I was driving the truck in town at 30 mph when the engine suddenly just quit. I muscled the truck over to the curb. Tried to restart it and it started and ran for about 1 - 2 seconds, then died. I tried again with the same result. The truck is an 04.5, 3500 with CTD, Auto, 4x4, no mods to the engine or boxes. It has 48,000 miles on the odometer. I had it towed to the dealer, but it was closing time. Will check with him in the morning. It appears to be a fuel problem?

Any suggestions? I want to have some ideas when I check in with the dealer.

thanks,
Roy

 

No doubt it is probably a bad lift pump. Mine went out around 24,000 miles. They will install a new in tank lift pump. If you have ever wanted to add a Fass or a GDP pump now is the time because your old fuel pickup and gauge unit will be replaced with the intank unit making it harder to install an aftermarket pump.

 

I agree completely with Spooler. Probably the filter mounted lift pump has gone bad. Those were on 03-04.5 trucks. Starting in 05 they went to an "in tank" design which has proven to be better for stock trucks. All Dodge trucks, even 2nd gens, that have the dealer do any lift pump replacements are put in the tank.

If you ever want to add more power or want higher fuel pressure, now is the time to replace it with a good aftermarket one. If you plan to stay stock, then just let them fix it under warranty with the in tank design. Good luck.



...

 

If its fuel related, the first couple things that come to mind are how many miles on the fuel filter? And maybe you got a hold of a bad batch of fuel at the last fill-up.

 

Well, as suspected, including myself, it is the lift pump. The fuel filter only has 1,000 miles on it. The fuel source is the same I've been using for the past 2 years, at least from the same service station.

One question I do have though;

Does the pump all-of-a-sudden just die or can it slowly deteriorate over time? The reason I'm asking is the truck did not have very good performance on a trip this past summer (6,200 miles) pulling my new 10,000# 5er (GCW was 18,000#). I was dissapointed with the truck's performance, only achieved about 10 mpg (avg) at 60 - 65 mph. Best mpg was 12, worst was 6 (pulling a long hill out of Kamloops BC at 55 mph, pre turbo EGT was 1200 - 1250F). The trip was from Vancouver Island to Toronto and back.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Specs: 3500 Dodge Ram stock, quad cab, short box, CTD, Auto, 4x4, 3.73:1

thanks,
Roy

 

On my 04.5 it just quit, no warning or prior problems. Fix was in tank unit and no more problems after that with the pump BUT think repair caused more damage, about 1 month later lsot CP3 and 5-7000 miles lost #4 injector then 28 days later #6 injector. Think dealership just rushed fixing pump repair and I got the end problems after the repair. Was so bad that I felt I couldn't depend on truck so traded for eh 07 now in my signature. After the pump replac4ement I had nno more fuel supply problems and other repairs I think were due to dirt & contaminants the mechanic/tech introduced into the system.

 

donhov:

What exactly is removed and how is the fuel fed at / through the fuel filter? Is there a bypass fitting arrangement to take the place of the lift pump?

thanks,
Roy

 

Yes, on the fitting. It is a similar design to what is shown in the Galcier Diesel system. Just a fitting that bolts in place of where the pump was on the filter housing. The OEM system replaces a few additional lines and such, but very similar for the most part. Obviously the Glacier system isn't in the tank either.

 

Well, yes the pump can go down hill over time and cause performance issues. When mine started acting up I noticed a significant decrease in fuel pressure at WOT. It used to stay a 5 PSI at WOT and when it started acting up it would drop to 0 PSI. The first sign was a big stumble at startup several times in a row. It kicked out a code, took it to the dealer the same day, they scanned it and said "Yeap, it's a bad lift pump", so they ordered one and I was on my way until it came in. NO, on the side of the road for me.

My CP3 started leaking and was replaced 2,000 miles earlier.

 

I talked with the service manager today. He said they had scanned for codes and found the problem was with the lift pump. I asked him about the loss of feed pressure and could this cause damage to the CP3. He said they've replaced many of these pift pumps with no subsequent problems with the CP3's. He said he had one customer who drove for 300 hours with the lift pump not working. I thought the fuel had to be pressure fed to the CP3.

Anyone have thoughts or comments on this?

thanks,
Roy

 

I had mine replaced at 42000 miles with no problems since (5000 Miles). Make sure the service writer has it covered under the emissions warranty. There is no cost/deductible to you. The emissions warranty is good for 50K or 5 years.

 

Is the CP3 pressure fed, yes. Can it run without the lift pump, yes. The CP3 can pull fuel from the fuel tank, but it is in no way good for it. I didn't believe it until one day a buddy of mine's walbro pump went out, and it would run but with limited to no power. We wound up plugging in the stock lift pump back in so he could limp it to the house.

 

They claim that the CP3 can survive without the lift pump working, as the GM uses the same CP-3 but no lift pump. My experiances were that the pump failed and either the same time or shortly after the truck quit and less than 30 days after the lift pump quit the CP-3 failed. Maybe a coincidence as the tech that replaced the lift pump cobbled up a pump kit as the dealer didn't have one in stock and he wanted to get the truck out quickly. Next dealer had to do much repair to get pump wiring correct and a few other problems but eventually it was right. But after that I then had 2 injectors and 4 rail relief valves fail and I thought it was time to get rid of truck and now have my 07 5.9 in my signature.

 

I have an ISSPRO EV fuel pressure gauge, installed it in July before a 6,200 mile trip. Initially there was a 3 psi reading but then it quickly went to 0 psi, and it has never read abnove 0 psi since. I thought perhaps I didn't complete the install correctly as the instructions said to fill the plastic pressure tube, fuel isolator to gauge, with antifreeze if the length was over 6 feet. Length was about 7 1/2 feet. My trip departure was 2 days away so I didn't want to start troubleshooting. Decided to wait till I returned. Anyway, I did not get around to it yet. This was with the original lift pump.

Now, with the new lift pump, the reading goes to 10 psi when the key is turned to on, before engine start. The pressure slowly drops to 0 psi about 20 - 30 seconds after engine start.

Does anyone know if the problem may be with the non filling of the plastic tubing with antifreeze (compression of the air?) or, could there be an issue with excessive bypass flow through the CP3 so no back pressure is developed?

....commnets please....

thanks,
Roy

 

It sounds like you have a leak in your capilary tube (plastic). I only filled my isolator to the top with antifreeze and not the plastic tube. Guage works fine. On the plastic tubes the nuts are just snugged up. If you over tighten them the brass little clamping ring will cut into the plastic and cause a leak. I would check at the isolator and at the gauge. Did you blead all the air out of the line coming from the fuel filter? No reason to run the truck just loosen it up below the isolator (or the isolator blead screw) and turn the key on to get the lift pump to run to blead it out. If that dosen't correct the issue you may have a bad gauge.