Attention: TDR Forum Junkies I have just returned from my first long trip with my truck. I had my camper aboard plus towing my M/C on a trailer. GCW was 9600 #, 760 of it in the trailer. (After my 1975 Dodge it was pure pleasure!!) My overall average fuel consumption was 13. 24 mpg, hand calculated, at about 70 mph for most of the time. The route was from Seattle to Montana, down to Idaho and to Lake Tahoe and finally home through N. Cal and Oregon. Just overn 2600 miles. Once I got to Montana I was on a high plateau that went up to 7000 feet as I traversed the Continental Divide.
Sorry to belabor the above, but I think it has a bearing on the performance.
I had picked up a new fuel pump from Cummins before I left, $157. 00 plus tax, as I was nervous about being stranded. I noticed that the pressure seemed to be falling the further I went and was down at 4 psi at wot in the high passes, out of O/D, to maintain speed. I decided at Winnemucca, NV to change the lift-pump. I had printed out the instructions that are sticky on this list for the 98. 5 CTD. They were not exactly the same on my 2000. The banjos are 17 mm and there was a 4-pin plug connected to the pump bracket, which was a bear to get off, (Any idea what this is for?) as was the power connection at the base of the old pump. One of the studs on the pump came out of the pump-body and it was very difficult to remove from the bracket. There was an overly liberal supply of thread locker on the stud threads. One of the recommendations was to get 2 new sealing washers, which I did.
I ask now why not 4? There are two required on each banjo. I put one new one against the pump-body and the other against the filter housing. I would feel a little easier if I had used all 4 as new. The new pump was built in July of this year, so hopefully all improvements will have been incorporated.
I bumped the starter a couple of times to prime the system (why does it not require bleeding?), once all was connected and the engine started 1st crank. I had 16 psi at idle and could not get the pressure to drop below 12 psi at 2000 rpm. At cruise the pressure remains at 12 psi and only drops to 9 or 10 at full throttle up a long pass.
One other recurring problem was the rubber boot connecting the turbo to the air charge cooler. (Intercooler) I had discovered it partly off before I left and had thought I had fixed it. But it blew off a couple of more times and the clue was the rise in the EGT. It would get up to 1200 deg on a long pull. I could control it by manually coming out of O/D. So..... while I was already dirty I decided to tackle the problem. I found that the metal tube between the two rubber boots was not at the optimum angle and the boot at the cooler was actually kinked. I took the whole thing apart and cleaned the mating surfaces and realigned the bent tube. All the boots went together much better without twists. Who knows how it got that way? No further problems and EGT never went above 600 deg, even around Lake Tahoe which is over 6000 feet.
Since I returned to sea level I have noticed something with my transmission that I never was aware of before. When starting off from a standstill with a light to medium throttle the transmission doesn't shift out of 1st gear until about 25 mph, which is 2200-2400 rpm, with my gearing. If I let off the throttle the rpm goes down to about 1000 as the truck coasts along, but gear doesn't shift. Back on the throttle rpm goes back up to 2200-2400 until truck gets to 25 mph and then it shifts to 2nd and just over 30 mph it shifts to 3rd. When I was on the trip with the camper I was mostly accellerating hard onto the freeway so I wasn't aware of this as a problem. Does the computer "learn"? Will it "unlearn" after a while in town? Or do I have a solenoid that is faulty, or some other problem? I could see nothing in the owner's manual that addresses the shifting speeds. When it does finally shift it does so with a bit of a bump. Oil level is normal, maybe just a tad high.
I'd really appreciate any input.
I'm sorry that this went on for so long... . once I started stuff kept popping into my head!!
My truck: White 2000 quad cab; 2WD; 3. 55 anti-spin; 47 RE;Long bed; 52300 miles; camper special and 265 75R 16 Michelins M/S.
Sorry to belabor the above, but I think it has a bearing on the performance.
I had picked up a new fuel pump from Cummins before I left, $157. 00 plus tax, as I was nervous about being stranded. I noticed that the pressure seemed to be falling the further I went and was down at 4 psi at wot in the high passes, out of O/D, to maintain speed. I decided at Winnemucca, NV to change the lift-pump. I had printed out the instructions that are sticky on this list for the 98. 5 CTD. They were not exactly the same on my 2000. The banjos are 17 mm and there was a 4-pin plug connected to the pump bracket, which was a bear to get off, (Any idea what this is for?) as was the power connection at the base of the old pump. One of the studs on the pump came out of the pump-body and it was very difficult to remove from the bracket. There was an overly liberal supply of thread locker on the stud threads. One of the recommendations was to get 2 new sealing washers, which I did.
I ask now why not 4? There are two required on each banjo. I put one new one against the pump-body and the other against the filter housing. I would feel a little easier if I had used all 4 as new. The new pump was built in July of this year, so hopefully all improvements will have been incorporated.
I bumped the starter a couple of times to prime the system (why does it not require bleeding?), once all was connected and the engine started 1st crank. I had 16 psi at idle and could not get the pressure to drop below 12 psi at 2000 rpm. At cruise the pressure remains at 12 psi and only drops to 9 or 10 at full throttle up a long pass.
One other recurring problem was the rubber boot connecting the turbo to the air charge cooler. (Intercooler) I had discovered it partly off before I left and had thought I had fixed it. But it blew off a couple of more times and the clue was the rise in the EGT. It would get up to 1200 deg on a long pull. I could control it by manually coming out of O/D. So..... while I was already dirty I decided to tackle the problem. I found that the metal tube between the two rubber boots was not at the optimum angle and the boot at the cooler was actually kinked. I took the whole thing apart and cleaned the mating surfaces and realigned the bent tube. All the boots went together much better without twists. Who knows how it got that way? No further problems and EGT never went above 600 deg, even around Lake Tahoe which is over 6000 feet.
Since I returned to sea level I have noticed something with my transmission that I never was aware of before. When starting off from a standstill with a light to medium throttle the transmission doesn't shift out of 1st gear until about 25 mph, which is 2200-2400 rpm, with my gearing. If I let off the throttle the rpm goes down to about 1000 as the truck coasts along, but gear doesn't shift. Back on the throttle rpm goes back up to 2200-2400 until truck gets to 25 mph and then it shifts to 2nd and just over 30 mph it shifts to 3rd. When I was on the trip with the camper I was mostly accellerating hard onto the freeway so I wasn't aware of this as a problem. Does the computer "learn"? Will it "unlearn" after a while in town? Or do I have a solenoid that is faulty, or some other problem? I could see nothing in the owner's manual that addresses the shifting speeds. When it does finally shift it does so with a bit of a bump. Oil level is normal, maybe just a tad high.
I'd really appreciate any input.
I'm sorry that this went on for so long... . once I started stuff kept popping into my head!!
My truck: White 2000 quad cab; 2WD; 3. 55 anti-spin; 47 RE;Long bed; 52300 miles; camper special and 265 75R 16 Michelins M/S.
Actually when I tow my 5’er, I range from 400 – 800 pounds over as well. Don’t let this bit of info even cause a hint of concern. At least it doesn’t for me. Discussions are long and can be dramatic about this, but usually its all speculation of what the problem (if there is any) may be. 
