Did some searching, found out we can replace these fairly cheaply. Went to my nearest Dodge dealer in the ghetto and they had one in stock!!! $28 out the door!! Went home and ripped mine off, I found some kind of sandy swill in the bottom along with numerous rather large grains of sand. Glad thats gone!! Prefilled the prefilter with clean fresh diesel, slapped it back on. Primed with the button near the starter and fired her up, she ran PERFECT for 5 seconds then began to studder. I shut it down, got out and primed some more. Tried to start, nothing. Got out primed again. Still nothing. Started to crap my pants, got out primed it like 100 times, got in and held throttle to floor and with some persuasion she fired! But ran like *** smoked blue like I've never seen her do before, but she ran and held an idle. Let her idle for 5 minutes and shut her down. Immediately restarted, she fired but studdered until I gave her throttle. Idled for 5 minutes and shutdown. Restarted and she ran mint, throttle response is improved haven't driven on the road yet, still paranoid.

So if you are a noob like me, don't change your prefilter unless you have clean underwear handy.

 

You should prolly R&R the filter again, paying close attention to the install - reely sounds like you also installed an air leak, which will effect hard starting after sitting for awhile, such as overnite.

 

????

I cleaned the crap out of the housing and cover. Brake cleaner and rags, mating surfaces were spotless!!

It runs mint now, I think I should have cracked the bleeder?

Edit: it never leaked externally during this ordeal.

 

You should have seen the color of the fuel I poured out, brownish sandy swill.

All you need is a 24mm socket and you can get that stamped steel nut off by hand. 17mm wrench gets the housing off.

 

The bleeder would have helped - that's quite a slug of air from the empty pre-filter - also, fuel is denser than air, so you can have an air leak but not show a wet spot, as the fuel is too 'thick' to pass thru - the pre-filter is on the vacuum side of the pump, so is susceptible to air leaks - just keep an eye on it - if hard overnite starts begin, recheck it.

 

LOL, next time order it from Cummins or a place like Genos, 8 bucks and change for the pre-filter.

You did good, the first time I did mine, I did both pre and the regular fuel filter..... I wasn't a diesel newbie, just a Cummins newbie and I was still apprehensive when she stumbled and died.

 

Almost fergot, it's been awhile - the prime pump may not pump if the camshaft has the piston pump at full stroke - try bumping the engine over, then prime it - should pump full fuel..........................

 

Exactly!!!!

Always check cummins, most motor related stuff they have in stock, and its usually less than 1/3 of what the dealer wants

 

Never heard of Genos, and the nearest Cummins dealer is over 100 miles away, I would spend more on fuel than the difference in price. Plus, if I ordered it, it would have taken 2-3 days+ because of the holiday. I'm satisfied with paying $28 and was able to go pick it up within an hour.

gmctd- Thanks for the tip. I was doing that unknowingly by cranking for 3 seconds, got out and primed the button. Did that 2 or 3 times and she fired!

 

Here is the link to Geno's for you.

http://www.genosgarage.com/

 

Just took it for a ride, fueled up for this "big storm" that turned out to be nothing.

I noticed it revs quicker, runs smoother, and sounds better. And when I was coming down my snow covered road, sideways, in 2wd, a block away from my house, my bro said "***!?! That sounded like a tractor trailer coming down the street!" I'm sure my neighbors didn't like that too much

 

i know its years later for this post but do not use brake cleaner. i did this on mine and it was very hard to start because of this!!1

 

fill your fuel filter with either diesel or oil, ive used atf even, and pump the primer 10 times and she will always fire right off. Last tiem i changed my prefilter and did the above she still started up fine.

 

i filled mine up with diesel all the way and it still died. cracked the bleeder and turned ithe engine over with compressed air in the fuel filler with rags stuffed in there to keep air in and it was g to g. buggerd up my fuel guage a little, 175psi out a 1/2 inch air hose and a high pressure nozzle might not of been the best idea.

 

anybody ever just leave the screen out? im thinking of doing it to run biodiesel? any input?