TinkerTime
New member
Hello, I need some advice please.
I have a 2003, 3500 with 320K miles. I have been having issues with restarting when hot. Fires right up when cold, then when hot it takes several tries to re-fire. It then runs great.
I tried the injector leak down test, and all injectors are fine. I got it in to a diesel mechanic (not Sprinter trained). They diagnosed the fuel pressure sensor and fuel pressure regulator, both located on the fuel rail, as being bad. Unfortunately, since the fuel rail is located under the intake manifold the manifold must be removed to access the regulator in the rear. The estimate was $4K!
I am mechanically inclined, though not diesel specific, so for $4K I took on the challenge myself. No easy feat as there is NO room to work in the rear of the engine compartment.
I removed the wiring harness, fuel lines and intake manifold. Cleaned everything up and installed the new regulator and sensor. New intake gasket and put everything back together without issue.
When I attempted to restart, I turned over a bit sluggish and stumbled to fire up. I hadnt re-primed the fuel pump, so tried again. the second time it did start and run for about 30 seconds before it died. While it was running it was very rough and I had to manipulate the throttle to keep it going. It sounded like it had no power. Very flat and unwilling to rev up.
I recharged the battery. Re-primed the low pressure fuel pump and checked all the wiring connections.
Sadly, it will not start back up at all. In fact, now it doesn't even try to stumble into firing up. Just turn over without success.
At this point I am at loss. Nothing I did seems as though it should cause any issue with starting or running. Remove the intake manifold, replace the sensors, bolt it back together. The wiring harness is a no brainer, because you can only plug it in where the connectors are supposed to be.
What am I missing?
I have a 2003, 3500 with 320K miles. I have been having issues with restarting when hot. Fires right up when cold, then when hot it takes several tries to re-fire. It then runs great.
I tried the injector leak down test, and all injectors are fine. I got it in to a diesel mechanic (not Sprinter trained). They diagnosed the fuel pressure sensor and fuel pressure regulator, both located on the fuel rail, as being bad. Unfortunately, since the fuel rail is located under the intake manifold the manifold must be removed to access the regulator in the rear. The estimate was $4K!
I am mechanically inclined, though not diesel specific, so for $4K I took on the challenge myself. No easy feat as there is NO room to work in the rear of the engine compartment.
I removed the wiring harness, fuel lines and intake manifold. Cleaned everything up and installed the new regulator and sensor. New intake gasket and put everything back together without issue.
When I attempted to restart, I turned over a bit sluggish and stumbled to fire up. I hadnt re-primed the fuel pump, so tried again. the second time it did start and run for about 30 seconds before it died. While it was running it was very rough and I had to manipulate the throttle to keep it going. It sounded like it had no power. Very flat and unwilling to rev up.
I recharged the battery. Re-primed the low pressure fuel pump and checked all the wiring connections.
Sadly, it will not start back up at all. In fact, now it doesn't even try to stumble into firing up. Just turn over without success.
At this point I am at loss. Nothing I did seems as though it should cause any issue with starting or running. Remove the intake manifold, replace the sensors, bolt it back together. The wiring harness is a no brainer, because you can only plug it in where the connectors are supposed to be.
What am I missing?