My 03 has been turning over more times before it fires up on the first start of the day. It started doing it about a week or more ago and has never done this before. It only does it when stone cold. A couple days I didn't start the truck until later in the day when the weather had warmed up and it started normally. What kinds of things can cause this? I am still using the stock fuel pump at 70000mi. No codes have been tripped.

 

I take it you don't have a FP gauge? My guess would be LP starting to go...

 

X2..............

 

When you say LP lift pump is that the same as fuel pump? I do not have a fuel pressure gauge. When I need a fuel pump I have been considering either the air dog 100 or raptor 100. Can someone tell me how much for a raptor and is it worth it to spend more for the filtering abilities of the air dog? Thanks for the help.

 

Are you under warranty? Yes LP=FP.

 

INJECTOR(S)....................................bel ieve me

 

^^^ thats what I was gonna say....let the hunt begin.

 

I am still under warranty. Just barely. 69000mi.

Injectors? The truck runs fine, no rough idle, no smoke nothing like that. I'm thinking the fuel pump is more likely. I hope.

 

Injectors........................mine (03) did the same thing, and progressed to the point where it would only start with ether. The injectors supply atomized fuel to each cylinder, but they also use fuel for cooling/lubrication of the injectors. This fuel is sent back to the fuel tank via a route from each injector through the head and to the return line. The injectors are notorious for "by-passing" enough fuel as to allow for a hard start, because the rail pressure falls to the pressure range that's just at or slightly below what the ECM needs to see to iniate each injector to "pulse". It's not so much by-passed fuel as to make the engine run poorly. Mine runs great once I start it with ether. I ran a volume flow test for the return from the injectors and I am over spec. New injectors will cure it....I just need a small gold mine. Since you are in warranty, take it in, tell them to run a flow test on the return. They can isolate each injector and identify the leaker...or leakers. Believe me, I spent most all of 2008 researching this. I garauntee that if I swapped injectors on mine, it would start right up. A CP3 problem will shut you down. So will a bad lift pump. These injectors will fool you. There are a bunch of fellers here that will agree with what I have just said. Save yourself the headache and use that warranty.

CW

 

I'm with cwoodall.....injectors, at least one maybe more. I had the same symptoms and injector was the problem.

 

You guys are really that sure that you think I should have the injectors tested? I sure hate to spend the money and find nothing. The hard start is not bad, but it wasn't doing this two weeks ago and it is consistently doing it when cold. Is the warranty on the injectors up at 70,000mi.?

 

The injectors are covered in the engine and drivetrain warranty, I forget what that is. But if it is in warranty, they should do the testing and replacement at no cost to you. On the other hand, if your warranty is expired, changing out injectors is not that difficult of a task. If you can do without the truck for a week or so, you can pull 'em out, send them to DonM and have him test and rebuild for much less than you'd spend guessing and buying new replacements.

BTW, it begins as hard start...and progresses to no start (without the ether boost).

 

this is the start of the madening hunt for the "hard start" problem. you are gonna drive yourself insane trying to prove its not injectors, the shop will change everything BUT the injectors, and then you will get a call that says they have to replace all six (meanwhile hopeing that you have passed 100,000 miles since they started trying to "find" the problem).

if it is just starting to have a hard start issue, as the temps drop, I am almost positive you have an injector or 2,3,4,5,6 goin out. mine did the same thing, ran PERFECTLY once it was started. but if it sat overnight, for about 8 hours, and the fuel leaked down through the faulty injector (6 in my case). it was a hard start for me...eventually led to several no starts.

luckilly you are under the cummins warranty, 100,000k. so take it to dodge, have them test the injectors, and take it from there. either way, get it in quick, if it is the fuel pump, you should be able to get that warrantied too, right?

 

Are there any tests that I can do myself to try and rule out or confirm a problem? The dealer will charge me $100 for any warranty work and if they do not find a problem it will still cost $100.00. Thanks for the help guys.

 

There is a test to check return flow from the injectors, but you have to have a few fittings and an accurate way to measure mL of fuel. New injectors are around $400 each from Cummins, more from the dealer. That being the case, if I could spend $100 warranty deductible to get the injectors replaced, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Don't let them push you around and tell them you want them tested for flow (volume). It's covered. $100 is way cheap to have that done. Heck, I'd almost give ya $100 to get you back on time......but I need about $1800 for my own injectors right now. You are in the driver's seat with a great opportunity. Don't do like we all did and jack around with it until you expended so much time and effort it makes ya wanna puke. That's why this forum is here. We share your sentiments but we wouldn't steer you wrong.

CW