What can I do to fix this problem? I took the 2003 dually into the dealership and they said #5 injector is bad. The dealership will not warranty it and injectors are on national back order for 10 days. I need to take the truck halfway across country in one week. Is there something I can do in the meantime? I've never used any types of additives in the fuel and I have 49k miles on the dually.

 

Did they say why they wouldn't warranty it? They're several hundred bucks each!

 

Go to a different dealership ! There are plenty that would love the work . This should be under warranty for 100,000 miles . Also, call the Chrysler phone # in your lemon law book and complain about the dealership . MAKE SOME NOISE .

 

Well they said that water and brown bacterial was found in the diesel sample they pulled out. So they said it's our fault. Diesel contamination. Plus we had the injectors,inj pump,fuel pump and gas tank empty out 15,000 miles ago(4months). We had to pay 8300 in costs due to diesel contamination. Now it's starting again. We pulled the truck out today hoping the diesel additive(power service diesel kleen) will fix the problem. Any thoughts anyone?

 

As of now they said that the 5th injector us clogged. And 500 for the injector. 10-days backordered. I need my truck this week for traveling purposes.

 

Man oh man... Sorry to hear that. But at least the injectors have come down some in price. They were almost $1k each when the '03s first came out. Ya hafta be careful with the diesel fuel additives. Some of them mix with water to allow it to be burned and sent out the tailpipe. That works ok with the older diesels. With the newer ones it'll cause what you're experiencing. We've finally caught up with the PSD and D-max with high priced sensitive injectors. Now 4-micron size dirt ( a human hair is 40 microns) is like sandpaper inside the injector. A little moisture can clog and blow the tip off of an injector. So we have filters that clog up sooner and we have to be critical of the quality of fuel we buy. And we have to be very careful of which additives to use. I personally don't use any additives for fear of allowing water to mix with fuel, bypass the filter and cause what you're experiencing. It's a real PITA when we're in little small towns out in the middle of no-where and the only diesel pump around is a little grease ball out in the middle of the local Rusty Can Discount Grocery & Fishin' Worm store's parking lot. There are times when I wish I had the Hemi instead.

 

I never used any additives until this problem occurred. I used it for the first time yesterday. Do you think that'll help at all?

 

If I were in your predicament, I'd give it a try like you're doing. I'm kind of at a loss though. If they took a sample from your tank that had slime and water and no additives, I would think at worst the filter would clog and cause fuel starvation. The filter should have not let it get to the injectors. The truck should have stopped running first from a clogged fuel filter. If the slime is able to pass through the filter, I've learned something new. I've never had it happen but I've read in the forums many times about a bad load of fuel clogging a filter and a spare filter is a good thing to have. I've got my fingers crossed for you.

 

I just replaced the fuel filter on friday and added the diesel fuel kleen from power service. I need to drive 1800 miles this weekend coming up. Do you think i will make it. I drove 200 miles on sat, the truck drives perfect on the highway. I only hear the knocking sometimes when i come to a stop. And when I do hear the knock, I could put it in neutral or park and knocking goes away.
The dealer said #5 injector is clogged. But why does it drive smooth on the highway above 2000rpms? Any thoughts?

 

Mine has a little cackle at idle most of the time. Not bad enough to worry about though. Mine is also quiet at any speed above idle and there's no miss. You didn't say if yours is missing or just a knock.
Once again I can say what I would do and it'd only be my humble opinion. If it runs quiet above idle, I would have a spare filter on hand and drive it as much as possible this week. Hopefully the filter will collect the mess and the fuel treatment will clean the injector. If you had a means to drain the tank of the contaminated fuel that would be great. If it's no worse by the weekend, I would take it for the trip and hope a few tanks of fresh fuel and conditioner would clean it out. But that's just my opinion. I've been wrong more than once in my life...
I'm assuming the mechanic at the dealership confirmed that it's not the hold down bolts on the injectors not being torqued down properly causing the knock... I would also ask their opinion on taking it on the trip. My opinion is just that. Don't put any faith in my opinion. I've been known to take risks.

 

The truck definately does misses when it drives. You can hear the knock taking off from a light but once you put your foot into the gas you can't hear it anymore. It does knock at idle in park or neutral, only in drive. I drove for one hour straight last night and drove smooth. It only makes the noise when I come to a stop. I just hope no more injectors get clogged on my 1800 mile trip.

 

My 2003 does the same thing sometimes after driving on the highway and coming to a stop it will knock from one injector, but if you give it a little throttle it stops. It does not do it above idle. The service manager at the dealer said it may be the pilot injection on that one injector not working some of the time, but if it is ok above idle he said drive it and not worry about it. I have been doing that and no problems other than the noise at idle.

 

My 03 does the very same thing, has for about 20K miles.Didnt start until 7K miles or so.Above 1500rpm everything is normal, does it on take offs only and ONLY when engine is at operating temps.It is worse depending on where I buy fuel, bought "premium" fuel at 2.02 a gal and the sound went away completly. I,ve tried Diesel Kleen and it helped alot,tried shell DFA(?) and not as good.Funny thing is my noise comes and goes. When it does make the noise I see no Power or fuel MPG decrease. In your case I would think the filter would clog first but I am no Tech. I do think that a problem exists within the injection on our trucks and DC knows of it and Im sure dealers/DC want to put it on the owners blaming the use of bad fuel. To bad you could not run a sample on the fuel yourself somehow.

TruckerGirl please let this forum know what happens.

 

ED and got cummins, does your truck shake at idle too when it's knocking? I agree with no loss of mpg. And yes, dealer blames it on contaminated fuel. No warranty. They want $1300 to drain the tank and replace one injector.

 

TruckerGirl, Mine does not miss at all.