Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) VP44 Blues

[Rebel_Horseman]

Yep it got me. Wednesday morning I was in New Orleans for work, and driving down a busy street the truck dies. I pull her over and knew it was the VP that went out. The truck has 157,000 on it and I think it's the original VP but I can' prove it. Fuel pressure from the LP has been around 10 with a low of 6 a few times. The thing that gets me is this... I could crank the truck and it would run, although it was rough and not getting the right amount of fuel. My repair bill is going to run me about $2,000 for a reconditioned pump, and the shop told me a new VP was running about $4k!!! I called Cummins Mid South (and in retrospect I should have brought the truck there) and they said the pump was running between $1700 and $2400 plus labor to install. Fortunately the company I've been working for is going to pay for some of the repair.



Has anyone else had a similar situation where the VP was gone but the truck was able to crank and run? I'm hoping that I will have my baby back tomorrow. :{



Reb [><]

 

[csevers]

Not in a pick up but

At work most of the VP failures are "it just died" and won't run but I had one that kept setting a timing command code and run bad only when pulling big hills, first time I looked at it I found dead lift pump, replace it. Then the next day I replace fuel filters when we could get them and still the code came back so we waited a couple of weeks it still ran but was getting worse and I replaced the pump then.



Craig

 

[Rebel_Horseman]

Now that you mention codes it brings another question. When my truck was on the side of the road, I checked the codes and all I could get was P1639. No other codes, no check engine light, nothing. The shop said they pulled the codes and it pointed to a dead VP. What gives? I thought you got all the codes from the instrument cluster that you could get from the diagnostic port.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Seems to me there are several potential VP-44 failures - an internal physical/mechanical failure that causes the engine to flat-out quit, period!



OR, a fuel solenoid or VP-44 electronic failure that MIGHT allow it to continue to run, but poorly and unreliably. But for the price of a replacement VP-44, I'd sure wanna exhaust ALL possibilities before swapping one out - or get an iron-clad guarantee from the repair facility that the VP-44 WAS the problem.



Some shady outfits will make that type of repair, only to discover something far less costly was really the problem and quickly and quietly fix THAT, and never tell the owner, who then ate the uneeded costly repair...

 

[Sticks]

Originally posted by Rebel_Horseman

My repair bill is going to run me about $2,000 for a reconditioned pump, and the shop told me a new VP was running about $4k!!! I called Cummins Mid South (and in retrospect I should have brought the truck there) and they said the pump was running between $1700 and $2400 plus labor to install.

Reb [><]

Dude, you are getting RAPED!



You can buy a modified VP44 from Piers (I think it's them) for $1900 (this would be the performance version) and the stock replacements can be found for $750. The job is not that difficult and can be done at home.

 

[Rebel_Horseman]

I agree. This shop was recommended to me by my boss. The company I work for does a lot of business with this company, so I though it would be OK. I knew something didn't seem right when they told me it was going to take 5 or 6 hours to install the "new" pump when Cummins told me it took 3. Tomorrow I'm going to have some words for these people.

 

[Rebel_Horseman]

The $2k was total job including labor, towing, etc. The bad thing is I live 90 miles north of where the truck is in New Orleans and have no way to get it home nor to do the work there. Had the truck went down close to home I could have done it myself.

 

[stacerbob]

Where can you get a replacement for $750??

 

[jrandol]

Originally posted by stacerbob

Where can you get a replacement for $750??

cumminsstuff.com

 

[liftedlpg]

1175 as of Friday for a 2001 at cumminstuff. Didn't know about Piers. Already have a stock one ordered

 

[jrandol]

Originally posted by BShipley

1175 as of Friday for a 2001 at cumminstuff. Didn't know about Piers. Already have a stock one ordered

Dang!! I knew they would go up as demand increased. Guess I am going to add a little to the pump fund now I wonder what the prices of the hot rod pumps will do?

 

[SDancy]

I just ordered a pump for a 98. 5 from Cumminstuff on Jan 06, 2004 and the price was $950. 00. It was a new bosch pump not reman. Mr. Edwards said he had bought all the pumps he could find and they were usually sold before they hit the door.



I hope you can get it fixed for a lot less money that what they

first quoted you.

 

[hammersley]

Time will tell - but this is why I put a FASS on

and while I only have about 20,000 on since installing it, I do have 153,000 on my 01. I view it as an insurance policy. If you check you'll see that this problem is NOT a Dodge problem alone! This engine in other applications - from Cummins - has a similar problem.

 

[Jetson]

The $950 price from Cumminsstuf.com is before the core refund of $100 that you get when you send him your old pump. So the real price is $850.

 

[SDancy]

Not according to my receipt. The pump cost was $950. 00, the core charge was $100. 00, and UPS was $20. 00. The total charge on my credit card was $1070. 00. My secretary says the charge for the pump is $950. 00. If anyone can get the price down to $850. 00 for me, I would be very happy!

 

[Rebel_Horseman]

Well I have my truck back finally. The total bill was as follows:



Towing: $85. 00

Scan Computer: $65. 00

Codes Set: P0254 Injector Pump Fuel Valve

P1689 Injector Pump Failure

Replace Fuel Injection Pump Assy: Labor - $260. 00

Parts - $1420. 00

Reprogram Vehic. Comp. w/Updated Software: $100. 00



Total with Tax: $2,108. 12



And they didn't even use any KY either. They also said my clutch needs replacing and they suggest replacing the transfer pump. The "new" reman VP was from Chrysler and comes with a 12/12000 mile warranty.



Well I have to go take a shower now and get some Preparation H cause my arse is hurting right now from getting reamed.



Reb [><]

 

[stacerbob]

I bought my ECM from John @cumminsstuff, great guy, we visited for about an hour on the phone when I was getting the ECM he was telling me about these "new" vp-44 that were bolted on and never ran, he was selling them for $650. I called to get one about 2-3 weeks later and they were all gone no more available!! Price now was $950 plus the $100 core plus UPS.

I called the dealer (because I could charge it to the shop and not have to pay for it for 30-45 days!) and they were $970 plus core No shipping cause its across the street! And like stated above it came with a 12/12 warranty. I asked if they needed the mileage when I picked it up and he says" you surely won't put 12,000 on it in a year will you? !!!!! So mine is 12 month unlimited!!!!!