Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Lift Pump run around?????????

[Paul Holbrook]

I installed a fuel pressure guage some time ago... pressure was consistantly 10-15... Two days ago, I'm out in the wilderness with my camper and pressure drops to 3 and then 0 in about five minutes... So I head to the nearest town about 70miles away. The local dodge dealer says he can't do anything for 3 days... I can't wait so I decide to bring it home. . Service manager cautions me to drive easy and keep tank topped off. . So I bring it home,250 miles up over the mountains, ( about 10 steep uphill grades) and it runs GREAT; no loss of power at all...

Local dealer looks at says nothings wrong, this with fuel pressure gauge at ZERO!... Says fuel pressure doesn't matter, they only measure flow rate and mine at 40-49oz per 25 secs is fine... Shows me service bulletin dated apr 03 which he says only flow rate matters. . They didn't even measure fuel pressure cause "It doesn't matter"

I Tried to quote him what those on TDR have said and he said,"those internet sites are full of misinformation, trying to sell you gauges... Told him what the service manager at the small town dealer said and he said that maybe the guy was unaware of the service bulletin. "We can only go by what the Chrysler engineers tell us "I asked why the pressure dropped so dramatically and he said something about a back pressure valve suddenly opening, "which returns 70% of gas to the tank". .

He then charged me 40$ and sent me on my way..... So, Truck is runnen great but fuel pressure reads a big fat ZERO... .

 

[Bob Wagner]

I replaced mine on my dime too. Its cheaper to replace the lift pump vs. vp 44



once I swapped pumps back to 15+ psi



Forget the dealer, replace it soon

 

[cumminspwr01]

They claim that once the lift pump drops below 2psi its just a matter of time before your VP gives up. I would definetly change the lift pump one way or the other and if it is still under warranty get some papers from the dealership who turned you away so you can have documentation of this problem. On here recently I seen guys saying that there lift pumps where going to 0psi when a relay or breaker was tripping you may also want to search for that. If your lift pump is dead it would surprise me if you make it home over those mountains without the VP 44 dying. I wish ya luck.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

put an aftermarket pump on it... there's a reason they nicknamed dealers after the Pittsburg football team!

 

[Mad Bomber]

lp

Originally posted by Forrest Nearing

put an aftermarket pump on it... there's a reason they nicknamed dealers after the Pittsburg football team!

LOL

 

[Xgunfighter]

Find another dealer. Mine went to 5-6 Lbs. I wrote a list of the things it had been doing, 0 up hills etc. . Left with dealer. He called at noon to say truck was done. New lift pump installed. Now is 15-17 Lbs.

 

[rweis]

And THAT's why you carry a spare lp at all times.



Bob Weis

 

[jtisdale]

How much of your 5yr/100k warranty do you have left? If it were me, I would take it to another dealer. Or, you could just buy your own pump and put it on. However, there are other ways to make a vp fail and have the whole ball of wax replaced at a dealer.

As for the dealer that told you the internet is full of misinformation, he's 100% correct. But, I would say at least 30% of us here know these trucks 10 times better than any dealer.

 

[Mad Bomber]

LP

Just say FASS

 

[jtisdale]

Re: LP

Originally posted by Mad Bomber

Just say FASS

Thats a little extreme. Besides, I am not sold on mine yet.

 

[YEEHAW]

Ask that service manager what he drives. If its not a CTD, then you know his qualifications. Go to another dealer or whatever but get the LP replaced and get the pressure checked to make sure your gauge is working. I didn't take the advice to install a FP gauge and now I'm replacing the LP and the vp44. I have no idea how long my LP wasn't working. I can only image what my wifey would have said if mine quit 250 miles away from home rather than down the street.

 

[Paul Holbrook]

I've got 50K and a little over two years left on the warrenty... The Service Man at the small town dealership said he'd seen trucks go two years with a dead lift pump before the VP-44 gave out... I had a conversation with a dodge diesel mechanic about two years ago who said the same thing... My guess is that the bean counters at chrysler have decided that the Vp's will go for some time, after LP failure. before they fail and if you're sort of close to warranty expiration, they stonewall you and figure the VP will hold out until your warranty expires... ... a then they have you for a $2400 repair job..... I'll bet that there's an unwritten rule that if your over a certain milage or within so many months of warranty expiration, they stonewall you... They sure checked my mileage and purchase date before they refused me. . My guess is that if the truck had been one year old with 15k on it, they would have replaced the LP... . Those damn bean counters have figured probabilities to the tiniest decimal,,, and they've been studying the LP problem for several years, tracking every failure...

 

[rweis]

What about the RASP that KO Engineering has come up with? Do it once forever.



Bpb Weis

 

[Joe Mc]

TSB

Paul,



Take a look in the TSB section for lift pumps & your year rig, right here on the TDR. I would have but you don't have any info in your signature yet. Gotta do that it really helps us help.



I recall any pressure less than 10 psi, regardless of throttle position, is grounds for replacement.



Find another dealer. Sometimes they are looking for specific wording . . . complain of low power, intermittent hard start, decreased fuel economy. And then comment that you noticed the fuel pressure dropped.



You can mention that you belong to an organization of 20,000+ members that own only the Dodge CTD whom are waiting to hear how wonderfully you were treated by this dealership.



Keep us posted.



Joe Mc

 

[Big_Daddy_T]

I remember 8 psi at wot in gear. I had the guy at cummins test mine but he wouldnt stick it in gear. I said whats the point. They didnt charge me for it so I figured I got what I paid for.



How can you have flow and 0 pressure? Pressure is just a restriction these injection pumps really only needed flow to begin with. Its just easier for us to use pressure as a measure of how the system is working. A flow meter would be a better diagnostic tool.

 

[Billy Diesel]

No more pressure tests. All they do anymore is messure flow. That being said, find a different dealer. I had problems with mine dropping psi once it warmed up, the service manager rode with me and noted the pressures, and then replaced it for me. It was the second one the replaced for me, so maybe that helped too.