was drivin home the other day and the 99 started to stumble, the skinny peddles erratic, more so at higher rpms with blue smoke. limped it about at klick, while it was idling i let some of the fuel out of the water trap and it died. it wouldnt restart. a neihbor helped me trailer it home. when i got it home i pulled codes and got a P0236 (turbo?). would the truck still start with out the turbo? or have i gotten lucky and killed two birds with one stone.

 

sounds like a lift pump gone dead. Check for fuel flow with the water drain open on the filter canister. IF there is little to no flow, when you bump the key, the LP is not working.

After that, then check into the turbo and the vp44. Strange boost readings are caused by poor fueling. Poor fueling can be caused by a bad injector pump, bad injector, or just plain poor fuel delivery to the VP.

The blue smoke sounds like a timing issue, caused by excessive air in the high pressure side of the fuel system, again leading back to a bad lift pump, or a leak on the vacuum side of the LP.

Check it out. good luck

 

no fuel to the canister when i bump the key. is there any way to test the other systems without the lift pump? is there better lift pump? i can get the stock one for about $150.

 

I ordered a replacement factory LP from rock auto. Pretty impressed so far and plenty of psi. It hooks up in the factory position.I do this before replacing w/another carter!!

 

It is tough to test further down the line, unless you have a steady supply of fuel to the filter housing and VP. that said, you could rig a simple 12VDC lift pump, from a can of clean fuel, just to do your testing. By the time you do that, you might as well just buy a LP anyway, because if you bump the key and the LP doesn't run, or runs without filling the filter housing, it is pretty much toast anyway.

As to the issue of better LP systems, they are out there, but you need to do some research as to what will work best for you. Best guy I have found to talk with so far, is Rich at Glacier.

Good luck

 

i dont think ill be doin anything special with the truck. how long does it take for the diaphram to tear on the vp or any other damage to the vp. i figure ive turned the key 5-6 times in my attempts to figure out whats goin on.

 

From my experience, the diaphragm inside the VP is more susceptible to high fuel pressure, than low fuel pressure. Get some clean fuel in there at 10 -15 psi, then try bleeding the system, and starting it up.

 

Not telling anybody what to do. But you really need a fuel pressure guage on that rig so you can watch any fuel transfer system you choose to go with. It's almost a must on these trucks.

 

yeah. i know the only way to keep a vp44 safe in these trucks is with a fuel pressure gauge. id probably have one too if i hadnt spent most of my time waiting for the truck to crater. 12000 into the drive line doesn't really leave room for little things like gauges. one day ill just sell the **** thing so it can be somebody else's problem.

 

for the OEM guys cummins still offers brand new lift pumps, part number 4943048. i had to give the parts guy my engine number. but i think this number will be universal for 98.5-02 5.9L 24v engines.