After hearing what everyone else has been going through I am fairly sure my injectors are causeing my no starts... Both my lift pump and injector pump are brand new, I am not getting any codes... I am not sure what else in the fuel system on my truck would be causing it not to start bysides the injectors. I am just pinching my pennies until I can order 6 new injectors (and no I don't plan to shell out $500 apeice to Dodge for thiers). My mechanic, who is also a good friend, is going to help my put them in at his shop so I don't have to fork over an arm and a leg at a dealer....

 

cwoodall-

Did you install your Quadzilla gauges? And if so did they tell you anything?

 

I should be getting it tommorow.....they back-ordered me..I will install tomorrow....and post my findings. I'm anxious to see too.....

 

I dont know if i messed up in my lingo but I had all 6 replaced with new cross over tubes done on friday. All warrenty work just by 4940 miles left.

 

Hey mopig.........are you bragging????????

BTW, is everything running fine now ???????

 

Somewhere on here, I heard somebody mention something about a Fuel Pressure Relief Valve By-Pass "kit". I would assume it plugs off the relief valve and seals the banjo fitting on the return line going back to the fuel filter canister. Maybe it was just a replacement banjo bolt that was not center drilled for a fluid passage. Anybody got any info on this???? I'd like to have one for posterity.

 

No NO im not bragging just happy to find a dealer you can talk to and get things done without they sticking it to ya. Tell me out there how many dealers would not care if a box or tst was on your truck?????? Besides it only cost me a couple of thousand dollars to find him.

As far as the block off valve for the pressure relief there is a company that makes it dont know who, but it should only be used for racing or pulling at the track. No saftey relief could be $$$$$$$ in the long run.

 

Mines still starting good with 117000 on the clock. However every so often when I shut it down hot then fire it right back up it cranks for about a second longer than normal. When it cranks longer rail pressure looks like it always does it just takes longer to start. If the injectors were bypassing enough not to start it's hard to belive that the CP3 could flow enough to make the truck run good and not smoke excessively once it is up and running. I would think that if the injectors bypassing were the problem that the truck would be down on power and making excessive black smoke once it is started. Also I wonder if anyone has pulled the return line off of the filter cannister and then cranked the truck to see how much fuel is bypassing. JMHO

 

fass lift pump and new injectors and truck starts!!! about time. what the heck is causing this epidimic with the 03s. hope anyone with warranty left has no start problem soon. its expensive otherwise. no more days off work till winter. oh well. TRUCK STARTS!!

 

Congrats 3500eh!! I'll be there with ya soon. I have 2 injectors on the way. I found NEW Bosch stock injectors for $385 each. I don't think I need one of them. I honestly believe I have it nailed down to the #1 injector, but I may be wrong. I'll have it in Friday and I'll inspect the rest and clean carefully. I also have the Quadzilla Rail Pressure gauge and LP fuel pressure gauge going on tonite (if this rain quits). I want the before and after pressure readings for every tweak I do while solving my start problem. Again, CONGRATS!! It must feel good.

P.S. - Sorry about work, I always wanted to be a piano player in a South Texas cathouse myself.

Curtis

 

cwoodall. how did you determine which injector is shot? from dealer scanns?

 

No.......and this isn't very scientific, but it's a hunch. I have a "tapping" sound that doesn't belong. It fits the classic description of an injector tap. I did the old long screwdriver/stethascope test and it's easy to isolate it to the very front injector. I listened from several points for each injector.....all the others are the same sound. I can place my finger on the steel feed line from the common rail near where the injector tube nut is and tell a VERY distinct pulsation that is in perfect time with the "tap" at the first injector. The other five steel lines have a much different "feel", but they are all the same. So, seeing that I don't feel like all the injectors are "shot" because my performance and mileage are still good, I'm praying that my hillbilly approach will at least get me out of the woods for now. Now I do believe, and wouldn't be surprised if I have to go through this single injector replacement again inthe near future, but I just can't let this problem cut into my beer money account like it would if I went for all 6. Like I said, not scientific, but since I'm doing all my own work, I'll just do it. Thanks - Curtis

 

Congrads 3500eh! I am glad that one of us had nailed the problem. I am still working on replenishing the ole' bank account after that lift and injection pump job...yup nothing but beans and what ever I can catch in the woods for dinner for me and the wife for a while! Curtis, is changing out injectors a very hard job? What do you think about CG98x's post? I don't have lots of black smoke and the truck runs great after I fire it up with ether...I think that I will have to try your "hill billy" method and listen to each injector and see if I can find one that doesn't "feel" like the others...

 

let us know how the non scientific hillbilly approach works out. good luck. it took my mechanic 4 hrs to change out the injectors.

 

I think that there can be a very fine line as to what the ECM needs to see from the rail pressure sensor and what the effect of even 1 leaking injector can be. I got my Quadzilla Rail Fuel Pressure gauge/LP Fuel Pressure gauge hooked up yesterday evening. The new FASS pump keeps a steady 15 psi going to the CP3, even under a load, the LP pressure only drops to 14 psi.....so that's all good. When I crank, it goes from barely reading to about 1500 psi in about 2-3 seconds, then works up towards approximately 3000 psi in 5-10 seconds later. That seems to bear out the fact that the engine has to crank for a bit to get up to a rail pressure that satisfies the ECM. Once it fires up, it goes immediately to about 5000 psi at idle up to about 13,000-15,000 psi going down a 40-50 mph street. That seems right and it runs right. The CP3 can produce over 20,000 psi if necessary. So...........it sounds logical that if there is a small amount of fuel leaking/returning via 1 or 2 injectors, you'd have to get the CP3 spinning fast enough to overcome the leak to build up enough pressure to kick off.

As for injector removal/replacement, I've been over the procedure forwards and backwards on paper and in my mind a kazillion times and I don't see it as being too difficult. I even have dreams about it. I ramble on. My 2-cents. - Thanks - Curtis