2000 injector pump problem

[groundpounder]

A soon to be member of this site ask me what he should do about his injector pump. It seems that his 2000 Dodge with only 24K on it is having some problems. Its at the dealership with a reply of "you have water in the fuel so therefore its not under warranty". He now is looking at a $4600. 00 price tag for the repair. Is there any recall?? Recall# I do not know what to tell him and I did a search in the archives with negative results. Any help you might be able to lend would be awesome!! Either call me at 410-287-5240 or email me at -- email address removed --

 

[Thomas]

What nonsense!



Here it is straight from the model year 2000 Owner's Manual:

Diesel fuel is seldom completely free of water.

Did the Water in Fuel light come on? Was the fuel filter/water separater changed at 15,000 miles? Does your friend use a good quality fuel from a reputable supplier ? Did the dealer dump water in the tank?



I'd be calling the D/C 800 number (800. 992. 1997) real fast. I also would not let the current dealer do another thing on my truck.

 

[groundpounder]

Thanks!! Correction on the milage 32k instead of 24k. All filters have been changed on time every time at the dealership. He only has 13k on this fuel filter. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Neal Cassady]

If DC won't step up to the plate and do the right thing, give Cummins a shot. I think they should be able to get you a pump for less than half of what DC wants for a pump. I think some of the vendors on this site sell new/reman VP44s as well.



Dave

 

[EMDDIESEL]

Talk to Evan Beck, if i remember correctly, he said he has seen Injector pumps brand new for around $1,600 or less.

 

[GFDfireman]

I have a 2001 and I was coming back from a trip to the beach. On the way home my truck began stuttering and when I gave it gas it shut off. Turns out that the fuel injection pump was bad. Or at least that is what the computer said and so did the Shop foreman at the 5 star dealership. Not sure if this is just a coincidence or not but mine was replaced free of charge. I only had 7900 miles on it at the time. No problems since. Sounds like a problem somebody needs to know about.

 

[Evan A. Beck]

This looks like an intriguing one! Wish I could have this truck in the shop...



Does the truck run? If the WIF light wasn't on, then I doubt that water in the fuel caused an injection pump failure. Perhaps BAD fuel caused it... I have seen that happen more than a few times.



I am wondering if fuel pressure tests were done? There's a lot of doagnotics that have to be done BEFORE condemning an injcetion pump.



SInce DC already denied warranty service, it looks like he's going to have to pay to get it fixed. TAKE IT TO CUMMINS, and get an estimate. You'll find the price of the pump is FAR less than from DC. Typical retail on a new VP44 is $1,600-$1,900, and this is from Cummins--which is where we get our VP44's.

 

[Archive]

I agree with Thomas, above. Just because a dealer denies your warranty does not mean that DC will not override them. Or shouldn't override them!



Water in fuel? Heck, if they didn't expect a bit of that, why would they have the bleed on our filters or the warning light on the dash?



First, I would go get my Ram away from those people... then I would be on the phone to DC!



You might also try doing a search... I believe I saw just a few months ago, a thread with VP44s for about 1300 dollars.

 

[John Berger]

Get that truck outta there and find another dealer. If you've done all of the maintenance on schedule and are still in the warranty window, I think DC is gonna be hard pressed not to override this idiotic dealership. Some dealer service departments are outstanding, others are just a conglomeration of idiots being run by a moron.

 

[Archive]

I wonder exactly how the H2O diagnosis was made. If the dealership does the work, wait a couple of weeks and send a copy of the repair order to D. C and Cummins. I just KNOW the dealer wouldn't bill a valued customer, receive payment, and THEN file for factory warranty reimbursement on the same repair.

 

[groundpounder]

Well like I said the dealership that has it has been doing the work on it all along!!. I can't see why this guy (Jim) has to pay anything at all. I spoke with him last night as he is in no shape to shell out the $4600 they are asking. The truck does not run at all. I will have the dealerships name in just a minute. I have been telling him to read the posts as he in not activated yet. So any more suggestions will be great!!!

 

[Evan A. Beck]

He could have it towed HERE to WA, fixed, and it would cost less than $4,600. *LOL*

 

[Ron Bissett]

Get it on paper , take fuel sample , get sample from truck sample if possible from place purchased , find new shop to check truck and put in writing , call DC for information and help. Ron in Louisville Ky

 

[DCouch]

Mine died at 16K on a y2k... I was sure it was the lift but the dealer replaced the inj. pump. We hear a lot about the lifts going I wonder how many inj. pumps are also going?

 

[groundpounder]

I am trying to reach Jim now to let him know whats happening.

 

[Ray Torresdal]

chicken / egg?

I'm real curious as to how many of the bad pumps are caused by lift pumps that went away without symptoms. Or at least had minimal pressure for who knows how long before they died completely. Ray

 

[lgibson]

$4,600? I had my 98. 5 ISB worked on at Reno Dodge. They replaced the lift pump and injector pump for a lot less. I had 101,000 miles so DC payed for half. I paid almost $1,000. I was quoted a price of $2,600 before DC stepped in. Is there that much between a 98 and y2k? Now I DO NOT recommend Reno Dodge at all. After I got it back from them it ran the same. Found out the fuel filter was plugged. They never replaced the injector tubes, there is a TSB stating to, and they leaked. Another $500 for that. So I spent $1500 for a fuel filter

But $4600

 

[NMPriestley]

The injector pump on my '98 24V died a couple of weeks ago --- dealer replaced it as a warranty repair without a word. Truck has about 41k on it.

 

[Mr. Brewski]

I called H&H Diesel in Fife Wa. They quoted me $1400 dollars for a new VP44 - I was just curious - Mines running fine!

 

[Jvann]

I had a similar situation at 19k mi. Truck quit with no warning

and would not start. Towed to nearest dealer(ha ha) and after

5 days was informed dirty fuel had clogged fuel line and warranty

would not cover repair ($700 to drop tank and clean). Needless to

say I did not buy that because engine never missed or acted like

it was starving for fuel. Told svc. rep. to stop any work and push

truck outside so I could pick it up myself (had to pay minimum svc.

charge and cost of filters they had put in). I towed truck with my

trailer and dump truck to selling dealer and they still tried to give

me a rash about dirty fuel but I had a fuel sample from the tank

to use as evidence which I pulled from tank when I picked truck

up from first dealer. Second dealer originally asked $3500. 00 to

repair but I refused and asked to talk to the next in command!

Enter a good service manager. After I explained to him that I felt

the first dealer did not have a clue and that I had personnally brought truck to him at my expense he said truck needed the

injector pump replaced and that he would cover it under warranty.

This was a night mare to me because I needed the truck and they

were fumbling around trying to make me pay for it until I got in contact with the right person. Don't give up and pay them. Get a

fuel sample and take it to an independent lab if necessary. I believe "dirty fuel" is a catch-all for the dealers to get you out of

warranty coverage if they can. Stick with it and you can get it

repaired under warranty as it should be! LOL. (Sorry for the long

post but that really was a nightmare experience)