Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) '02 VP44 Failures, kind of long.

[MVieira]

Is it my imagination or are there allot of VP44 failures on '02 trucks with low miles? One of my friends has an '02 truck like mine that is completely stock, no gauges, and 66,000 miles on it. He called me last month and said he was experiencing dead pedal, low power and a CEL. I had him cycle the key to get his codes and he had a P1693 and the P0216. I told him that his injection pump was failing by what I've gathered from the TDR and the service manual. He still was in the 7/70,000 so he took it to the dealer and they put the intank lift pump and a new VP44 on it under warranty.

Now my truck looks like the VP44 is failing. Last week coming back from Oregon pulling the 5th wheel I first noticed my boost surging up and down from 20 to 26 psi. on a hard pull, like it was fueling less and more. Then on a hard pull the CEL came on so I pulled into the next rest stop. Before I shut it down I noticed when I idled it up to 1500 to 1700 rpm in neutral it had a slight miss to it. I checked codes and I had the P1693 and the P0216. I figured I would chance it and see if it got me home. As I left the rest stop I got a momentary dead pedal and then it snapped out of it and accelerated. It got me home and life was good except for my VP44. On this trip my fuel pressure never dropped below 11 psi. with my AirDog, but I just put the AirDog on recently. I think it was all the previous trips and WOT runs with the factory lift pumps where I used to watch the fuel pressure drop down to 2 to 3 psi. and then I would let off because it would make me nervous, but I thought I was OK if I maintained positive pressure but I guess I was wrong. I talked to Margret over at Diamond Diesel in Sacramento and they are Bosch rebuilders and she said that anytime you drop below 5 psi. supply pressure under a load that you can damage the VP44. She said the plate cracks on them in the same place which I've heard here also. She said they can hardly keep rebuilds on their shelf. The bad thing is my truck only has 31,000 miles on it but I can't ask for warranty since it is bombed. I've also used Stanadyne fuel additive since new. I replaced my factory lift pump once because I wasn't happy with the fuel pressure under WOT conditions but the pressures didn't change. I then did the Vulcan relocate and big line kit and pressures were great until the pump crapped out. I got one of the new updated pumps and it had only 12 psi at idle and would drop to 7 to 8 psi under WOT. So I put my original pump back on, that I kept for a spare, and pressures were fine but the whole factory lift pump thing didn't leave me with much confidence so I opted for the AirDog and I've been very happy with the supply pressures from it but it hasn't been on for very long. I guess it's just my luck. I think I will get my VP44 rebuilt since it only has 31,000 miles on it. I just wanted to see if anyone else thinks the '02s have a high rate of failure. Thanks in advance for any input.

Regards, Mike V.

 

[Baileysof3R]

How I delt with '01 VP44 & Lift Pump Issues

After 6 months searching for a clean/white '01 2500SLT Quad SWB 4X4 Stick Shift with under 100,000, I found one in '04 on a Ford lot in Tulare, CA. It was a automatic, but was a leaser with good service records and a clean CarFax report. They wanted 26K, my 17 year old daughter brokered a 20k deal, out the door. Trans code came up after 3,500 miles. Only towing 4,500lbs trailer so I put black tape over MIE light and converter only slipped a little and did not get worse till recently. At 126,000 (August 2005) lift pump started failing and took out VP44. This was all new to me so I was trashing injector pump by the mile and didn't know it. (Dodge could have provided fuel pressure gauge as standard equipment. ) Installed new stock lift pump under hood and was told rebuilt VP44 had a thicker diaphram after 2003. Now at 150,000 miles I'm getting ready to tow 13,000lbs Alpha for work travel. Went with Stainless 4" Magnaflow with Silent Mite muffler, AFE Stage 2 Pro Guard 7 and Juice/Attitude. The Carter was pumping about 8psi EXCEPT stayed around 3-4 psi until truck warmed up. I don't think that would damage 12 month old rebuilt VP44, if in fact, it had thicker diaphram. Installed FASS 150/150 #1008 a few days later. Running 16-17 psi, 13-14 psi above 4,000ft elevation. FASS wasn't cheap, but fuel filter & water/air seperator are easy to get to and I was told to disregard warning about shortened pump life by oversizing. At 25 plus pounds it is built to last. Dropped in BD Torque, Converter, Trans & Exhaust brake with pressure lock and auto lock. Just about everyone I've met with an '01 or '02 has replaced VP44. Some have in-tank transfer pumps under warranty. After replacing in-tank pumps on my Ford's. I'm just not down with that engineering concept, and the price of "all inclusive" in-tank fuel pump systems. After replacing to many exhaust manifolds on gas Fords I was cured anyway. After tearing apart a failed stock transfer pump (after failure) it was real easy to see the reason why so many $2,000 VP44's failed because they totally depended on a maxed out $300 Carter transfer pump better suited for a nice riding lawn mower. I'm ready to hook up 5th Wheel for test tow, but I'm a little concerned that the BD Exhaust Brake drops out at 30mph. Some of the mountain roads I'm on are 6-8 % grades that are narrow with lots of hair-pin turns. You just can't travel on above 30mph. The FASS 150/150 might be a little over-kill, but I'm hoping for another 200,000 miles. MVieira, hopes this helps. By the way check out the FASS installation manual for '01. The first page deals with hard starting, weak transfer pumps and maybe damaged vp44's. Any ideas out there on my BD exhaust brake concerns?

