DD13 Crank no start

[Therealarw]

Hi everyone,

Currently having some trouble with trying to get one of our freightliners started, we brought it in to reseal some oil leaks and fix a couple other things. We pulled apart the cam housing, to reseal the top part, timed everything with the timing tool. I also adjusted all the valves and made sure everything was where it needed to be. We also did the back bell housing but didn't mess with the gears or any of that. I plugged into the truck to see if there was any codes but only coolant level and some sensors that are currently unplugged. Been messing with these thing for a few days and I'm totally stumped. Any kind of advice is amazing.

Thanks,
Adam

[Therealarw]

Also to add on... There's a "red stop engine" light on the dash but that is because there no coolant in the truck but I don't think that would keep the motor from running would it?

[Bengy88]

Did you have the fuel system open like the fuel lines off the rail? If you did for over an hour and didn’t cap the rail and lines then when the fuel drains from the rail it starts forming a microscopic powdery substance and when you put your truck back together it sends that stuff through your injectors. The tolerance on a dd injector is so tight that it actually stops them up and causes them to hang open or closed. The only way to make one start after this has happened is unplug the quantity control valve, have someone pump the hand primer very fast and spin the engine. It will start up and make a pinging sound. Let it run till it starts leveling off just a lil and then plug the quantity control valve back in. And yes i also thought this was complete bs until I witnessed it. I don’t know if the fuel has a reaction to the types of metals in the rail when air is introduced or what but Detroit actually has literature on this happening.

Also if you had the fuel filters out check and make sure the stand pipe isn’t broken in the filter housing. They are very very easy to break and won’t let the engines prime. This is just the first 2 things that come to mind

[Therealarw]

(03-13-2025 )Bengy88 Wrote:  Did you have the fuel system open like the fuel lines off the rail? If you did for over an hour and didn’t cap the rail and lines then when the fuel drains from the rail it starts forming a microscopic powdery substance and when you put your truck back together it sends that stuff through your injectors. The tolerance on a dd injector is so tight that it actually stops them up and causes them to hang open or closed. The only way to make one start after this has happened is unplug the quantity control valve, have someone pump the hand primer very fast and spin the engine. It will start up and make a pinging sound. Let it run till it starts leveling off just a lil and then plug the quantity control valve back in. And yes i also thought this was complete bs until I witnessed it. I don’t know if the fuel has a reaction to the types of metals in the rail when air is introduced or what but Detroit actually has literature on this happening.

Also if you had the fuel filters out check and make sure the stand pipe isn’t broken in the filter housing. They are very very easy to break and won’t let the engines prime. This is just the first 2 things that come to mind

Hey man! thanks for the reply so you were 100% right I didn't realize how insane the tolerances are on the fuel injectors so we ended up having to take them out and I had them sent out to get rebuilt and that had fixed the issue. But it's weird I usually leave cummins injectors out for weeks and put them in and they still run like a champ. But yeah man I guess now I know to not leave the injectors out to where they can get air in them haha