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1st Gen. Ram - All TopicsDiscussion for all Dodge Rams prior to 1994. This includes engine, drivetrain and non-drivetrain discussions. Anything prior to 1994 should go in here.
For all of you First genners out there who have never broken down, here's a lesson to you that hopefully will help at least one of you that cares to read this diatribe and take in a few naughty bits.....
So, Owned the truck for what seems forever, and never much of a blip out of the engine. Yesterday, I took a 1 hour drive, with "Winky" our mostly blind beagle (her real name is Lady, but I call her Winky), to see a prospective client regarding some work at her home. As I pull up into the driveway, I turn the truck off, and ..... it never shuts off. All electrical systems are fine, ignition switch was just replaced, etc. Truck is still running, so now what ?
My new rule number 1. If the truck doesn't shut off, Test light, then pull the FSS if powered as normal.
Well, I pulled the intake tube off, and blocked it off, so it wouldn't run for the entire time I was there, figuring I would fix this at home. This was my first mistake. DON'T WAIT ! Pull the FSS before you drive home. Put your new FSS in, or test light the power source wire to ensure it's functioning. I didn't do this, hence the reason for this thread.
Finished up with my customer, signed the contract, and headed home. Stopped at Dunkin for Winky as she can't live without a DD cruller. Go figure, eh ? Get on the Garden State Cash cow, and start heading south. Go though the Union Toll booth, blasting down the highway, in the middle lane, and all of a sudden..... NO PEDAL !!!
God, I hate NJ sometimes. I'm doing 70mph, and people are passing me on the right, when I have my right blinker on and I'm trying to get off the freaking highway... Finally, I said.... Screw it, and just went over, blowing my horn, and limping my way to the shoulder. Truck was still running, but barely able to move. Luckily the off ramp was down hill, and I made it onto RT 78, where it died in the on-ramp shoulder. Put on my flashers, and called AAA.
As I'm standing there, a Mexican guy (yes Mark, he was from Mexico and only been here a month) starts walking up to me, as I'm standing in the passenger side of the truck calling my wife to let her know I'm okay. He's asking me in spanish to speak to someone on his phone. I tell him, "uno momento, me camion no trebajo".
As I'm finishing up my conversation with my wife, the tow truck guy is staring at me from my drivers side window, asking me "what's up with this.....(Expletive) meaning my dodge.
I asked him if he spoke spanish, and could he talk to this guy. He said, "I'm puerto-rican, of course I can".
Turns out this dude broke down around the bend right behind me. Since he's been in the USA 4 weeks, doesn't speak one word of english, and has NO DRIVERS LICENSE, driving his bosses truck, the tow truck driver says to me that he has to help him, once my truck is on the flatbed.
I said.... No problem-o
So here we are on the side of the road, and after he hooked up the illegal's truck, dropping him off at a local repair shop.
I hop back into the truck, waiting for the tow guy to come back from getting paid for his graciousness of picking up Mr. No license, and me and Winky take a few selfies. Normally don't do this, but since she's 16 years old, I want a few good pics with her before I have to bury her in my backyard 4' down. Good memories, from bad experiences are the way I ride this planet.....
I called my diesel mechanic buddy, and he says to bring it down, although I'm going to have to work on it myself. He's busy working on a F600 with a 5.9 cummins in it where the bolts broke off the exhaust manifolds and he's too busy to stop.
So, after pulling the FSS, and put the new FSS which I had in the truck the whole time, the truck comes to life, but won't stay running when the pedal is depressed. Pulled the new FSS back out, and couldn't see anything wrong, so I put it back, and back to square one. Truck runs, but no pedal.
he tells me that because the Old FSS dislodged a chunk of rubber off of it, that I was screwed unless I could get that chunk of rubber out of the pump. This required a lot of "LUCK", and removing the top sector of the pump.
Since he had never worked on a VE internally, again, I was on my own. Hopped up, and started removing the pump top, Indexing the throttle lever, and making sure I had all my parts safe from the gravel driveway below.
Once the top was off, I blew the fuel out of the governor chamber, and it somehow dislodged the chunk of rubber that fell off the original FSS into the port just below the FSS bore. Because the fuel was in there, I wasn't able to see it, or access it, so it might have been there the whole time, covering, then uncovering that horizontal slit at the bottom of the chamber. A half roll of paper towels, and some compressed air, I was ....... Eventually....... able to get a pick in there, and pull that chunk out, which took, what seemed forever. I bet I spent a good part of an hour trying to hook that chunk and pull it out.. It was physically TWICE the size of the porthole at the bottom of the bore. Without his snap on mini pick, I would have never been able to get it out.
