1999 Supercarged Tahoe

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chutchcroft

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Just got this truck 1999 4 door 4x4 6" procomp lift with Nitto Mud Grappler 35x14.50x15r. It has a Whipple Supercharger all is well the truck runs great but today after running the gas tank down to about 1/8 of a tank I got these random engine hesitation symptoms and hard starting when hot. Almost like fuel restriction. Runs great after i rev it a few times no engine lights on. Anybody have any ideas??:D
 

95TwinTT

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Just got this truck 1999 4 door 4x4 6" procomp lift with Nitto Mud Grappler 35x14.50x15r. It has a Whipple Supercharger all is well the truck runs great but today after running the gas tank down to about 1/8 of a tank I got these random engine hesitation symptoms and hard starting when hot. Almost like fuel restriction. Runs great after i rev it a few times no engine lights on. Anybody have any ideas??:D

Sounds like vapor lock. Do you know what fuel pump is in the truck? If the pump is stock, it may be on the very edge of getting the job done.

Sounds like the problem goes away when the tank is filled?
 

chutchcroft

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Yea it definatly gets rid of the hesitation and jerk of the engine cutting out when it has gas in the tank, but it is still hard to get running when hot. The pump is a high flow i think it ran and started great untill yesterday.
 

95TwinTT

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Got any pictures that show the fuel rails? How about the injection, what system is being used? Do you know what size injectors, (lbs, per hour)?
 

chutchcroft

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I just put some pictures on my profile under 1999 supercharged take a look! As far as the injector size i dont know. I do believe the whipple kit was made for stock configurations only giving you boost during 1/2 to full throttle, but the pump had to be upgraded to heavy duty.
Thanks
 

95TwinTT

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Wow, that is a nice compact package. I assume the stock injector system is being used.

I would get a fuel pressure guage. The kind that has a long enough hose to fasten to the windshield wiper to go for a test drive. If you could find out what pressure the system runs at. What is the pressure when the key is first turned on. What happens when you start cranking, and where does it end up at idle.

The FPR should be set to rise one pound of fuel pressure for each pound of boost. It may rise higher than that if they are using fuel pressure to up the flow through stock injectors.

I don't know how your truck it geared, but I would want to know if the fuel pressure holds up through a wide open throttle shift, from second to third. It would be best if someone could ride along to watch the guage.

That is about the only way to know for sure if the fuel pump is keeping up with the demand. You could also do this on a chassis dyno.

Meanwhile, try to keep track of engine temp and frequency of the hard start, relative to engine temp when shutting the truck off.

If you come off of highway speed or from a recent "beating", the engine needs some time to get the heat transferred to the radiator and out. If it is turned off shortly after highspeed use, it would be interesting to know if that is more of a problem starting after a few minutes.

Typically, vapor lock takes a few minutes after turning it off to become a problem. If you can turn it off and immediatly start it back up without a problem, but it you wait fifteen minutes or so, and it won't start, that's likely vapor lock.

I use ty raps to hold the guage to the windshield wiper arm.
 

chutchcroft

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I agree about the Fuel pressur gauge. The truck has 3:73 with locker. I can run the crap out of it, or just go long enough to let it warm up and as soon as i shut it off and try to restart it will start if i pump the gas and blow it out then its just fine. also if i just start it and let it stumble and sputter it will eventualy clean out by itself. Then all is great the truck will white smoke 35x14.50 Nittos.
 

chutchcroft

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I found that the temp sending unit for the ecm was cracked and disconnected. Replaced it and runs great. Cold the engine starts in open loop and ran fine but after hot the bogus sensor made the system go full rich which makes sense. Thanks for the help!
 

95TwinTT

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I found that the temp sending unit for the ecm was cracked and disconnected. Replaced it and runs great. Cold the engine starts in open loop and ran fine but after hot the bogus sensor made the system go full rich which makes sense. Thanks for the help!

Hey, thanks for posting the solution. That helps us all add details to our "little mental workshops".

There are so many details with injection and especially forced induction. :cool:
 
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