notlimah

***Update*** Well started the truck up this morning after being parked overnight for 12+ hours uphill and still had longer cranking. Things of note... 1. After a longer cranking start my fuel pressure seems to be slightly lower. Usually hovers around 16-16.5psi. Once I get moving things pressure gets up to the 17-17.5psi range which is what it's normally is at. On the days where it wouldn't have longer cranking times before starts, my fuel pressure would be right at 17-17.5psi right at the start. I'm wondering if my hard starts could be linked to my lift pump just not always getting a good initial prime after that first KEY ON and WTS time? Should I just try starting the truck without waiting for the WTS light to go out and try and start it on that initial fuel pressure bump? 2. I double checked the fittings at the VP (supply & return) and took apart one section of the T fitting. This is what the current rubber grommet looks like (don't ask how I got this pic ), I'd say that's in pretty good shape and probably was replaced when the dealer put in the replacement VP. My guess though, is that when they were reinstalling that they never tightened it down enough and MAYBE that's what was causing the leak. I didn't have to take apart the other two fittings be I did attempt to snug them up. The top one was pretty snug but tightened down a little. The bottom one felt rock solid and I couldn't get it any tighter. I am going to go back and check the top and bottom one eventually but I need to get a 16mm stubby to make life easier. Anyways, we'll see about this theory. *fingers crossed* 3. I did notice that my fuel filter has some 'oily' residue on the side of the filter. You couldn't wipe it away with a rag, and it seemed as though it'd be on there for a while as it was practically stained on there. This is after wiping it down with brake cleaner to see if it would pop up again, but you can see towards the top what it looked like before hand. Could a slightly loose filter cause a loss of prime? I already was keeping an eye on this filer since I got it with a slight dent on the bottom. If anyone has any insight on any of these 3 theories of mine please chime in!

Here's the breakdown from CSMs write up of years of trucks and what you can and can't use. 94-99 old style taper knuckles and pitman arm 00-02 trucks have new style taper in knuckles and pitman arm 03-08 trucks have the new style same as the 00-02 08.5-12 trucks also have the same taper as the 00-02 and 03-08 trucks This kit WILL work with stock ride height trucks, the only POSSIBLE issue people run into is running out of adjustment on the draglink. I've read that others haven't had an issue with stock ride height and that they were able to adjust the draglink enough to get it into alignment, others have not. The other issue is stock wheels so if you still have stock 16s then you can't run these kits. I have 16's but they have enough backspace that it'll fit.

Is it 4x4? I'd imagine being a Canadian truck it is, but ya never know. If it's 4x4 and manual I'd look at buying.

So just to double check. If the little black bottle behind the intake and turbo isn't wet on the outside after running the A/C on high for a while then that's low freon right?

Yea I'm really hoping it's just the fittings not being as tight as they should! My theory is it could be fittings because I haven't had this issue since I initially tightened down the first fitting and I was driving the truck every day or every other day. This is the first time the truck sat for two days up hill without being run. So it seems like the fitting(s) might've gotten tighter but not enough to completely stop the leak indefinitely so maybe with a little extra tightening it'll clear the issue up long term.

Yea, I'm starting to think that the fittings might be the issue. When I originally installed everything I just put them to the recommended torque settings or just tight. But just now I was able to snug up the return and suction line a good bit. I was thinking about your situation though with your BLK, just didn't want to bring up any bad memories hahah!

Yea and that's what I thought the point of the JIC fittings were. To not have to rely on sealant to get a solid seal on the fitting. I think if I can't get it tightened up enough with the current fittings I'll just look at replacing them with new ones and see how that works out.

I can't speak for the other guys but what I'd assume they're talking about, as am I, is using something like a scangauge, OBDIImx or any other tool that reads real time coolant temps and then comparing the two temps at a like point. I just waited until my dash gauge read 190* and then checked my OBDII and it said 194-195* so I knew my gauge was a little off and on the low side.

Cool, that's what I thought. I'll see if just tightening it up like I did will fix it, and I'll also monitor to see if it is actually backing itself off. Are you talking about fitting into the VP or into the FASS? I'm going to go through and double check all of those fitting though. I used Loctite on all NON-JIC fittings, I'm starting to second guess on if I used enough or not. I have the grommets to replace the 3 fittings at the T but I didn't install them because I thought I fixed the problem. After tightening everything down, if the problem still persists I'll install those. I hope I don't need to go as far as taking all the fittings off to clean, re-Loctite and install again but if I do, I'll double check all those things.

Yea I've replaced the O-rings at the back of the head and confirmed it was tightened down then. I believe the JIC fittings are tapered, but from what I've been told I don't need any sealant on a JIC fitting. Would it be ok if I put some Loctite 542 on the threads as well? I'll double check that it's as tight as I can get it later tonight.

