Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) LP/fuel DC's specification (help!)

[DLausche]

Anyone know what DC's specification or method of testing the LP is? Dealer is telling me that my truck is within spec since it pumps 47 oz. of fuel per x (1 minute, I assume). They say spec is 45 oz. But, the truck will run for 15 minutes sometimes on cold mornings (+5*) with 0 psi. Fuel psi goes higher (7psi wot) once it has run longer. They say this is all normal. I'm thinking their story is a bunch of BS. Dealer wants to charge me $$$ for doing nothing as far as I'm concerned (testing).



Help! I need info if I'm to try to counter their claim that nothing is wrong.



-Deon

 

[Lordsman]

dealers are idiots sometimes

I changed my LP myself when it would get down to 5psi on cold mornings, and ran at 7-12 psi depending on the load it was under. Dealer(Johnson Auto Plaza/Brighton,CO) was NO help.

It dosn't matter I gave 'em $31,000 for the truck when it was new, they just took my money and told me to kiss-off down the road like most dealers. My new pressure is now 15/16 psi all the time.

In your case if you show no pressure and your gauge is reliable, buy one from Cummins and put it in yourself. If you can show the dealer(svc. mgr) your new pressure vs. old if they took note of it, maybe they'll give you a break. I would'nt drive the truck without pressure, you could ruin the injector pump. New LP at Cummins for me was about $135. 00. Your truck is probably just about out of warranty like mine is.

 

[Thomas]

Diesel Transfer Pump Diagnosis

 

[Sticks]

Re: dealers are idiots sometimes

Originally posted by Lordsman

Dealer(Johnson Auto Plaza/Brighton,CO) was NO help.

It dosn't matter I gave 'em $31,000 for the truck when it was new, they just took my money and told me to kiss-off down the road like most dealers.

How long ago was this. They are the ones that replaced both my LP (only 3 months old) and injection pump with no problem.



DC has dictated that it does not matter what PSI you have, it is all based on flow rate... . bad plan. If the flow test shows OK, they can not replace it under warranty.



I am sold on moving that pump to the frame rail by the tank. Get it done and end your worries about fuel pressure.

 

[Lordsman]

Sticks,

About 2 months ago, man at service counter(Rick) said it the old pump had to be on the truck to check. I had the old pump in a box which the new one came in. Said he talked to his boss and DC. I called the service manager personally and asked him about it, he said he'd get back to me, well I'm still waiting for his call(yea right). Note; I had a problem with a noisy heater hose fitting and Christopher Dodge gave me a new one no questions asked, they have treated me far better than Johnson. Guess who gets my business if I buy a new truck?

 

[Sticks]

Ummm...

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=89601



Everyone get treated differently at the dealer. Bought my truck at Christophers, and will NEVER go back. Service, Sales and the Detail Shop have ALL BURNED ME more than once.

 

[Lordsman]

ouch...

Looks like they got smacked pretty good & deserved it. Thanks for the info Sticks.

 

[DLausche]

Faith in dealership restored

Well, this afternoon took off early and down to the dealership where my truck has been for 3 1/2 weeks now. Was ready to ruff up some feathers and hoped to at least get my truck back so I could swap out the LP myself. To my surprise, they said they had figured out the problem! They said the LP is bad. Surprise, Surprise!. After talking with both the head Svc Mgr and the technician, I could tell they were genuinely trying to get it to act up all along. They said this am they started it up and psi went to 0 after a few secs. Took for a drive and it stalled b4 they got out of the lot. Tech bumped the starter to see if LP was running and he said it was making a heckuva racket and not pumping anything (0 psi).



When I asked them when it might be fixed, they checked on LP availability. None in stock. Checked DC and 4,000+ LP's on backorder! They then checked another source, presumably another dealer and said they would have it done by Monday. Asked the tech to also do whatever checks he could on the injector pump and he said he would do what he could figure out.



My faith in this dealership has been restored. I think this really must have been a difficult one to figure out. Have to imagine that DC probably has some strict rules on what has to happen b4 they will replace this "restricted" part.



Gonna be reading up on and looking for one of those pusher pumps to install this spring once the weather warms up a bit.



Thanks everyone for your feedback!



-Deon

 

[slo-ryde]

Just got the truck back from the dealer, I had a slight loss of power that was only noticeable on long grades. I had to use a little more throttle than normal to maintain speed. The only other symptom was on the last fuel filter change it took forever to get the engine to light up. I did the bump start primer thingy 3 times before trying to start the engine the first time. It ran 10 seconds and pooped out. I probably did the primer thingy another 15 times but finally had to resort to cranking engine at 15 second intervals to get it going again. I can't help wondering if the VP44 was doing all the priming.



Anyway, it failed the flow test and they replaced it (truck has 30,000 miles on it). They even had it in stock which really surprised me. It sure would be nice if Cummins could come up with a better solution. If DC has 4,000 of these things on backorder then it should be obvious to even a moron that something is really wrong with this picture.



My fuel economy was still in the 20-22 mpg range on the bad LP. It started fine, ran fine, no rough idle or stalling. I just hope the VP44 is okay.