kawi600

I was headed back from NH last night with two bikes in the back and thought I smelled fuel. Didnt think anything of it for awhile and then it stalled out at a toll plaza. Got out of the truck and found the thing was covered in fuel underneath and the engine compartment was soaked.
Some guy in a ram 2500 gasser heading back from a 4x4 club meet towed me into the rest area (my pride took a big hit, let me tell you..) and I found the fuel was spewing out of the line that comes from the filter and feeds the big banjo on the side of the injector pump. it had cracked away from the banjo entirely!
Now to me, this looks like it was a fatigue failure.. the vibration with from the motor plus someone had probably been in there with gorilla hands and bent the line back a bit.
Has anyone seen this kind of failure happen before? I spilled 25 (yeah, 25) gallons of diesel on the highway with this thing breaking. I tried to 'mcguyver' a small section of hose clamped around the break but even though its only 30psi in, Im guessing the pump kicks back a bit (?) because the hose split soon after and I caved in and called AAA.
The other thing is how the heck do I get all this fuel off of the truck? it is covered from front to back in diesel. Im amazed people behind me didnt start spinning out like the bad guys in the old spy hunter arcade game...

P.J

Banjos are supposed to be torqued to a whopping 15 ft. lbs. if someone cranked it down I imagine it could damage it.

Im sure that the low torque is more so you don't stretch/strip threads, and the fact that they use rubber sealing washers. Never heard of a line cracking, sucks you lost so much fuel in process.....

kd460

I have heard it happen to a few people on this and various other dodge diesel forems. I suppose someone could have put stress on that when removing or installing, but my guess is vibration. Maybe a support bracket is loose or not used? Not sure if one is even on that line.

As far as getting the fuel off, I would put it up on ramps, and get a power washer with some type of detergent and go to town.

An easy fix would be a barbed banjo to accept rubber line. Good luck finding one, I ahve been trying for a few days now. If you do find a source, let us know. KD

Truckman

Mine Broke on the return side of the VP-44
My FP Gauge was jumping like crazy,, I thought it was time for a LP,But then I saw it was wet underneath,,Looked like oil coming from the PS pump,,Ended up being the return line from the VP had cracked right at the banjo fitting FLUSH,,, Ended up getting one from Cummins $35.00 Plus overnight shipping of $28.00 WOW That Hurt!!!!
Put New line on and fuel Press is stable again at 20psi.

As far as cleaning engine compartment,, I used two cans of gunk engine degreaser,When I was at the local car wash,, Worked great..

infidel

Never seen a Dodge banjo crack but have seen them crack in hydraulic applications when someone over torques the bolt. What happens is when the torque increases the banjo wants to spin thus weakening where the tubing is brazed to the banjo.

Buy some Castrol Super Clean from the autoparts, spray the diesel down, let it sit for five minutes and rinse. Should clean as new.

kawi600

ugh I bet that is exactly what happened
Im going to make a run up to cummins this afternoon, hope this thing wont break the bank

robert chilton

The line is cheap. I had one brake on my 95. The day after I posted about it it happened to another member. I cant remember the price of the line but is was around $35. The new line has a braided section in the middle that allows it to flex. It is real nice for playing in the AFC housing. Being Cummins redesigned the part I am going to guess that it is a semi common problem.

kawi600

Cummins northeast just charged me 56$ =(
yeah the line has a flex section on it.. makes me think this was a known trouble spot.

kawi600

Hm, now that I have the new line on there, I see theres something behind the injection pump spewing fuel down the side of the block.
I pulled the return hose off the pump and sure enough its mutilated. But when I hack off the bad spot (hose is about 5 months old) I cant get it to seal. Either that or soemthing else is leaking under there.
Might be time to take a measurement and make sure this isnt over pressurized.

Eskimo

Some motorcyclist is cursing you badly right now.. diesel is slicker than baby snot.


Yeah, i ride.