Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Follow up to lift pump survey

[Silver Bullet Ram]

2001 quad long bed 40k it failed all stock no gauges



Gary

 

[homeka45]

2001. 5 QCSB 4x4 no mods 40,433 miles no FP gauge might have failed earlier, failure noted when truck would not prime after fuel filter change.

 

[Timberline]

Lp

01 QC LB 6-speed, 4X4, Exhaust brake, 4-inch strait pipe, AFE intake, No power upgrades, 89,000 miles, no LP failures

 

[terrywerm]

01. 5 QC, short box, 5 spd, 4x4. Only mods are DiPricol FP gauge, muffler gone, and BD Exhaust brake. Failed at 79,000 and replaced under warranty. Now have 103,000 and it appears to have failed again just this morning, temps of minus 10 Fahrenheit. Started just fine, ran fine, good fuel pressure. Halfway here only showing 2 PSI, but runs fine.



EDIT: Found out that the problem was the guage. It seems that I had a pocket of air between my isolator and gauge. In that pocket it seems that some moisture condensed out and froze. Flushed the line with alcohol to remove the ice, then refilled with anti-freeze. Gauge reads normally now, and pressures are normal. Oo.

 

[DanWilson]

02/reglong/nomods except for BHAF.

Truck purchased w/34K miles on 05/30/04.

FP gauge installed @43305 on 11/23/04. 9psi @ idle. Changed fuel filter. 10psi @ idle, 11psi after warmup.

Erratic readings on 12/18/04 - extremely slow climb to peak pressure, like there was an obstruction in the hose from the Schraeder valve to the sending unit.
12/20/04 replaced lift pump @ 44040 miles w/ O'Reilly's lifetime warranty. 15psi @ idle, 13psi @ 2000rpm

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

"Obviously the lift pump design is flawed"



Realistically, the only design "flaw" in our LP setup is the placement of the pump at the engine, rather than down near the tank...



And in THAT scenario, it just MIGHT be that the aftermarket setups would fail as apparently frequently as the stock setup!



As much as the stock LP is cussed and discussed, pretty much EVERY "new and improved" aftermarket setup has had it's premature failures as well - the greatest difference being that the stocker LP's are numbered in the hundreds of thousands, while the various aftermarket setups as represented on this board are probably only at a hundred or less. Naturally, the sheer force of numbers make the stockers look bad by comparison - but MANY instances have been noted where the stock setup has performed well for 100,000 miles and more.



When we see tens of THOUSANDS of aftermarket setups out on the road with down-the-road mileage averages way up there, THEN we can start crowing about their "superiority" over the stock setup!

 

[Rman]

I'm with Gary on this one. The numbers of stock lift pumps on the road and our limited snapshot of those pumps makes it look worse than it is.



That being said, I just stopped by my local cummins dealer and picked up a lift pump. My 2002 has 45k on it, and the pump just quit on me 2 days ago. I installed a comp and mach 2's about 2 months ago. So the proof seems to point towards the injectors and box, but then again the truck had 41k on it already... . who really knows?



I installed 8-AN fuel lines throughout the system, and this didn't help with pump life... however, when it worked I saw 14 ps at idle, and cruised around 12-13 and could pull it to 10psi at WOT. With my comp box turned up and mach 2 injectors I think that's pretty respectable.



I'm ordering a RASP pump to put in parallel with my stock LP.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Personally, if cost is a factor, I suspect the single most cost/performance effective move is to simply relocate the stock LP down as close to the tank as possible - best bang-for-the-buck!

 

[Horsepuller]

I'm not so sure that just because the LP is not closer to the tank, that that is the cause of the problems. Case in point, my '98 Suburban has the fuel pump in the dang fuel tank and it crapped out w/ 70k miles. My truck has 77k miles and no problems. I tend to beleive that after market mods that increase the fuel flow and put more demand on the LP are part of the problem. But that's just my humble little opinion.

