Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Engine problems after driving 30 to 40 miles

[GMichaelson]

I have a 1999 Doge pickup that has 225,000 miles on it and I am having problems when I drive farther than 30 miles any thing under that it runs great. Just some history I have replaced the fuel pump twice the first time with one that went into the fuel tank about 5 years ago and the next one about 2 months ago this is an after market fuel pump and it is on the out side of the tank. I have also replaced the injector pump about 3 years and that is about when my problems started. The truck starts great and as long as the trip is under 30 miles it great but if I go farther than that is when things start going wrong. To me it is like a gas engine that either has bad spark plugs or cables. IT happens when I have steady pressure on the throttle or seems like it starts then but it starts to run rough and start to jerk so I need help badly. If anybody knows what is wrong with my truck or knows a good mechanic in the Portland OR area please help me out.

 

[JLandry]

It could be a number of things, but it almost sounds heat related.



Have you checked for trouble codes using a good code scanner? Let us know any codes you find.



Are you monitoring or at least checking the fuel pressure at the VP44 fuel injection pump inlet? What are the fuel pressures you're seeing.



Regards,



John L.

 

[GMichaelson]

I have checked for trouble codes and I did not find any. I have no way to check the fuel pressure at the fuel injection pump.

 

[VolsFan]

not sure if you have a power programmer or not, but I used to run superchips and other plug in modules several yrs ago, and the superchips started making the engine do weird things such as what you describe, took that stuff off and went another direction for power and no problems since.

 

[GMichaelson]

The only thing that I have added is an exhaust brake to the truck. So if someone know a good machanic in the Portland OR area that they know can figure out what is wrong I would appreciate it.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I would suggest contacting Rip Rook at Source Automotive in Clackamas, he should be able to check it out for you or send you to the right place. Tell Rip I sent ya.

One thing it could be is maybe you are sucking air somewhere and as you're driving it gets more and more air in there. When it misfires and acts up does it blow white smoke or have a rich fuel odor?

Another possibility is with the electronics on the pump, the solder is known to have issues and deteriorate due to heat and you might have a situation where as it heats up it causes a component on the circuit board to expand and cause poor connection on one of its leads which could be the source of the intermittent stumbling. Unfortunately the electronics aren't serviceable, surface mount kind of thing.

 

[jdross440]

After I replaced my injection pump it ran good for about 350 miles. Then it would start missing and die after about 15 minutes. It would restart and run fine until the next time I let it completely cool. It wouldn't set any codes. I found out accidently that the connector at the injection pump (the one built into the computer) apparently had some bad solder joint(s). When I would push down slightly on the connector the engine would stumble and die if I didn't let off on it. I sent it back under warranty and they replaced the computer. This was 35K miles ago.