I have heard people talking about lift pump failures, and after 272,820 miles, mine finally quit. Of course it had to quit with a full tank of fuel, 75 gal. with my reserve tank and they are tied together. I have a cutoff valve on it so 40 gals. stayed up on the bed, but the regular tank was jam pack full. It couldn't have happened in a better place, I was just getting off the hiway to go into our yard. After one day of lost work and $820, I'm back to running again. All in all I was lucky on this one, it could have happened the day before and I would have been in northen Louisiana (500 miles from home) and would have been looking at a big wrecker bill plus the repair. It could have been much worse.

 

I don't mean to be cynical or hammer this person, but can I ask some brutally honest questions about this lift pump situation and Dodge lift pumps in general ?

a) why did fixing it cost $820 ?

b) it sounds like you replaced it with another stock pump. Why didn't you put something better in ?

c) it sounds like you ran it until it totally failed. It was probably starving the CP3 for a while, maybe damaging it. Why didn't you replace it before now ?

I just don't understand Dodge truck owners and lift pumps. Everyone that reads this site KNOWS that the Dodge lift pumps are crap. Everyone on this site KNOWS that when lift pumps fail they damage injection pumps, ala VP44 and CP3.

So why not replace them with something GOOD BEFORE they fail ? Why wait ? Do you wait until water leaks on your dining room table to put good shingles on your roof ?

Sorry for the rant. This is none of my business, but I just don't understand, especially when I see people with engines that don't start, CP3 seals failing, etc.

A CP3 will live forever if it gets enough clean fuel to supply the engine and keep the pump lubricated.

These engines that don't start when cold are probably starving for fuel. Or the CP3 is shot. The CP3s with leaking seals probably got starved for fuel.

A new CP3 off warranty is $1000 or more. Fixing a failed lift pump away from home away from a shop is a huge pain, whether the truck is on warranty or not. So why take the gamble ?

Give yourself a Christmas present this year: put a good lift pump in your Dodge truck before it fails. It will more than pay for itself, sooner or later.

I'll shut up now.

 

To Superduty:
Your right, it is none of your business. I work this truck every day, it was running perfectly until it quit. It had run over 1000 miles in the past two days, it started as it always did within 1 - 2 seconds of turning the switch. Things wear out. I believe 272k is enough and it has pumped a lot of fuel in that time. I don't fix things unless they are broken, a lot of times you are better off leaving things alone. I haven't heard of any of the "fixes" that are problem free. I lost my CP3 pump at 149,000 miles and it wasn't caused by the lift pump, they don't "live for ever", what caused that? You seem to have all the answers. If you have something that is completely problem free, patient it. You will be a rich man. I didn't post expecting the kind of response I got from you. Those kind of responses don't need to be seen on these boards in my opinion. Now I've had my say.

 

Sorry I said anything.

"I lost my CP3 pump at 149,000 miles and it wasn't caused by the lift pump"

What makes you so sure ?

 

The only lift pump that has been on the truck is the one that was just changed. If the lift pump was bad, do you think the replaced CP3 pump would have gone 120+k miles? Especially since I pull a trailer that usually is in the 18-20,000 lb range every day? I don't think so.

 

Hey Superduty, I for one like your posts, appreciate the work, ideas, and efforts you take to explain some of your more complicated thoughts to the members. Some folks just cant take constuctive criticism, some folks just dont take good, sound advice, some folks just cant get along. Maybe after 418 posts, some members will lighten up alittle. We can only hope. take care buddy.

 

"If the lift pump was bad, do you think the replaced CP3 pump would have gone 120+k miles?"

That depends on a lot of things, like fuel viscosity, fuel temp, how bad the lift pump was, etc.

Dodgezilla (and others): Thanks. I like hanging out here.

 

I bought my truck after reading around on this site for a while. Everyone thought I was crazy at my shop when I installed my Airdog fuel system with the 3 micron filter with only 2000 miles on the clock. I don't pretend to know more than Dodge engineers or even most people on this site, but after reading one posted article by Bosch showing the poor quality of fuel in the U.S., I bought the fuel system and use 2 stroke oil or fuel additive in every tank. I may have been lucky and never had a problem but I thought before doing any horsepower mods to the truck, I'd better take care of the one a glaring weakness that was constanly talked about on this site. Just my two cents (I'm just trying to justify spending big bucks on something I'll probably never need)

 

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