One Sunday last Summer I came out of Church at St. Mary's, got in my truck and it fired right up and then immediately died. This behavior repeated itself a few times. After a bit of under-the-hood detective work and remembering the circuitry of these trucks I realized the fuel shut-off valve was shutting off immediately after the truck started up. So I went hunting for a piece of wood to jam the shut-off valve in the Open position. Luckily I had more than a few pieces of scrap 2X wood in the bed, and using a chisel, I made one of them into a Holder-Opener for the shut-off valve. I drove her home and sat down and thought for a bit, and thought I'd see if I had any broken wires under the steering wheel tilt area. Sure enough that little wire that sends the "Stay open" signal to the shut-off valve solenoid was broken. I had replaced several other wires at that point, including the heater blower wire, and I was familiar with the area, and I spliced the little bugger and it worked fine again.

Anyway, that was last Summer. The shut-off valve now is a bit sticky in the ON position, and sometimes the truck takes a few seconds, up to 20 seconds to shut off after I turn the key off. I was looking on ebay for shut-off valves and saw an "OEM" one for $119. Is that a good price? And how hard are they to install?

 

Take it out, take it apart and clean and lube it. The boot on it may be bad too. Most often it is hanging because of interference by dirt or pieces of the weather boot that is around the solenoid. Not hard to get out. Apply power to it when removing to hold the shaft in so you won,t lose pieces. Three bolts and a cotter key on the shaft to fuel lever.

 

Don't waste money on a new solenoid Robert, just clean it up as Carl said.
I spray silicone lube on the shaft after cleaning, good as new.

 

Thanks Carl. Hey Bill, thanks, glad to see you are still around this place!

 

Carl, when you say Apply power to it, while removing it, does that mean to push upwards on it?

Oh wait, you probably mean keep the key on--correct?

 

Keep the solenoid closed (up) with the key on until you get it removed enough to get both hands on it before unplugging.

 

Got it. Thanks Bill.

I have a spare boot I got somewhere. Is there any trick to putting the solenoid back in once I clean it and reboot it, or do I just put it on, bolt it up and plug it back in?

 

It's always easier to handle it when energized and retracted otherwise it can fall apart.
After reinstalling good to check the adjustment.
Instructions> http://dodgeram.org/tech/dsl/trouble..._solenoid.html

 

Thanks Bill!

 

OK... I left the key on, and got the solenoid pulled, and then had some problems unplugging it, so I turned the key off. I had remembered not to let the solenoid point downward, so the guts wouldn't fall downwards. Yep... I pointed it upward instead, and the guts didn't fall downward... nope. Instead, the plunger and spring shot out across the yard. I managed to find the plunger and spring. Are there any other missing parts besides the plunger and spring? The Shop Manual doesn't show an exploded view of the solenoid. On the plus side, it looks like cleaning it and shooting some silicone on it and replacing the boot will be an easy job.

 

LOL, That's all that's in there, I have mine off right now on Greenie.

Does yours have a rod end on the end that attaches? My boot was disintegrated, but the main thing was the rod end had rusted solid and also to the lever. All the replacement solenoids I find have a machined solid end. At this point I was looking for a Stainless Steel rod end, but the ones I found had the rode end bore too small. I ended up cleaning my original rod end up and lubing it with Moly, should be good for another 13 years.....

 

BTW, while I am at it, is there an easy way to get to that bugger? I have some pretty serious cuts from trying to get my arms in and around the Brake sensor block.....

 

I got a few scratches from getting the little bolts off, but otherwise I was able to avoid any serious damage to my arms.

Yeah, it was funny... I had taken great care to point the solenoid upward so the parts wouldn't fall down... and SPROIIINNNNNNNG there they went flying out into the yard!

My rod end wasn't rusty at all. It looked like it had been powder coated. But my old boot had completely disappeared--I mean the only remnants of it were around the neck of the solenoid housing under the nylon zip tie.
I had a new boot, and I cleaned and lubed mine with 100% silicone, let it dry, and reassembled it. It works just great now. And that's a relief--this thing had been bugging me for several years.