No power in the morning

Hey guys,

The last few mornings in put the van in reverse and backed out of the driveway. When I put it in drive and hit the gas there is no power. I hold the brake and rev it a bit and then it acts normal and drives fine.

I’m thinking it is an air leak in the fuel line but before I chase gremlins I figured I’d see what others thought. It has been pretty cold where I am so that may have something to do with it.

Thanks


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I should mention that I added a diesel parking heater. I T-ed into the auxiliary heater fuel line. I figure if there was an air leak in that line it wouldn’t effect the engine though. I believe the engine has its own fuel line.


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Air in the fuel lines would normally cause stalling, low pressure codes, or rough idle. What altitude are you at?

I’m actually traveling across the country, but I experienced the problem several morning in Philadelphia and Roanoke


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You may have a marginal fuel filter. How many miles on the filter?

Any sign of air in the clear lines? It is not unusual for the O rings and rubber hoses to shrink a bit when cold, which can create intermittent air leaks.

Not quite sure. I bought the van used and I’ve only owned it about 3 months. How hard is it to change the fuel filter?


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On an 02-03 its not terrible, but you need to read the writeup, as there are a few gotchas with regards to air leaks, especially on cheap filters. Basically you disconnect three hoses, remove the filter (drivers side of engine compartment) and install the new one, and fill with fuel. Then crank for a minute until it primes and starts.

Thanks! I’ll replace it soon. How many mile should you get out of one?


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Fuel filter?

It completely depends on the fuel quality. I would suggest no more than 40k miles. Some owners do the fuel filter every 20k miles.

tmiron,
I have an '02.
Our fuelsystem is a different kettle of fish

Million mile sprinter sells the new school fuel filter for our rigs.

I would probably be a good idea to replace the diverter valve when you do the filter and assess the need for good/correct clamps.

https://www.millionmilesprinter.com/

read this thread

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20104

bill in tomahawk

There was a recent thread with the same symptoms: start, back out, and then no power.
(i can't recall what (or if) the resolution was)

--dick
(but i also agree with Patrick's "transmission" diagnosis)

Fwiw sounds more like transmission to me.
(and I agree with Dave, could also be ASR/traction control blip/error).

The reason I don’t think it’s fuel, is it works in reverse then gets funky in drive, fuel would be funky in reverse as well.

Patrick of M said:

Fwiw sounds more like transmission to me.

Click to expand...

Could be ASR related too if you have that option? A poor signal from the wheel speed sensors can confuse it into thinking a wheel is slipping, cutting power to manage “available” traction.
Great on ice; PITA as a malfunction.

-dave