Cummins ISX intermittent shut down issue...

Truck is a company truck which I drive... an 2007 9200i International day cab, a single 100 gallon fuel tank on right side, with Cummins ISX set at 410 horsepower, I believe. Truck is governed at 65 mph.

Here's the problem. Generally, at about 1/3 of a tank of fuel (but once today with the tank at around 1/2 full), the engine will shut off, just like it has run out of fuel. It's hard to re-start. Sometimes have to ether it. It's like the truck has just run out of fuel...

No fault codes displayed. Zip, zero, none...

The truck has been to the Cummins shop in Roanoke, VA THREE times for this issue. It never messes up when they have it. They've checked the codes and find nothing...

It has been to two other shops, about two times each for this issue. We were just hoping that someone might get lucky and find the problem.

So far, this is what has been tried (aside from the obvious switching of the fuel filter numerous times):

CHECKED AND REPLACED ECM WIRING FROM BATTERY BOX
REPLACE INJECTOR PUMP
REPLACE FUEL LINE FROM TANK TO PUMP
SWITCH FUEL LINE AND RETURN LINE POSITIONS IN TANK (in case there was a problem with the pick up tube in tank, we put the return line on the pick up tube in the tank, and vice versa. These two pick up tubes are welded into the tank, and seem the same).
DRAIN FUEL TANK AND INSPECT INSIDE IT FOR SOMETHING PLUGGING THE LINE. TWICE. (found nothing).
REFLASHED ECM WITH NEW SOFTWARE
PULLED OUT LOTS OF HAIR.

When the truck does shut off, it does not really seem as though the fuel filter is empty of fuel. We can tell this by opening the drain screw on the bottom of the filter, and fuel will drain out.

Sometimes the truck will re-start after shutting off without much trouble, but at other times it takes a lot of cranking. It started stuttering bad on me the other day, I was running empty going back to the yard. It seemed like it was only getting a minimal amount of fuel. I drove it along this way, running about 45 mph on the big road... and then hit the shoulder and shut it down, waited for about 30 seconds, re-started the truck and it ran like nothing was wrong!~!

So we're all at our wits end. The company is considering trading the truck in (we've spent over 4000 dollars trying to fix this problem)... but I don't really want to see them pass this thing off to someone else. I want to see it fixed.

So... what do you guys think could be the problem with this?

Dan

 

Is the electric lift pump in line before the injector pump?

Where would we find that pump?

Thanks...

Dan

 

I'll look for the electric lift pump and see about changing it out... that's something we haven't tried yet, and Cummins hasn't even mentioned that being a possibility.

Is that pump mounted on the fire wall, or somehow attached to the cab?

Dan

 

Thanks for all of the advice.

I will take a look at that pump probably tonight or tomorrow morning. I'll be in the truck all day tomorrow, so I'll check it out real good.

I'll post back as to what I find.

Thanks again,

Dan

 

Yeah... and you won't believe what I did find.

First of all, my bad, this is an ISM which does not have a lift pump. I said it was an ISX... but it's an ISM, which has a gear driven lift pump integral with the injection pump (which has been changed).

Keep in mind this fuel tank has been drained twice, and checked supposedly thoroughly by Cummins in Roanoke, VA and by our own truck garage near Wytheville, VA... the tank was drained and inspected last week, in fact.

But when the truck stopped with me on highway 10 in Matoka, WV last evening, I got it to the side of the road and looked in the tank. Looked like a rubber plug looking thing was laying about two inches in front of the pick up tube. I figured that was a plug for the saddle tank crossover (which this truck doesn't have, it's just got a single 100 gallon tank). So I didn't pay much attention to that plug.

I screwed off the fuel filter and it was half empty of fuel. I put some fuel in it from a jug I carry with me, and put it back on and cranked the engine and all was fine until I got to Roanoke to load up again last night about 9PM, and the engine shut off again.

I opened the tank, now with about 20 gallons of fuel in it... and my "rubber plug" had moved back behind the pick up tube. It was no rubber plug at all. It was about 2" in diameter. I took off the CB antenna (a Francis, pretty stiff antenna), and pushed that thing around a bit. It also appeared that another smaller black disc was in the tank too... (as I recalled, I thought I saw it when the truck stopped the first time).

I took my Swiss Army knife and duct taped it to the end of the Francis and gigged that thing like a frog... and slowly... slowly... carefully lifted it out of the tank. A cardboard seal from a winter additive jug.

When I got back to the terminal, I looked in the tank again (now nearly empty of fuel), and saw the other little culprit, the 1" disc. I rigged my gigging stick again and got that one out too...

I just can't believe that none of the garages that looked for debris in the tank could find either one of those discs. Heck, there might be others. Looks like sabotage, I am guessing.

Lots of money down the drain, all for two (hopefully no more) cardboard discs in the tank. The fuel would have to drain down about half way in the tank, and then start sloshing around before the disc(s) could move around and cover up the pick up tube. That's why it never seemed to do it with a full tank of fuel.

Thanks for all of the help and advice.

Dan