engine locked up

Common rail engines do not have to have the fuel pump timed the way older engines used to. That is the whole point behind the common rail. When the Detroit literature talks about "timing" for a DD15 fuel pump it is referring to how to make the fuel pump gear to mesh with the gear train. The fuel pump gear has a shield that has a semi-circular cutout that has to be in the right position when you install the pump or you won't be able to slide the shield past the drive gear in the gear train. That's it.

Had me confused for a while when I did the fuel pump on my last tuck. Timing means timing, right? Apparently not when the engineers are German and the manuals are in English.

 

Pretty much everything these days has an electric primer pump. I haven't filled a fuel filter in years lol.

 

Depends on the engine model. Some common rail engines get their timing signal from the fuel pump. I know some Isuzu and Caterpillar common rail engines do.

 

You can replace just the bad parts.. but you have to decide if its more economically feasible sensible to just overhaul it or replace it... thats something you have to figure out

 

That’s the pa

That’s the part I didn’t understand. I get the square bracket has to clear. The gear also has to be installed with timing marks lined up. The OP said they didn’t time the fuel pump. The literature says the engine needs to be at TDC, on #1 cylinder. Detroit says BDC will work also. Doesn’t make sense to Me.

 

I second the advise to take it to a Detroit shop, or at least to a Freightliner Dealer. It is very common for DD15's to lose prime and be hard to start after a fuel filter change. If a PM with a filter change is the only thing the first shop did, and it was running fine when you brought it in, then I have to think the engine just needed priming and maybe the ether has damaged it.

Was the first shop a major truck stop chain, or was it a mom and pop?

 

Depending on what parts are bad. Just bearings? Maybe Crank? If a piston rod is damaged, the head needs to come off. That’s a question for the Mechanic that takes the oil pan off, and see what’s damaged. From what I’ve read, sometimes the main bearings only can get damaged. Rod bearings ok. They need to look at the damage. Decide what caused it. Otherwise it will happen again.

 

Not a DD15 unfortunately. The fuel pump has a low side and a high side. It's a lot easier to prime a DD15 if you have a Davco filter since that provides a quantity of fuel only slightly lower than the pump. If you don't have a Davco then you have to pump fuel all the way from the tank with that little pump handle. The Detroit literature says to pump it 400 times. FOUR HUNDRED TIMES!!! No wonder someone would resort to ether, even though everything says not to.

 

I agree with you. Normally I avoid them. But in this case, might be money well spent. This Guys on the 3 rd Shop already. They should have an estimate, or at least a price for further investigation. They need to pull the oil pan. The whole problem started when they didn’t prime the fuel pump, after changing the filters. Then they changed the pump, installed it improperly. Hitting it with more ether. It won’t start without priming. Especially once it’s lost all the fuel in the lines. That fuel pump looks complicated. No telling what else was done wrong, when they changed it. Engine locks up after oil change. Too many coincidences. Hard to believe it’s really locked up.