Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Dead Pump

[mwinter]

Help..... My truck died the other day while accelerating onto the highway. Since it's still under warranty I had it towed to the nearest Dodge dealership. The two codes they pulled were PO1688 and PO254. Basically they told me my VP44 and the transfer pump were toast and they weren't going to honor the warranty because of the Edge EZ box that was attached. My question is this: has anyone else been denied warranty service because of the EZ and do I have any options? Thanks to anyone and everyone who can help.



Michael

 

[JPLB22]

Honestly, I don't think they can deny you your warranty just because the EZ is present. They have to PROVE that the EZ was the root of the problem. If I was you I would ask to see some paperwork dealing with the proof of the EZ being the root cause.



I think it is possible for an EZ to toast a VP44, but pretty unlikely. I don't think it is possible for the EZ to harm the LP. The LP is always running at 100% no matter what the VP44 is asking for, when demand from the VP44 is less, the extra fuel the LP is pushing is sent back to the tank. IMHO, you LP probably died of natural causes ( or design of fuel system stupidity ), which in turn took out your VP44 from fuel starvation.



There is a document that was linked to this site a while ago. It had to do with the legal issue of denying warranty work for having aftermarket parts. It stated in so many words that, denying warranty work just for the pressence of aftermarket parts, without proof of them actually causing the problem, is ILLEGAL. The name of the document has something to do with "Monson Act, or Magnussun Act", or something, sorry I can't remember the document better.



Good Luck !!



Jeff

 

[Sticks]

It might be eaiser to pay for the towing, and their diagnostic, then take your truck to another dealer W/O the Edge and boost elbow/turnbuckle.



No they can't just void your warranty because they see the Edge (unless it was the Comp and the pump wire was tapped). but it is the standard to deny all calims.



You may end up working your way up the dealer management, then you will hear "You will have to take it up with Dailmer Chrysler, we do what they say, and they said no warranty. " Then you start working on DC. A month later you still have a broken truck, and will be impatiently waiting for the first response from DC which will be a general form letter apologizing for the fact that your warranty was canceled and it will not be reinstated. 6 months later you get a lawyer and you go through the motions of taking their butt to court. A year later your lawyer calls you as says that you may have a court date in a couple of months, and could you please pay the last statement for the fees. 4 years later and several appeals by both parties, DC finally agrees to pay for the repairs and reinstate your warranty retro back to the initial cancellation date, which has now expired.



I would hope that they did not make any notes in the DC database when you took it in about the warranty coverage, and take it to another dealer. If you did get red flagged, I'm sorry for you, and good luck. You have a real strong case that the dead LP killed the VP (they have a very looooong history of that) and not the Edge EZ.

 

[jGiacobbe]

This is such BS! And to think I actually had sympathy for American car manufacturers. I wouldn't get that kind of treatment from Toyota on my 4Runner. Oh wait... nothing ever goes wrong with it with over 100K on it. These guys deserve to put themselves out of business, which is exactly where they are all headed.



I can't wait for a Japanese 3/4 ton gas or diesel. At least I know they will stand by their product!!!

 

[mwinter]

Thanks to everyone who replied... . I'm afraid Sticks might be right with his breakdown of the arbitration schedule but I'm going to try it anyway. Does anyone have additional information regarding the "Act" that JPLB22 mentioned?



Thanks again,



Michael

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

"You may end up working your way up the dealer management, then you will hear "You will have to take it up with Dailmer Chrysler, we do what they say, and they said no warranty. " Then you start working on DC. A month later you still have a broken truck, and will be impatiently waiting for the first response from DC which will be a general form letter apologizing for the fact that your warranty was canceled and it will not be reinstated. 6 months later you get a lawyer and you go through the motions of taking their butt to court. A year later your lawyer calls you as says that you may have a court date in a couple of months, and could you please pay the last statement for the fees. 4 years later and several appeals by both parties, DC finally agrees to pay for the repairs and reinstate your warranty retro back to the initial cancellation date, which has now expired. "





And right THERE you have the wonders of Magnussen/Moss - do you REALLY wanna go thru all that - or simply get it fixed and ON with yer life?



ANYTIME you do power enhancing mods to yer truck, you risk the above - make up your mind as to whether YOU will accept the ri$k, and eat potential failures - or be a slave to the warranty you THINK you have... I made up MY mind on that issue as soon as I bought my truck - DAMN the warranty, I know what I want and expect from MY truck, the one *I* paid for - and DC can take their warranty and... .

 

[2ndgen2500]

about the "TOYOTA CLAIM" they suck with warantees just as much as anyone else does, i had a 2" spring spacer on the front of my fourrunner, and one day my front diff started leaking, well i guess my inner cv boot was ripped, took it in, and they denied me on the spot and canceled my full warnatee. . warntees are crap... but if you are good with BS and enjoy arguing you will turn out fine, but if you were smart, you would have taken the edge off before getting to the dealer, it takes only about 5 minnutes, and most people just see the edge under the hood and deny it. and since you have an unmolseted pump wire. you shouldnt have had any problems getting the warnatee...

 

[JPLB22]

I'm in a position right now that if I needed a VP replaced, I would have no choice but to fight with tooth and nail for warranty. My financial position has degraded since I bought the truck a year and half ago. There is no way I could pocket a VP44. I have no EZ or Comp or any other fueling mod for that matter. But I do have a Wildcat Max Flow Kit. If my VP44 did go south they could possibly try to deny my warranty for the Flow Kit ( I wouldn't put anything past dealers ). I would print up a copy of the "Magnuson - Moss Act", and at least show to the Service Manager for starters ( you never know ).



Here is a link to the Federal Trade Commision and the Magnuson - Moss Act



http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.htm



Jeff

 

[Sticks]

Originally posted by JPLB22

I'm in a position right now that if I needed a VP replaced, I would have no choice but to fight with tooth and nail for warranty. My financial position has degraded since I bought the truck a year and half ago. There is no way I could pocket a VP44. I have no EZ or Comp or any other fueling mod for that matter. But I do have a Wildcat Max Flow Kit. If my VP44 did go south they could possibly try to deny my warranty for the Flow Kit ( I wouldn't put anything past dealers ). I would print up a copy of the "Magnuson - Moss Act", and at least show to the Service Manager for starters ( you never know ).



Here is a link to the Federal Trade Commision and the Magnuson - Moss Act



http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.htm



Jeff

One service manager at a dealership was nice enough to pull out a copy of the "Magnuson - Moss Act" from his desk drawer when I started asking him about warranties and what modifications I can do without voiding the warranty. He then pulled out numerous notices from DC about modifications and the position DC is taking on them. He smiled and summarized it all for me.



"Anything that you either put on or remove from the engine/drive train with the intent to alter the performance of the vehicle, gives me the authority to void your warranty on the modified parts, and anything that they are related to, as in part of a system. "

 

[JPLB22]

That really bites the big one !!!!



Even though... . I would still give it a shot.



I'll just hope and pray that my VP44 doesn't have sorm sort of catastrophic flaw from the factory. I've got 65,000 more supposed warranty miles.



Jeff