3K later, a ton of work and dead pedal is back.

[Ozymandias]

If you are there, check the connection on top of the tank.

 

[JeepBuilder]

OK, I hope I can reach it. I just filled it... I will be out there for some measurements shortly.

 

[Road Dog]

The random surfacing of this dead pedal where it runs great for 600 miles then falls on itself for an hour is nuts.

My symptoms were like that - unloaded and around town it was fine. Slide in the camper, head up a steep hill and it would fault.

 

[JeepBuilder]

Well I can reach the tank connection. I also see checking cracks in the blue line. And there are no clamps on the pump inlet and outlet. No signs of moisture. I am a little surprised I did not replace this a while back. I have been a little preoccupied. I just ordered 20 feet of trident marine fuel line with a liner for no rubber contact. I have had issues with regular over the counter fuel line on my gas motors, so I only order marine stuff now. I also had a conversation with OFI this morning. The PSG board was reman. He says it would throw a code if that were an issue. Or the PO1693 ?? for a deeper issue. He said the pump is always bypassing fuel. He did not see the need to replace the fuel line. I sure do...

 

[Ozymandias]

These blue lines that come from FASS are not worth a Dime.
Best that one can do is throw them in the garbage right out of the box and put some decent fuel line into truck. Otherwise just do the work again two years later.

No clamps needed at the connection as these are push-on barbs, but it needs the right push-on hose to to work..

 

[JeepBuilder]

Just sold a transmission and transfer case to a guy that had a 2001 dually with dead pedal. It happened when his battery terminals would corrode up. He would clean them and it was good for a while. And he did this several times. Interesting..

 

[JeepBuilder]

After talking with the guy who has a truck exactly like mine I decided to change out my battery clamps. Then I did the the major ground modification found on the mopar1973man site. Written by a member who goes by WT. Here is a simplified link to the procedure.
https://mopar1973man.com/cummins/ar...ectrical/w-t-ground-wire-mod-simplified-r574/
I hope its OK to post a link to another dodge site.
It gets rid of the major long grounds with way to many splices. It also re-routes the alternator charge wire to the passenger side battery instead of the drivers side battery removing it from the loom that crosses the whole front of the engine and getting it away from the ground circuits eliminating or reducing any residual alternator AC interference. Now the grounds for the ECM, PCM, VP44 and PDC grounds now land on the back of the timing cover. And that same connection has a new ground to the drivers side battery negative terminal. A short easy path to ground eliminating over 4 feet of messy factory built "eventual ground" As WT put it.
I had to remove the battery cables from the truck to cut off the trashed clamps and solder on heavy copper or plated ring eye terminals in the shop. I added the heavy duty clamps that are now replaceable. I had done this to my negative cables and replaced the cross over parallel cables on my last bout of dead pedal. Just before my replacement ECM went in. I left these alone but they were clean the last time I looked. These are ugly and they are cracking.

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They are both cracked, stretched, dirty and no longer holding as tight as they should. I used a LOT of terminals and heat shrink today.

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Now all of my connections and clamps are clean and sound for now. I will watch these closer and clean them frequently.

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The ground modification WT did in his original post (the link was a simplified version from mopar1973man) is a great thing to do to these trucks. The crazy long grounds with multiple splices sitting right next to a crazy long charge wire is not a good design.
Maybe just maybe this will finally stop the wretched darn dead pedal. That is the censored version. I will probably drive it with the camper to Montana to a forest fire lookout convention on the 7th. About 3 hours away. I could use another nerve wracking adventure.

 

[petersonj]

@JeepBuilder , this is a very good move on your part. The W-T ground wiring mod is one of the best electrical modifications that one can do for this era of truck. Please keep us posted as to whether or not the dead pedal symptom goes away.

A few drops of engine oil on each of your battery terminal connections / hardware will go along way in preventing corrosion. You will not need to clean them frequently. Also, keep the battery tops clean.

If the truck is not going to be used for weeks at a time, raise up the IOD fuse (Ignition Off Draw) in the power distribution center (PDC). This will shut off power to the underhood light, courtesy lights, glovebox light, etc., but most importantly - it shuts off the parasitic draw from sleeping computers.

- John

 

[JeepBuilder]

That is a good suggestion. I have not been driving the truck in winter here. The road salt is brutal. I park it and let it sit for about 5-6 months. And it is not getting much use now. Camping alone is OK but it is not something I do a lot. If I sell and move, it's going to rack some serious miles though. Thanks John, as usual this site is helpful as ever. I plan on a long term follow up on the dead pedal. My fuel line will be here soon and I just picked up new filters yesterday. Fingers crossed...