Cummins X15 starts and then dies

Discussion in 'Heavy Duty Diesel Truck Mechanics Forum' started by Josiah Harder, Feb 6, 2023.

  1. Josiah Harder

    Josiah Harder Light Load Member

    119
    72
    Sep 23, 2022
    0
    Just posting here in case anyone has some ideas because apparently the Cummins technicians at the shop I'm at don't have a clue after 5 hours of troubleshooting.

    For the past couple months the truck has been running badly after start up occasionally. I will start it up and my rpms will not stay steady instead fluctuating up and down with the fuel pedal not providing any input. This would happen once every 2 weeks and resolve itself after shutting truck down for a bit and restarting. This last week though the frequency of this issue happening was increasing to every other day until yesterday when it finally totally stopped running. It starts fine but then stalls out.

    Theres no active codes for the engine but prior inactive codes for VGT actuator prompted them to inspect that first and found it functional along with the Turbo itself. Now they sound defeated and at a loss of leads to pursue which I found odd since this is an official Cummins sale and service where all they do is Cummings so you'd think they know these engines inside and out.

    I'll include some videos I took the other day of how the truck was running when I realized it was not going to resolve itself this time and needed a tow.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. Josiah Harder

    Josiah Harder Light Load Member

    119
    72
    Sep 23, 2022
    0
    I'm unable to upload even a 5 second video clip does someone that frequents the site more often than me know how I could include videos here?
     
  4. Farming Trucker

    Farming Trucker Bobtail Member

    41
    45
    Mar 30, 2019
    0
    I was troubleshooting that problem a couple weeks ago and found that the fuel system kept losing pressure. There was a leak in one of the fuel lines.
     
    Magoo1968 Thanks this.
  5. Josiah Harder

    Josiah Harder Light Load Member

    119
    72
    Sep 23, 2022
    0
    Thank you for that suggestion! Did you have any codes to indicate that?
     
  6. Josiah Harder

    Josiah Harder Light Load Member

    119
    72
    Sep 23, 2022
    0
    heres a link to a video clip I uploaded to youtube and also 2 other video links to google photos.
    Shared album – josiah harder - Google Photos
    Shared album – josiah harder - Google Photos

    The first video with my dash illuminated and the check engine warning on the screen is the oldest of the 3 videos and you can see how even though it was running strange and not allowing my cruise control to be set higher than 800 rpm it was still running better than it is in the other videos taken yesterday. I drove 900km in between those events too with no issues.

    Also in the Youtube video you can notice the rpms coming up and down. Thats not me pressing the pedal thats happening on its own and characteristic of how the issue first presented itself a couple months ago but now it stalls and drops rpms immediately after start up
     
  7. gokiddogo

    gokiddogo Road Train Member

    8,781
    14,752
    Mar 5, 2012
    Ontario Canada
    0
    May check rawze.com it's all about cummins engines tons of information there. I would guess first thing would be watch the fuel pressures on insite, maybe a cylinder cutout test, depending which fuel filter you have, clear or not, is it losing pressure to the pump, maybe put a gauge in there as well... I'm sure the cummins guys already checked all this and more. Sorry can't help more, have an isx, curious what the outcome will be. I'd probably start by connecting a clear hose to your davco or paccar fuel water separator and maybe 3' directly into a 5g pail of fuel. You'd at least eliminate if the problem is between tank draw and there.

    Edit to add
    On that train of thought, if you did the clear hose from the return side as well, you could check for air bubbles being returned. ?
     
    D.Tibbitt and Josiah Harder Thank this.
  8. Josiah Harder

    Josiah Harder Light Load Member

    119
    72
    Sep 23, 2022
    0
    Thank you very much for those suggestions I'm going to run it by the guys there and will also update when they figured it out!
     
    gokiddogo Thanks this.
  9. Josiah Harder

    Josiah Harder Light Load Member

    119
    72
    Sep 23, 2022
    0
    Truck started up after sitting in the shop all night. Nothing was done to repair it and I doubt it was gelled up cus the day I was towed it was above zero and I have winter fuel yet. Starting to think it was the secondary fuel filter as they said it doesnt look great even though only 13,000 km on it. Will be replacing that preemptively
     
  10. JB7

    JB7 Medium Load Member

    521
    625
    Dec 13, 2022
    0
    Do you have a Davco? If so there is a check valve at the inlet. That could be allowing fuel to drain back to tank. Check the fuel level in the Davco before starting. Sounds like the check valve or getting air into the lines. Also should be draining water out of the separator at least weekly.
     
  11. Josiah Harder

    Josiah Harder Light Load Member

    119
    72
    Sep 23, 2022
    0
    I'm not sure what a Davco is so I probably don't have that. Im going to start draining the water separator more regularly. I thought if I couldnt see any water in it that it would be fine but maybe not especially in cold weather
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.