 

[Evan A. Beck]

Based on my last 6 years of experience in the diesel industry, the '02 VP44's definitely fail a lot more often than all the others. Not sure why, its not like there are more '02s than the other years. In fact, the '01 model year was far longer, and they seem to fail the least.



Generally, the '02 trucks set a P0216 a lot easier than the others, and get the infamous 'dead pedal' along with the P0216. The good news is the rebuilt pumps are holding up very well, with only one failure in the past hundred or so I have replaced. Not too bad!

 

[Silver_Ram]

I have always been curious about the 02's. I am even more curious about the H. O. 's & whether or not they fail more than the standard output's.



I have an 02 H. O. , my first VP44 went out at 40,000 miles. The lift pump was still good, so it wasn't replaced. I had noticed the lift pump was getting weak, so I replaced it at 79,100 miles. I didn't want the in-tank conversion, so I paid for a campaign pump. I had a second VP44 replaced at 80,010 miles. I have been told that the VP44 should last around 100,000 miles, I only have 81,000 miles now, so much for even 50,000 miles.



I didn't install any upgrades until 50,000 miles & they are rather modest upgrades.



There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. I work with a guy that has an 02 standard output that was bombed after two weeks - exhaust, chip, injectors, intake, pusher pump @ 85,000 miles, etc... at 135,000 miles he's still on the original VP44. He even uses FRAM oil & fuel filters, because they are cheap. The truck has been beat to hell - inside & out. What gives??



I do my regular maintenance - change both filters every 5,000 miles - synthetic everything and I am on my third VP44. Fuel additives used to be done every time I changed the filters. Now I run both Stanadyne Power & lubricity formula in every tank. Is my truck possessed?? or is the H. O. even worse??



I'm starting to wonder if I am wasting my time with this truck.

 

[keimmmo]

I think the 01. 5 trucks were about as bad as the 02 trucks. My first injection pump failed at about 40k... which seems fairly common.



Steve Keim

 

[TJarecke]

My roomate has an 02 with 60K and is getting a new vp44 now too. I think the guy before him let the lift pump go bad and traded the truck in due to low power. He has had trouble with low power since he bought it. He then had the lift pump relocated about 6 months ago by the dealer. His mileage decreased so he had a the dealer look at it. They said it was ok. He took it to another shop and they found the injector pump. It is being replaced by the dealer under warranty. Hopefully we can talk him into gauges now.

 

[02cummins]

I am on my original lp and vp44 no codes no problems I purchased mine on Jan,1, 2002 I moved my lp with the vulcan kit and just installed injectors. I have 58,000 miles on it now, no probs nock on wood... .

 

[Crazy Horse]

On my 02;



At 35,000 miles I just recently had the VP replaced under warranty and paid to have the dealer replace the block mouted LP w/ one (Cummins) I supplied to them to get the VP covered under warranty. I did not want the "in tank" conversion. Thats like 2 steps backwards.



I'm going to to be putting the Walbro 392 on the truck within the next couple of weeks to protect the new VP.

 

[RAndrae]

My 02 vp failed at 19,000 MI. put on fass at 19,000 and now have 74,000 no probs since.

 

[FourBarR]

my 98. 5 original vp-44 430,000kms. X 0. 62137= 267189k. these early pumps were considered not as good as later ones. always used howes meaner every tank,and after 100,000kms. been adding mmo to every tank. dont know if this has anyhing to do with the long life of the pump but will continue on.

 

[bschmidt]

02 3500 6sp HO 6 transfer pumps and 1 vp44 with only 55,000... ... no warranty DC red flaged me 3 years ago for having banks brake. Still fighting that one. It is getting very costly to own this truck just purchased a walbro hope it helps????

