Hey i'm pretty sure i got bad diesel becuz my water in fuel light came on.

Well also i know this is bad and i'm goin to stop it now, but i think i let my tank get empty too often.

Anyway i get some diesel one night then go home. next morning i go to start up the truck. its starts and runs for half a second and then shuts down. water in fuel light hasn't come on yet. so i try starting it 3 more times and it finally runs. i drive a little bit come back home...few hrs later go to start the truck and the same thing happens and the light comes on.

So i go drain the secondary fuel pump until the light goes off. start it up go get some new diesel and put some water remover in the tank...truck runs for a few hrs fine. next morning same thing happens. then i finally get it started and now it only revs up to like 1000 rpms and only goes about 20 mph.

So then i open up secondary pump to find out i have some kind bacteria. so i cleaned it out and put a new filter on it. fill it up with atf and then start the truck...now it starts right up but it still only revs to about 1000 rpms.

so then i get someone to turn the key over while i put my ear on the tank. sounds like the pump in the tank is out. i also had a buddy scan the truck and he said he thinks the primary pump is out as well.

what do you guys think?

 

Couple questions.

What do you mean "secondary pump"? Do you just mean the filter housing or are you running two pumps?

Sounds like you got a load of water and algae and clogged the in-tank pump or screen. Maybe you can disconnect the line near the filter and blow it back toward the tank. Then get that junk out of there and add a biocide to get the last of it.

If you fill out your sig we can see what you have.

 

oh ok. i'm not too familure with all the pumps and things. the housing on the drivers side of the block that the filter goes in is not a pump?

i thought there was the tank pump then the pump up by the block and then the injetor pump...i dunno.

what all pumps do i have?

i have a 2003 2500 HO cummins....no mods

 

Your pump is on the back of the filter housing. See the black lump mounted there? It draws the fuel from the tank, feeds the filter and then the CP3 high pressure pump.

It does not run continuously.

Check for codes by turning the key off and on three times and readng the display. If it gives a code of 0628 your pump has failed and will act similar to your description.

By the way, you are probably overdue for a pump failure.

 

overdue for a pump failure? what do u mean by that....lol sorry for being dumb.

 

I don't know how many miles you have but a lot of us have had to replace the lift pump. Mine went at about 60,000 miles. It's a common problem.

Fill in your signature and see if you show any codes by turnng the key off and on as I mentioned earlier.

 

i personally have never seen or heard of bacteria in the tank! Wow. Old fuel! Same idea happened to my 02, but it was because the VP44 was letting go. The 02 was heavily modded from banks, and about to let go when i traded it in.

 

i did the key thing and no codes came up...altho i did it yesterday and a code came up but i don't remember what it was...

ok...so the pump in the tank is a lift pump?

then it goes to the transfer pump which is on the block?

then from the transfer pump to the injection pump?

if i get a new lift pump then should i look into a nice one or just get a factory one....i may do mods down the road so does the pump in the tank make a diff?

 

No. If you still have the pump on the filter housing you don't have a tank pump. The tank pump is the Dodge fix for a failed engine mounted lift pump.

In '04 all Cummins came with the filter mounted pump. That's the lift pump.
Many of them have failed and have been replaced with the Dodge fix of an in-tank pump. Others, like me have a Walbro or Air Dog setup. When a replacement is done the filter mounted pump goes away.

The stock engne mounted lift pumps are definately the weak link in the system.

 

We had a big slug of water injested into the fuel tank of one of our helicopters, it was there for about 2 days. The bacteria growth was amazing and fast, it clogged both filters in the system with a fine black sludge. When we looked into the full tank with a flashlight, you should be able to see the bottom of the tank, as Jet A1 is clear, but it was cloudy. We ended op having to open all the cells and pysicall wipe them out, and replace all filters. Costs were over a couple of grand. I mention this as Jet A1 and diesel are very similar. We were very suprised how quick the bacteria grew. I would not be suprised if your fuel filter is clogged in a similar way.

 

oh my fuel filter was clogged...i only had 5000 miles on it and it was black and had all kinds of gummy stuff in it. and so did the housing.

ok i'm tryin to figure out what i need to replace.
if i open the valve on the filter housing and turn the key on it pours out diesel just fine

i tried driving it again tonight. i'll drive and after about 1500 rpms it will bogg out and stay that way. so i can only drive like 30 mph...and it definately won't pull up a hill.

also what ever i do have to fix do u think i can get chevron to pay for it. i have a reciet and some of the diesel i drained out.

 

Keep a sample of the potentially bad fuel and your receipt..........contact your insurance company

 

I got a load of bad fuel last year. Took it to the dealer and they said it wouldn't be covered under warranty. They said call ins. company. They also said no dice. Next I tried the station. He pulled a sample while I stood there, but it was clean so I got no joy there either. Long story short, $1100 later I had a new FCA and cleaned tank and lines. My truck has ran fine ever since. The dealer wanted $7000 to replace all injectors, lines, the rail, the fca, and to flush the system. I said no thanks, and at that point they voided my warranty due to fuel contamination. I hope this shed a little light on your situation.

Marshall

 

So i took the truck into the dealer finaly...not realy what i wanted to do but ohwell.

they told me i need a new fuel actuator in the injection pump. and then that it is recomended that i get the whole system cleaned out.

to fix the actuator wil cost $480
to do the diesel cleaning is $250

 

Fuel Actuator is availible from Cummins. Actuator ETR Fuel Control part#4932457. I paid $101.26 plus tax. It attaches to the rear of the injector pump with three torx screws.