Why are we protecting Dodge from VP44 failures?

[Pit Bull]

If a bad lift pump will take out the VP44 then that means Dodge will be replacing a lot of expensive VP44's for free. The history on this problem per an article in the TDR indicates that if you have a lift pump problem then normally the VP44 will go before the 100K mile warranty is up (unless I assume you stay on top of it and keep replacing faulty lift pumps, the moment there is a drop in lift pump performance, then with most peoples luck it will go after your 100K warranty is up). I would much rather see everyone let the lift pumps fail and take out the VP44 and make Dodge pay for their poor design, with the cost of replacing hundreds if not thousands of VP44's.



Don't get me wrong I understand it is a different story for all the members that have modified trucks or are over 100K miles, you are your own warranty station.



This lift pump problem is not a expensive problem to Dodge or they would be fixing it. Are we the ones that are protecting Dodge with our FP guages and concern over the lift pumps? I say let them all fail and take out the VP44 and cost Dodge big $$$, that is if we really want Dodges attention and a fix to this problem. Just my thoughts

 

[Whitmore]

I am my own warrentee station and I also want dependability, one of the main reasons I bought the truck... ... ... ..... Kevin

 

[Bigsaint]

Ditto on Kevin's reply... my warranty for the VP44 is null and void and I'm trying to keep that expensive replacement pump far away for as long as possible.



Scott W.

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by Pit Bull



Don't get me wrong I understand it is a different story for all the members that have modified trucks or are over 100K miles, you are your own warranty station.

Kevin

I understand your position thats why I included this statement in my post.

 

[fj40charles]

I don't think the boneheads at DC would ever understand. Here you have a company that removes stuff from the truck to increase profits. Example: plastice piece on tailgate, handles inside the cab. Most companies would find ways to improve profits by coming up with more efficient way to manufacture. Not DC.



Based on my **** poor record for service at a Dodge dealership, I would NOT take a gamble and expect them to replace the VP44 under warranty even if my truck was stock. When the second lift pump failed I replaced it myself because I didn't want to wait 3-5 days for them to diagnose and fix it. The cost of a rental car is more than the cost of a lift pump. Also, I don't have to deal with the hassel of talking to incompetent folks that have their heads up where the sun don't shine.



Too bad the service and warranty work is so bad at MOST Dodge dealerships. If you have a good dealer, then you are in the top 1%.



My 2 pesos...



Charles

 

[David Wheeler]

Dodge's product?

As I understand it, the Bosch VP44 is part of the Cummins ISB, therefore not an expense to Dodge, but rather Cummins when it fails. If Dodge provides the lift pump that is causing the VP44 to fail... ... . Dodge financially responsible instead of Cummins... ... I truly don't know.



David

 

[yogibear]

The lift pump and the VP44 are Cummins, not DC's. Your *****ing at the wrong people.

 

[Bigsaint]

I think David is correct... aren't they obligated to contact the STAR line and report any indications to Cummins of possible pump mods. , such as nicks in the pumps wire, etc. ???



Scott W.

 

[tragicwagon]

Yogibear is right,the poor placement of the lift pump is a cummins boo boo,I was at the dealer today and the mechanic told me that when they recive a replacement engine, it comes from cummins with the lift pump already installed. He also showed me a 5. 9 from a 2001 that looked like a bomb had went off inside of it,he said it looked like a rod bolt had failed. I told him I would be back tomorrow with a camera and take pics,when I get them developed Ill post them.

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by yogibear

The lift pump and the VP44 are Cummins, not DC's. Your *****ing at the wrong people.

Same deal, Cummins or Dodge. Make them fix the design problem or pay to fix 100's/1000's of engines. By doing "work arounds" we are enabling them to continue to supply a poor product.



By the way does anybody know what the lift pump and or VP44 failure rate is per 1000 engines?

 

[hawkerpilot]

hello guys



I talked to a tech at cummins mfg when i first bought my truck.

It had a loud noise in the valve train . the tech told me DC buys all there engines at a reduced price with no warentee. DC PAYS for all repaires. You would have to get an aproval from DC to have a cummins shop repair your motor. DC is your warentee station on all of our stock motors. the bad design my be a cummins bo bo ... but DC has to aprove any parts/labor and we all know its not painless. B T W the loud valve train noise went away ??? any ideas??? it sounded like a valve hitting a piston.

 

[LSMITH]

Hawkerpilot is right, the warranty falls on Dodge and Dodge only. Don't believe it? take your truck to Cummins and tell them you want warranty work done on it, they won't do it without a purchase order from Dodge. The engines are bought from Cummins with ZERO warranty by Dodge.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Yep, your engine warranty is with DC only - as the guys said they buy them from Cummins specifically with no warranty. Also, although the lift pump comes from Cummins already on the engine I'd bet money on it that it's a D/C specification that they want it there. The reason being is packaging and ease of assembly, if they get it on the engine straight from Cummins then they don' t have to deal with it on the line.



Fj40charles said:

I don't think the boneheads at DC would ever understand. Here you have a company that removes stuff from the truck to increase profits. Example: plastice piece on tailgate, handles inside the cab. Most companies would find ways to improve profits by coming up with more efficient way to manufacture. Not DC.

Actually, that is a problem with all of the big 3 at least (I don't have any experience with foreign cars). I have friends that are ME's with all of the big 3. What they've told me is that the best year of a car or truck to buy is the 2nd year of production. In that year they will have basically all of the bugs worked out and will not have taken much content out of the vehicle yet. All of the big 3 take content out of the vehicles every year of production. They call them "cost saves" and they have to have a certain percentage every year. An example is what's called flock (sp?) tape - that's the fuzzy stuff you see in interiors to reduce squeeks and rattles. They have a bunch of it on there at first, then they put less and less on each year until they start getting too many complaints . This is sad but true.

 

[Mopar-muscle]

pit bull , we are protecting ourselves from DC .



even if my truck was stock they would look for a reason to blame it on me and not fix it .



did you know that if you run over 40 miles with your fuel gauge on the e mark it sets a code in the computer ?



bring it in for a fuel system failure , thats the first thing they look for . they see it and tell you that your failure to keep an adequate amount of fuel ( even though you didn't actually run out of fuel) caused the pump(s) to fail , its fixed on your nickel not theirs .



DC suxs ...