Started the day at 9:45 heading up to North NJ, and didn't get home until 9:30 pm and learned my most valuable lesson #2
When in doubt, pull the FSS..... (yeah, it's the same as rule #1)
Don't assume that if a chunk of your FSS falls off, it will not be a big headache for you a few miles down the road. Get out of the truck, pull the FSS out, and make sure that the cracked FSS which is preventing your truck from shutting off, doesn't dislodge it's chunk, and nearly have you killed by the idiots in traffic that care less about your ride breaking down, as you're struggling to get off the highway.
Don't assume you won't break down. Don't assume that chunk will find it's way out somewhere innocuous. Don't assume anything. Pull the FSS, and make sure you're not heading down the road to a big headache like I wound up in yesterday...
Oh yeah,
Keep a new FSS and the tools necessary, in your ride, to be able to replace the FSS on the side of the road..... or call AAA. Just don't be stupid enough to continue driving it, such as I was yesterday....
I'm sorry for your saga, but thank you for the narrative -- I always love to read a well-written story.
Last weekend I received a new Bosch FSS in the US Mail. I then looked at the OEM unit on my IP and the task of replacing it seems daunting. I realize I'm re-asking a question I posed in a different Thread earlier this month, but is there an off-the-shelf wrench available that enables replacement of the FSS?
Also, is there any reason not to cut off the excess steel bracket that is squarely in front of the FSS?
I'm sorry for your saga, but thank you for the narrative -- I always love to read a well-written story.
Last weekend I received a new Bosch FSS in the US Mail. I then looked at the OEM unit on my IP and the task of replacing it seems daunting. I realize I'm re-asking a question I posed in a different Thread earlier this month, but is there an off-the-shelf wrench available that enables replacement of the FSS?
Also, is there any reason not to cut off the excess steel bracket that is squarely in front of the FSS?
Thanks again.
I cut the bottom bracket off mine and it has had no negative effects whatsoever. with regards to the wrench you possibly could go out and buy something from Snap-on or from some other manufacturer and pay a large amount of money for it or you could simply go to Home Depot and by a wrench and modify it to fit our trucks. it took me about an hour to make mine and cost me about 8 bucks for the wrench if I recall correctly
This is a photo of the FSS I just received from Hans Auto Parts (also known at Prothe or Peter Rothenbacher, about whom there are many complaints on the Internet).
Is it normal for the plunger (with rubber tip) to be disconnected and move freely in and out of the body of the FSS?
This is a photo of the FSS I just received from Hans Auto Parts (also known at Prothe or Peter Rothenbacher, about whom there are many complaints on the Internet).
Is it normal for the plunger (with rubber tip) to be disconnected and move freely in and out of the body of the FSS?
TIA.
Yes. It self aligns when you place it in the bore.
I just ordered a new bosch unit, to replace the replacement bosch unit in my toolbox in my truck. Bosch OEM 0 330 001 040
It's originally for a VW Diesel, but since the cummins version # 3903575 costs $200, I can buy 4 of them, for the price of one. Now if this one goes bad, I guess I'll have to fork up the $200 to buy one from cummins, which in the long run, I guess I may just have to do.
Funny part is, that when you look up the cummins one, it's a bosch unit in the box... which is the same as the one I'm buying from Ebay.
Yes. It self aligns when you place it in the bore.
I just ordered a new bosch unit, to replace the replacement bosch unit in my toolbox in my truck. Bosch OEM 0 330 001 040
It's originally for a VW Diesel, but since the cummins version # 3903575 costs $200, I can buy 4 of them, for the price of one. Now if this one goes bad, I guess I'll have to fork up the $200 to buy one from cummins, which in the long run, I guess I may just have to do.
Funny part is, that when you look up the cummins one, it's a bosch unit in the box... which is the same as the one I'm buying from Ebay.
Oh well. I guess I'll figure it out soon enough.
As always, thank you.
The number on my new FSS is 0 330 001 042 (printed on the side opposite that shown in my photograph). Rothenbacher said these Bosch FSS units he sells are from NOS Volkswagen injection pumps that he "parts out." So I suspect several different Bosch part numbers are actually all the same unit...
08-31-2017, 07:44 AM
...Mark
another pesky question
