ok, now that my heat is working to a point, the truck does not want to start below 40 degrees F without being plugged in. any ideas? grid heater? truck cranks just below 200 rpm when trying to start. it's a 2003 ram 2500 164,000 miles, auto, 4x4. as always the help/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

just an update. plugged the block heater in and set up a couple of heat lamps on top of the engine for about 30 minutes and tried again and the truck ran for about 10 seconds and died. re-fired and the truck started and stayed running after i revved it a little. possible faulty FCA? any way to check it? heard that the bolts for it are one time use only? any guidance would help.

 

That truck should start on much colder days than that with no block heater with ease. I'd first check your filter and make sure it isn't clogged. Then I'd check for LP operation. Other than that you are most likely looking at injector problems.

 

well if it were injector problems shouldn't i have problems at every start? it only does it on the first start of the day. rest of the day i don't have problems. i replaced the fuel pump a few months ago along with the filter. injectors are on the upgrade list but being on a shoestring budget it isn't feasible at the moment.

 

When the injectors are cold the tolerances are greater. You have an injector issue. Question is, which one. If budget is an issue you will need to replace the ones that are bad. Dealership prices are around $600 a piece. Rebuilts are around $395 a piece.

If you don't have the equipment to test them you will need to take it to a shop to find out which ones are bad.

 

Ok it's been a while and winter is pretty much over for ND. I've just been plugging the **** thing in and it's been fine. Did some research and decided to check the pressure relief valve. Pulled the banjo bolt on top of the prv and had the wife key the ignition on for a few seconds and then start it up. Fuel was pouring out of it at idle like nobody's business. From what I've read that means the prv is bad, right? Now my question is, if it's bad, where can I get a good replacement and what's the procedure to replace it? I will be going back to TX to visit family in a few weeks so if you guys know of a Dodge specialist on the Gulf coast in the Houston area I could get one there as well. As always your help is greatly appreciated.

 

Check out TC diesel for your replacement PRV. His are more reliable than stock, will take more use, and has a choice of pressures if you are so inclined. It is better than stock, so to speak.

 

Well, it's been awhile since I posted last on this. I replaced the prv and that seemed to fix the problem for a little bit then started acting up again. Just a couple weeks ago I finally got around to replacing the FCA on the CP3 pump. Wish they would mention that the stock bolts are Torx heads and loc-tite'd in like nobody's business. had to use the dremmel tool to cut a slot in the heads and use a screwdriver bit on a ratchet to get two of them out after they stripped. The old FCA was faulty like I thought and now the random stalling issue is fixed, but still no start below 50 degrees (F) without being plugged in. Getting the injectors replaced next week, doing it rite and replacing all 6 of them, so finger's crossed that this will get rid of the no cold start issue. I'll make a new post after the replacement and give an update.

 

New injectors should fix your issues!!

 

If you're going for really low cold weather starts you could change the oil type.

 

A dealer can set a high speed idle option that uses the cruise control, about 1000 rpm when the truck is started or just sitting. In really cold weather allows the engine to warm up.

 

Ok, got a complete set of Bosch remanufactured injectors installed, and my diesel tech buddy found that a couple of the o-rings on the feed tubes had gone to crap. No biggie on the o-rings it's that far apart already so what's ten extra minutes to fix it. Truck seems to run a little quiter and smoother. I won't know about the cool start until I get back up to N. Dakota. Fuel mileage is up a little bit for around town, haven't run down the highway yet so we shall see.

 

That should fix your cold weather issues. Glad you got it working.

 

Ok people, it's been about 7,000 miles since the injector replacements went in and the truck has performed great. a little complaining when it was cold (-30 degrees F) but it happens. fuel mileage is about the same but power response seem to be up.

 

It's crazy what can happen to these electronic components and the issues they cause because of wear. Glad to hear you're still going!!!