OH-MN Almost

Got all the laundry done, restocked the truck, and was ready to roll by the end of my 8 hour break at 2300 Wednesday night. Dispatch called at 0545 Thursday with a load offer from Bucyrus, OH to Detroit, MI. Turned that one down as it did not pay well enough. Went back to sleep and got up about 0700.

Dispatch called again at 1045 with a load offer from Sydney, OH to Faribault, MN which is south of Minneapolis. Paid over $700 to the truck. Jumped all over that load. Went out and started the truck to let it warm up while I made some coffee and got ready. Went out into the garage staging the items I load into the truck last like my laptop, duffel bags, and etc. Noticed that I didn't hear the truck running. Opened the garage door and sure enough it wasn't running. Tried to start it and it started and the check engine light came on and the computer shut it down. It wouldn't restart.

Did some quick diagnostics and confirmed that it was not getting fuel to the engine. Given that it was around 5 degrees the night before, I figured I had a icing problem or the fuel gelled. I went into the sleeper to see if the Buster would start. It started fine, so that eliminated the gel problem as well as any problem with the fuel pump. I had run out of time and had to notify dispatch that I had a breakdown, so they had to repower the load.

Went back out and turned on the pre-heater and let it run for 30 minutes to bring the coolant up to operating temp. You don't normally have to do this prior to starting the engine as it is equipped with glow plugs. After 30 minutes, the engine fired and remained running. Bear in mind that the sun was out and the temp had risen to about 25 degrees. With the engine now warm, whatever was frozen had thawed, but would most likely reoccur.

I suspect that there is water in the fuel filter. Just enough to freeze and restrict the fuel, but not enough to set the water in fuel sensor off. The engine computer will shut the engine down and set a hard code if it does not read the proper fuel pressure level in the data stream. So now, I get to make a trip over to the dealer today and have the fuel filter changed, and a diagnostic run to identify and eliminate any other problems.

This is frustrating but it's just part of trucking. Even though the truck has been properly maintained, you can't prevent picking up water in diesel fuel and it will stop you in your tracks like it did here. If there is a bright side, it happened in my driveway and not in the middle of nowhere and it doesn't need to be towed.

To Gary B: Thanks for your comment. Let's hear from all you other readers as well.