my uncles 04 common rail wont start.im a 12valve/ mechanical injection guy. want to help if i can. the other day he had to crank along time to get truck to start- 1st time it ever acted up. took to dealer and they said it needed lift pump ?. so they replaced that and he went to pick it up and it still wouldnt start [verymad]. now they say it needs new injectors. the want $4300 to replace them. i think he,s getting screwed. i can change 12v and 24v injectors with my eyes closed but never looked at a common rail. i think the problem is something else. looking for help/advice. thanks

he's not building up rail pressure more then likely which means its the fca or injectors. the reason its high is that the injectors cost over 300 each, not the labor. do a flow test to see how many are bad

Try cycling the key 3 times, leaving it on the 3rd time. P codes will come up on the odometer screen. That can help you start to track the problem down.

lots of times if the injector is letting fuel flow by it will not trip a code, thats why you have to do the flow test or put a rail pressure gauge on it to see what the cranking pressure is if its under 6k then you have a flow problem

ok- thanks, i should have more info tomorrow. having done lots of 12v injectors can i change theese myself? any tricks ?

How many miles on the truck? Might be covered under the 100k Cummins engine warranty.

119k miles:(

yea you can do it its not to hard

lots of times if the injector is letting fuel flow by it will not trip a code, thats why you have to do the flow test or put a rail pressure gauge on it to see what the cranking pressure is if its under 6k then you have a flow problem

just had the same problem with 06, if you can find an old injector line you can weld the tube closed and use it to cap off the injectors at the rail. If you only have one bad one it will build pressure and start. I did this and found number one was bad hauled to the dealer and they capped it to start it and drive it in the shop and wouldnt start. So they just put in all six under warranty thankfully. I would look into an extra fuel filter like glacier diesels set up. Pretty sure that a little bit of crap was what took mine out.