Whats the deal with failed liftpumps? Is it anything to due with adding aftermarket parts? It seems that this is the most common problem everyone has with their Dodge, if its so common why isnt there a recall on them?

 

Most failures occur on 03-early 05s ( lift pump on filter housing ) There have been minimal failures on the in-tank pumps. I think its caused by no filtration before the pump and it being mounted where it is. Dodge will cover it under warranty and retro fit the new style, but no recall ( being stranded sucks but usually not dangerous). I replaced mine twice before I went with the AirDog. Power adders may help with failures but they dont need help, they fail on stock trucks too.

Dave

 

The 03' to 04.5' had the LP's on the filter housing. 05' and newer are in the tank. 03' and 04.5' that failed before 7/100,000 were replaced under warranty. You may hear of an in tank unit failing but they are few and far between. Folks with upgrades will install an better LP with better filtration.

 

Who knows why there is no recall on them. Probably the majority of them make it to the end of the warrantee.

I don't think it has anything to do with adding aftermarket stuff. In my case I disected the pump and looked for what went wrong wth it. The brushes in the motor were almost worn out. This was on the replacement pump that Dodge put in when my first one went out and it only had about 10,000 miles on it.

The motor just looks cheap and weak.

It seems so beneath Cummins to have that bad of a pump on their great engine. Oh well, Glacier Diesel introduced me to the Walbro pump about 73,000 mles ago and all is well.

 

There are 3 likely reasons for the engine mounted lift pump failures. The first is that since it is in the engine compartment it sees more heat and vibration than tank mounted pumps. The next is that since it isn't mounted in the tank it is harder to cool the pump, a tank mounted pump is submersed in fuel and is also cooled that way. The 3rd reason is that it is hard to pull fuel then it is to push it. The engine mounted pump needs to pull fuel as it pressurizes it, the tank mounted only needs to pressurize the fuel.

I didn't want to wait until mine failed so I installed a GDP 392 and keep the factory one is a sealed container in the truck as a back up in case I need it in an emergency.

 

Cummins never speced that pump on ANY of the Dodge trucks. That is purely a DC thing.

 

This is the theory I have heard as well.

 

That's news to me. Are you saying that's a Dodge pump!?

 

I replaced many of these pumps some under warranty and some not. Most electric motors that use brushes wear out. These pumps were designed to last 100k miles. Chrysler went with these pumps, hoping they would go out after 100K miles. Chrysler could then make money selling replacement pumps. The engineers at Chrysler should have learned from the second generation diesel that electric fuel pumps don't last 100k miles. The older 12V with mechanical pumps lasts forever, and I have only changed 3 of these pumps for leaking since Dodge went with Cummins diesel engines in their trucks. The external electric pumps maybe 1000 in ten years, that's just one dealership. Multiply that by all the dealerships and private truck repair shops across the country and you have millions of dollars in repair cost. Just another money maker, like their trac-lok failures on the 9 1/4 differentials but that's another story.

 

If Cummins didn't spec the pump they obviously had some input because if you give a Cummins dealer your engine serial number and ask for the fuel lift pump they get you the engine mounted lift pump for cheaper than Dodge (assuming your originally had the engine mounted lift pump).

Either way I ditched the poor reliability of the factory engine mounted pump and went a more reliable route.

 

I don't think cummins spec'd the pump (maybe a flow rate) but other than the block it's not cummins material (even though they may have parts. heck even the ECU on the engine is now made by dodge instead of cummins (think that was in 03??) But yeah other than the motor and parts ON it, most of the other stuff is dodge stuff (or in the case of the filter mounted pump) cummins since it was on the block.

I never gave my stock LP a chance to die, had the GP one on there at about 5 miles