Fuel Shutoff solenoid problem/fuel leak

blazd88 · 07-17-2011, 04:04 PM

A few days ago my truck started leaking what turned out to be fuel. To find out exactly where the leak was coming from since it had sprayed all over I cleaned up the side of the engine with some carb cleaner. Turns out where the line goes into the pump is leaking at the banjo. New washers of both copper and rubber coated havent fixed the leak but also after trying to start the truck to see if the leak was fixed it would not start without manually pulling up the linkage into the shutoff solenoid. The blue wire coming off the battery was corroded so I cleaned it and put a new connector on the end and still nothing. Checked the relays and power to the solenoid and everything checked out there too. I had two other solenoids from other trucks available so I tried swapping them in as well. Still wont pull the rod into the solenoid. Ive tried lengthening the rod a bit and it still wont pull it in. If you push the rod into the solenoid with the key on its impossible to pull out after. Is it possible that my luck is bad enough to have three consecutive solenoids be bad or am I missing something? I even put new rubber and zip ties at the ends of two solenoids and still no luck. So now Im left with a fuel leak I cant stop yet and a truck that wont start and or turn off. I refuse to go to a pull cable so lemme know what ya think!!!

GAmes · 07-17-2011, 09:19 PM

Did you check the fuse? I think it is #9 that powers the shutoff solenoid.

blazd88 · 07-18-2011, 05:22 PM

All fuses are good. I can't make this make sense.

GAmes · 07-18-2011, 06:23 PM

You have two problems, and each one needs a separate fix. Read through Joe G's writeup about the fuel system. If the answer isn't there, there are numerous posts about both your problems. A search will give you the answers.

cummins_mike · 07-28-2011, 01:14 PM

I ran into the fuel shut off valve issue. Think originally it was the solenoid that was bad, since I was able to use a test light and see that the relay was working and I was getting voltage to the solenoid, I found the problem wasn't the solenoid.

First, to test the solenoid is good, remove it, disassemble the connector plug and take the two bigger wires (third one was smaller gauge) and quickly touch them to the battery terminals (Black going to negative, IIRC white was to positive) and see if it clicks up. Mine did. If that works then the solenoid is good.

I cleaned up all the connections thinking that was the problem. What I found is that the relay was bad. Even though I would get power through it, was WASN'T getting enough current. This "start" side of the solenoid uses about 50 amps and the contacts in the relay was not allowing enough amps to pass through. This is why I would read 12 volts as I was getting the voltage through it.

I replaced my relay with one from Larry B's and all is working fine now. I bought a couple spare ones to have, just in case.

Good luck.