Friendly heads up for 1028-1008 owners

[truck1]

Just a heads up for 1028-1008 owners. My 1028 runs great but as we all know these trucks are 26+ years old and require constant upkeep. I started to experience hard start issues. Engine would crank several times instead of 1 crank and immediate start. After start it would surge @ different idle speed. So I thought maybe defective fast idle solenoid? Bad seals @ stock fuel filter introducing air into fuel system? So I crawled under the truck and looked for any fuel leaks. Sure enough I found a wear through in the 3/8ths fuel line from tank to lift pump.It wore through @ the 90 degree turn where it transitions across the crossmember between the bed body and crossmember. @ that spot the fuel line rubs on the bed and after 27 years created a very small pinhole that was enough to suck air into the system and also weep fuel. The fix was cutting the fuel line close to the bad spot with a tubing cutter and replacing the rubber fuel line that was stock with a 6" longer piece. Problem solved starts and runs fine again. If your truck hard starts or surges in RPM's, check that spot on your fuel line first.

 

[McCluskey]

I had similar difficulties, but it was caused from a poorly sealing Fuel Filter housing, so I converted to a new style.

 

[truck1]

I read your thread on the filter upgrade and that will be my next improvement. Thanks for posting such detailed info.Also did you figure a fix for the messy fuel air bleed valve?

 

[McCluskey]

I'm exploring some options to make that feature a little less messy. As I described, it's basically a polymer machine screw with one side milled flat to when you unscrew it enough you create an airspace along the length of the screw. I'm looking around for something in the realm of a needle valve or a sampling stop cock; something where I can hook up some transparent tubing to the bleed off similar to the OEM style.