 

[Jeff Knight]

My first IP was replaced at 35K and it was replaced at 83K. I now have the GDP392 kit on my truck. Jeff

 

[Sixpack]

45000 miles and IP died and 3 lift pumps replaced also. Pressure never a problem. When the pressure started acting funny I replaced the LP. No help for the IP I guess...

 

[rweis]

I think there is definitely something different about the 02's. I think it might be engine compartment heat, but not sure. Idea above about tighter tolerances on failures is an interesting idea.



Dumped VP @53k, since then RASP and much experimentation to COOL VP (I have a LONG thread about what several of us have tried). Now 70k & VP has not been above 105*.



My system approach to it is super clean fuel (no free water), pleanty of volume (AN-6 or BIGGER), CORRECT psi (13. 5 +- 3), AND run the VP as COOL as you possibly can (no OEM ff, fuel cooling, VP cooling AFTER shutdown).



Let's say you have a very precise electronic pump (VP44), the better you can keep it from being stressed (no timing boxes, cool, lubricated, super clean fuel) and doing what it is designed to do at the lowest end of its limits (rather than the highest end of its limits) it would SEEM it would last longer.



MY theory at least,



Bob Weis

 

[PVanderlugt]

Yep , an 02 with the vp44 on the way out @58000, on 3rd lp, only acts up (dead pedal)when hot and worked hard, slowly starting to get worse. thinking about a Walbro pump and a 1/2 inch pick-up tube to compliment the vulcan 1/2 lines

Pete

 

[Partyat33]

My VP 44 is still going strong after 120k bombed miles in an 01 HO. Go figure.

 

[XJJoe01]

My 02 HO is in the same boat. It has a new vp44 and lift pumps on it. I have not BOMBed it any and my second lift pump is starting to fail. This is about 15000 miles on the lift pump (the vp was replaced under warranty and I replaced the lift pump after I drove the truck home). This was a new lift pump from NAPA when I installed the Vulcan kit. My pressure has dropped to 10 WOT. When it was new, the pressure was 12 WOT. It currently has about 58,000 miles on the truck. I am not sure what I am going to do. The Air Dog and the Walbro seem to use the same fuel pump, (or at least the same pump design) or the FASS. I think I am going to buy another carter lift pump, drive it untill it dies again and hopefully we will have more reports on the walbro and/or air dog as folks should have some millage on them. I don't mind a FASS, but I can't buy a fass from NAPA or Pep Boys. I think I can buy a walbro from these places. I may be wrong on this.....



Add me to the 02 failed VP44 club,



Joe

 

[keioga]

My 2002 ho 6 speed died at 60000, did everything I could installed pusher, changed filters had 20 psi at idle 17wot and it still died. I now have the in tank from the dealer pump and I will see how this one works cant be any worse than all the other setups. I think the problem lies in the ho style pump

 

[Camelracer]

Just picked up my '02 from the dealer this morning after having the VP replaced at 52000 miles. Problem started with two of dead pedal incidents and the 1693 and 0216 codes. Each dead pedal only lasted a few seconds and then the truck ran normally. The only engine mods are an Edge EZ and Pac brake.



The fuel pressure has always been good so I don't think this was caused by wear due to a lack of fuel. I also don't understand how the dead pedal could come and go so fast and then have the truck run normal if the pump was worn out. It seems more like an electrical issue or sticking solenoid.



It would be interesting if Dodge or Bosch would share some of their failure analysis data with us.

 

[mhenon]

They probably don't want to share that data because it looks so bad.

My VP went out at 70k. The LP seemed to be working at the time but I didn't have a fuel gauge then.

I'm pretty sure my pump had electical problems. It would go from running like crap. . to going for a week with no symtoms and. . getting great mileage. Who knows???

I think this pump is running right at the limits in the Cummins/Dodge P/U application.

A VP44 in another application, like marine or generator (I'm thinking steady load and better cooling), might run forever.

Our little Jetta has an almost identical Bosch rotory pump and IP failures are rarely mentioned.

It looks like the VP is our baby now that Cummins has moved on to HPCR (much better system by the way). Most of the 2nd gen trucks are moving past warrenty and Dodge/Cummins can then wash their hands of it forever.

Everyone with a VP44 should read Bob Weis (rweis) thread on cooling the IP. Good clean well pressurized fuel should take care of the mechanical problems. Cooling that fuel, and the pump, should address the electrical problems. If this keeps the VP going for 150k or so... I can live with that.

Mike