• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

M923 250 Cummins stalled in traffic. Fuel problem ?

acesneights1

Member
1,449
23
20
Location
CT
I was towing an M103a3 back from New Hampshire and was stuck in traffic on I495. Was crawing along for about 20 mins when all of a sudden, the truck died.
I was lucky it was downhill and I was able to coast to the shoulder. After cranking it for a bit, it started and idled but stalled again as soon as I tried to give it throttle. This happened about 4 more times until I was finally able to give it a little throttle so I started limping along the shoulder hoping/praying it would make it to an exit.After a minute or so full power returned and I drove it the rest of the way home without issue. A good 70+ miles including climbing hills. Almost felt like it lost the prime ??
I am going to change the fuel filter tomorrow. Other issues I found:
There is fuel leaking out between the engine shutoff solenoid and the PT pump where it mounts. I'm told this is an o ring and simple to change.
Also the primer plunger is stuck out and is wet around the shaft. It was that way since I bought the truck and I have put a good 1000 miles on it. The solenoid leak is new though. Could any of this caused my problem ??
Am I missing something else ? I'm grateful the truck cleared up and drove home fine but now I have a lingering fear of why since I can't really trouble shoot a running truck. I waited till the next day to see if it lost prime over night. It fired right up like normal....Ughhh.
 

dmetalmiki

Well-known member
5,523
2,029
113
Location
London England
That happens to me when everything seems to get too hot. So may be a temporary fuel vapor lock? and eventually cool fuel flows again and off we go. My 1/2 Kenneth.
 

Scrounger

Active member
496
67
28
Location
Southern, Maryland
Everything symptom you described is classic primer loss. Any or all of the leaks you describe could have caused the problem.
These trucks are very sensitive to air leaks in the fuel lines. I would repair the leak by the solenoid and repair the primer pump before it leaves you somewhere.
Before you change the fuel filter you may wish to check for water also. Drain some fuel from the bottom of the filter housing into a glass container and see if there is any water settling on the bottom. It is best to do this check after the truck has been sitting overnight.
 
Top