Engine starts and dies.... 04 - 3500

[jelag]

I've read about this here... just can't find the thread or the answer... .



My 04 is sitting 230 miles from here along side the road... .



The engine starts and dies... . I went out last night and picked up the driver and trailer...



It starts and runs fine... . and about 10 seconds later dies...



It's got fuel and an extra lift pump at the tank... fuel in the filter... something is turning off the fuel... .



It seems to be switching from the start mode condition to run mode... . and when it goes to run mode it dies.....



You can maybe drive the empty truck 150 - 200 ft before it dies... .



No codes or check engine light yet... I've got time today to grab a part or 2 and go to it... any suggestions.....

 

[2Gen3Gen]

If you are still under warranty, I would call the 800 number and let D/C deal with it. Too many other things to do on a Saturday morning.

 

[jelag]

144K miles... . it's long out of warranty.....



Jim

 

[67guzzler]

Jim -- Man. It sounds like you already hit all the common problems. Fuel filter, lift pump, etc... . I feel for you.



I have one weird suggestion just for curiousity. This isn't ideal to do but should not hurt it to do a few times. After starting let it run until just before you think it will start to die. Then barely turn the key off and then back on pretty quickly -- quick enough that the engine wouldn't normally stop. Don't engage the starter -- just send the command to cut the fuel and then go back to the run position quickly.



See if that "resets" the condition that allows it to run for another chunk of time or if it still dies from fuel starvation. My thought here is that if the lift pump was failing, it will still stall because it didn't have time to pump up the system. If it continues to run for a 2nd chunk of time equal to the time it usually runs before it dies, then maybe it's not fuel starvation but some electrical problem.



Other than this odd curiosity of mine, I haven't a clue.



Hang in there.

 

[jelag]

OK here's an update... the lift pump is bad, and we're putting in the new change over kit... .



We've lost 2 lift pumps already and the last time we installed a pusher pump at the tank... and still lost the lift pump at 45 K miles or so... BTW... the pusher pump won't push fuel through the lift pump once it quits... . We put a test gauge on it. . and the pusher pump puts out 8 psi of fuel pressure... once the lift pump fails the pusher won't push fuel through it... .



We found several lift pumps on the shelf at Dave Smith and a good price... . but we're going to the new kit... found one in a dealer in SD and its coming ups red and we should have it tomorrow..... we paid about 285. 00 with the ups red... .



We are being told that the old lift pump is no more... and our Cummins location here said it was now no longer available once local stock is gone... .



And the new kit is on National backorder with about 400 on the back order list... . we were quoted as high 735 for this kit as I remember... . by a local dealer using the part number.....



Once the new pump is installed we'll see what else is wrong... . no codes yet... just a dead truck... .



BTW please understand this is just what we were told... I read a thread earlier about someone looking for a spare... If you so inclined give Dave Smith a call ASAP, and if the BO issue is correct on the new kit... than there's going to be a lot of Pi**** off guys out there.....



Hope this has been some help... .



Jim

 

[Bob4x4]

I would rather not add the in tank pump. If it fails you won't be fixing it along side of the road. You can use all the parts in the up date kit-plumbing,relay. wiring and mount a pusher on the frame rail. If it fails it will take you 10 minutes to change it out. In your case Jim just upgrade your pump to a 15psi model.



Bob

 

[jelag]

Bob



Thanks for you input... we thought about your suggestion before we got the kit coming... our thought process was that we couldn't find the parts outside the kit... .



So were going to install it... save the old parts. . and look at finding a 15 psi pump... . and we'll wait and see what the failure rate of the in tank pumps are... . to date I know of no failures... .



Jim

 

[mberry]

Jim,



There was an in-tank pump failure posted on this forum a week or two ago. So far it's the only one I have seen. Just an FYI.



Mark.

 

[Bob4x4]

Bob



Thanks for you input... we thought about your suggestion before we got the kit coming... our thought process was that we couldn't find the parts outside the kit... .



So were going to install it... save the old parts. . and look at finding a 15 psi pump... . and we'll wait and see what the failure rate of the in tank pumps are... . to date I know of no failures... .



Jim

The individual parts are available when not on b/order. When you get your kit you will receive a sheet with all the part #s including the filter block off. It is not much different than what DD did a while back



Bob

 

[BIG BOB]

Jim,

Why didn't you go with a Fass, Rasp or Air Dog? The Rasp seem like the best way to go, being it's mechanical.