Ok so I potentially have this problem resurfacing itself. Here's what I've noticed... Typically in the morning, on my first KEY ON where I'll get the lift pumps initial surge, it'll bump fuel pressure to about 4-5psi then slowly drop back down. Today after having the truck parked uphill for a couple days without starting, the truck only bumped to 2-3psi. Went to crank it like I normally do and the longer cranking was back. When I let off the starter it primed the system and I saw 18psi on my gauge so I turned the key again and it fired right up. I dove back under the truck real quick immediately thinking it was the return line fitting on the FASS since that's what fixed it before and was able to crank it down about a 1/4 turn or so. My question is, could the fitting be working itself loose? Or is it more plausible that I didn't tightened it down as much as I could've last go around? I'm going to put a sharpie mark on the two fittings to see if it's actually backing off. If so I'll need to replace the fitting. If not then it's back on the hunt for a fuel leak. Any other thoughts on what could be causing this?

It's also hard to trust the dash gauge for %100 accuracy. On my 02 I've found that the gauge is roughly 2-3* off. So if my gauge reads 189-190* it's really in the 193-195* range and then my thermostat will open shortly after. This is all just empty cruising around town but just food for thought.

So in the case of timbos apps, when you re-learn positions you're really doing that for the ECM and not the timbo?

Type in the @ symbol and wait a second and names will pop up. So if I type @lea your name will show up on a little drop down menu and you select what name you want and it'll automatically pop into your post highlighted blue and tagging the person I'll throw another vote in for timbos apps. Never heard of any problems coming from it other then people messing up the proper voltage settings.

Well I ordered up the kit, says it's 3-4 days shipping so I'll update you all when it gets in and I get a chance to put it on the truck. Thanks to the write ups from CSM & The Hammer it should be even easier. Still going to have to wait until the kit gets here to see if I'll be able to use the stock steering stabilizer or not. I've heard equal amounts yes and no so we'll see.

Thanks for clearing that up @leathermaneod I knew I was thinking that, just couldn't get it out! haha

If you're going to replace it, it's best to go with Timbo, but others like the electronic one from NAPA I think it is. Have you gone through the process of verifying your APPS voltage to make sure it didn't get all outta whack?

Try not to get too frustrated. These fuel leaks are a PITA to find, and once you get it fixed you'll say to yourself 'man I wish I could've found that sooner!' because more then likely it's going to be something minor and just got overlooked until fixed. You'll get the leak found!

Could be over thinking a little bit but who cares! I think loctite, and a quick punch/pinch to the threads to keep it from backing off in a worse case scenario and your good. Just don't forget that you fudged the threads later on down the road when you're trying to take it off!

Sorry to hear man. Nothing worse then waiting on parts that were promised at a certain time.

Glad leather chimed in with some first hand experience! I wonder if the 'leak' could be caused by excess fuel sitting in the nut from the bleeding process and then once tightend down causes a 'slow leak?' That could've been why yours was happening for a little and then stopped leather. Just a theory though.

Yea I'm not sure how you managed that Mike! If I had this truck since new then maybe I'd be in the same boat as you. As of now they need to be replaced. They're so loose they can easily be turned by hand. If I'm going to upgrade I'd rather upgrade to a t-style.

Yea I have a leveling kit. That would explain it. I also think some people turned the wheel after the linkage was off the truck and got things misaligned. Probabaly going to order this soon. I talked with a local 4x4 shop to see if they had it in stock and they said that their price from their supplier went from 360 to 440, so definitely glad rock autos around!

Ok, I hope that fixes it. I would recommend doing them all if you're going to do one. I'd also recommend cleaning up the mating surfaces as well just to make sure there's no debris in there as well.

I'm not 100% sure if the crossover tube o-ring would cause a leak out of the injector lines, so don't go ripping into it just yet, I'm hoping someone else will chime in to either confirm or deny that. I can't remember if there's anything on the inside portion of the threaded nut on the injector that connectors that connectors to the head. In short though to replace the O-rings on the crossover tubes, you remove your injector lines completely. Keep them in the bundles that they're are in due to the blue fasteners. Then get a crossover tube removal tool, thread it on and gently remove the tube. I haven't personally done it, I was getting ready to while chasing a fuel leak but fixed the problem before actually changing the o-rings. The hardest and most tedious part of the job seems to be removing the injector lines and not bending/kinking them AND keeping them in their respective groups for easy re-installation. I'm sure a quick google search would show a write up or two on how to do it. TOOL HERE You might be better off just getting a new NEW return valve.