LSUfan71
I'm Awesome
Hi, guys. Let me give you some info and see if I can get some suggestions. I've had my truck for about a year, it currently has about 180,200 miles. The problem right now is it's idling very roughly and dies after a few minutes. I can drive it but I get strong knocking with any acceleration so I'm keeping it in the driveway right now.
The situation: A few weeks ago I let my truck get low on gas and I was headed to get gas when it died, I'm sure it ran out of gas (yea, I know, I'm an idiot). Anyway, I got some gas into it on the side of the road and it still wouldn't start. Had it towed to my mechanic the next day. He later tells me that the reason my truck won't start is due a bad distributor. He also says the starter is making some bad noise and needs to be changed (which I knew about and was putting it off to save money). I give the go-ahead to do the work. Days pass with no info, I drop in and he says he got the truck started but it was idling/running very roughly and he didn't know why. He wanted to visually inspect the timing chain so I give the ok. He calls back and the timing chain/timing is fine. Nearly a week passes and he still can't figure out why the engine is running so roughly. Finally I get enough of not hearing that it's fixed so I bring my truck home. Mechanic charged me $350 for a new distributor, new spark plugs, and new starter (no charge for labor because he couldnt' fix it), I figure this was a decent deal (but frustrating).
Note: fuel filter is only 3-4 months old and the EGR valve is about 6 months old. Fairly new battery, new battery connectors.
So, I try to drive the truck around for a bit. It runs VERY rough, dies every time it's stopped. Got noticeably worse over a period of 2-3 days. Very difficult to start. I then replaced the fuel pressure regulator and the IAC with little to no change. I installed new spark plug wires and starting was immediately improved, starts instantly now. Still idling rough though, hesitating. The truck was NOT running roughly when it initially died and was towed.
My guess is that I damaged the fuel pump when I ran the fuel tank dry, I'm guessing the rough idling is due to a bad fuel pump now. I'm about to go get a loaner fuel pressure gauge from AutoZone and test it tomorrow evening. Can a bad fuel pump cause loud knocking?
Do you guys think I'm on the right track? Feel free to comment and/or make suggestions, I'm a novice mechanic at best.
The situation: A few weeks ago I let my truck get low on gas and I was headed to get gas when it died, I'm sure it ran out of gas (yea, I know, I'm an idiot). Anyway, I got some gas into it on the side of the road and it still wouldn't start. Had it towed to my mechanic the next day. He later tells me that the reason my truck won't start is due a bad distributor. He also says the starter is making some bad noise and needs to be changed (which I knew about and was putting it off to save money). I give the go-ahead to do the work. Days pass with no info, I drop in and he says he got the truck started but it was idling/running very roughly and he didn't know why. He wanted to visually inspect the timing chain so I give the ok. He calls back and the timing chain/timing is fine. Nearly a week passes and he still can't figure out why the engine is running so roughly. Finally I get enough of not hearing that it's fixed so I bring my truck home. Mechanic charged me $350 for a new distributor, new spark plugs, and new starter (no charge for labor because he couldnt' fix it), I figure this was a decent deal (but frustrating).
Note: fuel filter is only 3-4 months old and the EGR valve is about 6 months old. Fairly new battery, new battery connectors.
So, I try to drive the truck around for a bit. It runs VERY rough, dies every time it's stopped. Got noticeably worse over a period of 2-3 days. Very difficult to start. I then replaced the fuel pressure regulator and the IAC with little to no change. I installed new spark plug wires and starting was immediately improved, starts instantly now. Still idling rough though, hesitating. The truck was NOT running roughly when it initially died and was towed.
My guess is that I damaged the fuel pump when I ran the fuel tank dry, I'm guessing the rough idling is due to a bad fuel pump now. I'm about to go get a loaner fuel pressure gauge from AutoZone and test it tomorrow evening. Can a bad fuel pump cause loud knocking?
Do you guys think I'm on the right track? Feel free to comment and/or make suggestions, I'm a novice mechanic at best.
