Duramax starting issue

[dunatic67]

Hey my bro in law just called, his 2002 Duramax turns over but won't start. What are the common problems?
How does the fuel system work- a pump in the tank and injector pump at the engine?
Could it be a glow plug problem? He says the light comes on and off like usual.
It has been parked in his driveway overnight.
Any ideas where to start?

 

[Kiel]

yeah I'd check the injector and lift pump if the d-max have em.

 

[78mitsu]

cavitation, there is a hand pump by the filter, pump it until it feels like it pumps up. also, there is a blow off cap on that assembly sometimes it'll crack rather then blow.

 

[RedBull_RockIt]

If he is stuck and he's sure he hasn't ran out of gas and there are no other ideas besides the heater coil circuit (glow plug), he can spray some WD40 into the intake and crank it over. Not too much though. Many times that is enough to start it. With my D-Max, it wasn't enough.
If that doesn't start it, and he's DEFINITLY up #h!t creek and bigtime in trouble needing to start it, he can spray the tinyest/quickest/minutest shot of starting fluid in the intake while cranking away...it may take up to 10 seconds of cranking before it hits, so don't spray any more in until you're POSITIVE it won't start on what you gave it. I'm serious about the tinyest shot of fluid possible as this process can DESTROY deisels. I had to do this once when I was stuck in the desert with no other way home. In any other case, I wouldn't have done it. It turned out to be the heater coil (glow plug) circuit that had failed.

Good luck to your bro!

 

[78mitsu]

also, check to make sure all the battery leads are tight and that you have 12+ volts out of each battery. One cranks and one controls the ecu.

The hand pump is on the passenger side of the motor, just above the fuel filter assembly, it's silver, round and about 1.25" around push down and release it about 20 times and it should pump up the fuelrail.

 

[mbryson]

I'm sure it's the IFS....

 

[Meat_]

It shouldn't be cold enough to not start without the glow plugs/heat plate whatever the dmax uses. But if you think that's the problem you can just plug the heater in (the 110v cord hiding in the front/under the hood somewhere) for 20 minutes or so.

 

[dunatic67]

Thanks for the info guys. I went over to look at it, and after removing the fuel pump relay and reinstalling it, along with playing with some other things, it started right up. It is an intermitent problem to be sure, I don't think anything I did made the difference:sick:
All the info helps as I have learned alot about it.