Re: Homecoming 2012: The Sportmachines Journey
The short answer is bad batch of fuel. I've since did a complete 50,000 mile service on the truck. Ran the tank down to the last gallon and refueled, and the syptoms, light, etc haven't returned. Also trailered again this weekend, so it experienced similar loads and it was fine. Fingers crossed.
The longer answer, before we left, I was in a frenzy at the shop so I sent my friend to fuel the truck and he ended up having to go to 3 different gas stations cause 2 of them were experiencing issues or something. So that leads me to the above assumption. I didn't cut the old ones open cause we were on the road and there was no good place to put a diesel filled filter with everything we had with us. Plus I was so focused on getting to HC and truck running normal that it only crossed my mind and I said the hell with it. The first filter, although the dash said it had 60% life left, was going to get changed with the service anyways as it was approaching 10k miles. So that one, I chalked up to getting the service it was going to anways. The second one, I left on til the change filter indicator flashed on the way back, and I bet if I left it, and just refueled it woudl have been fine, but didn't want to take a chance, get left stranded or delay our return any more than it already was, so I did it as a preventative measure. So its on the 3rd filter, in the process, but the 2nd new one. I did some invetigating and spoke with the local diesel tech at the dealership near me and he said he saw another truck, that from the same area I am with the same thing happen. He found nothing wrong, changed the filter and we both attributed it to a batch of fuel. The also indicated that there was bulletin for the fuel lines, that some have experienced collapsing and he suggested I have mine changed under warranty, but I wanted to rule out certain things first. Now that its serviced and "fine" I'll take it in and get the lines changed just to be safe.
I also think that the calibration, or the WIF sensor on the bottom of the filter might have something out of whack. Its a plastic houseing and gets swapped with every filter change, so I'm going to order one to have as a back up. If you have any other suggestions or idea, please let me know. Thanks