve.

So, I came to this website and did a search on "my truck wont start" in the fuel section.

Low and behold, I found this thread...

Needless to say, my bleeder valve screw was loose. So I tightened it, pushed the primer a few times until it was hard to push, and the truck started right up.

Just wanted to say it's nice to have a place to come and confirm/find information that people experienced and provided helpful solutions to already.

Thanks!