 

[hmartin]

My lift pump died at 38,000, about 400 miles after I installed gauges. No mods at that time other than BHAF and straight pipe. Now at 45,000 pressure is 12-15 idle and 9psi WOT. Sometimes will flutter between 13-9psi while crusing. Edge EZ added at 41,000.

 

[JRagland]

02 HO. QC SB. 33,000. completely stock. no guages. no failures, still runs strong.

 

[tkirkpatrick]

Lift Pump

2001. 5 2500 QC 4X4 LB HO 6spd Stock

1st pump @ 11569 Miles MIL Light On DTC code PO 230

2nd pump @ 25804 Miles Leaking at right bottom terminal. Both replaced under warranty.

 

[R-N-R]

1st replacement @ 34k

Fix - New pump in stock location

Correction - Fuel plumbing kit with frame mounted pusher in tandem with stock pump



A filter before the pump seems like a really good idea.

 

[HAnderson]

yk2,cc,auto,failed 5000. not stock

 

[JTruelove]

Survey

In an effort to get a more accurate picture of when and why these lift pumps fail, more info is needed on the details of each truck. Obviously the lift pump design is flawed, but there are probably some conditions which will accelerate this failure rate. I don't think a simple "has your lift pump failed" survey says it all. How about members post all pertinent info about a truck and its lift pump failures, then a pattern can be made based on milage, year, bombs, etc. What I propose is:



Year/milage/cab and body configuration(ex. Quad/Long)/Fuel System related bombs(computer,injectors,larger lines/fittings), and milage at which they where done/Number of lift pump failures(or none)/milage at failure(s)/most recent fuel pressure #s



Examples:

02/38000/QuadShort/no fuel bombs/no failures/14 idle,11 load,9 WOT



01/67000/RegLong/edge ez@34000/1 failure@51000 miles/13 idle, 10 load, 7 WOT



Sure there are more factors involved, but this is an effort get a more focused picture than what we have now. Every 20 posts or so I'll update the poll results by catagory.

Any takers?

99/116K/QC 4x4 auto/1 failure 82K (lift & injector)/Big Hoss Banks # 5 installed 101K/2 failure 112K (lift & injector)/Enterprise fuel gauge 113K/10-12psi idle & 11psi @ 70 mph, 8-10psi WOT.

 

[ChrisOlson]

lift pump

99 quad long



61578 today



edge comp



4 inch exhaust



transmission upgrade



2 gauges



larger diameter banjo fittings



12 at idle 9 wot



4 lift pumps replaced :{



I very rarely go below 1/2 tank of fuel and always use an additive, tried a different additive after each lift pump failure I put my foot in it every now and then bust mostly am very consertive with the truck mostly highway light towing



Who does the rasp in the northwest montana to washington state

 

[Mad Bomber]

Come over to www.NWBombers.com we have some that have this pump.

 

[FDNYMOPARGUY]

Wow! This thread ressurected after a year. I'm at 57000 miles now. Used a mechanical tempoarary fuel pressure guage at every oil change from about 25000 miles. At about 38000 miles I installed a Westach unit. By 47000 miles I was down to 10 psi at idle, 4 under load. When my dealer asked how it was (he authorized install of guage) I told him and he just asked when I could get in for a new one - no check to verify, no flow test, just top notch service. Pressure steady since - 14@idle 11 under load.

The moral of this story, as has been said before: These pumps will fail whether the engine is modified or not(but sooner if modified and slightly more frequent on the longer wheelbase trucks. ) MONITOR THE FUEL PRESSURE! Use the warranty at 99000 miles to replace a failing lift pump on Dodge's dime if you can. If not grab a spare from Cummins for about $150. Although I didn't perform the swap, most guys say it's not that bad. After hearing some nightmare stories from F*** and C**** guys, I'd say we're way ahead of the game with these trucks.

I'll admit that I do not have the knowledge or experiance to put this never ending subject to rest, the preceeding has just been my own observations and opinion. Now, about those track bars.....

 

[ChrisOlson]

track bars

3 letters



DSS

 

[WEggart]

99/94000/SLT QC SB/Edge EZ/70000/Lift pump failure noted when VP44 died at 94000