I'm looking for some advice about my truck. My truck is an 05 2500 with 92k on the odometer. I bought it new back in August 05, and since owning it, I've had the following repairs,

Transmission parking pawl was binding up on shift from P to D (warranty ~60k, 2008)
U-joints front steering, replaced with greasables (2009)
U-joints rear drive, replaced with greasables (2012)
Front pinion seal (2012)
Instrument Cluster (three times, most recently in 2012)
Starter (2012)
Battery terminals (2012)
Brakes (2012)
Radiator Flush (2012)
Differential Fluid (2012)

Most of the repairs have been in the last year or so and some are normal maintenance such as brakes and radiator flush. I also live in MD and we seem to be keeping the salinity up in the Chesapeake Bay through the chemical that we apply to the roads in the winter. I happen to think that road salt is probably one of the biggest reasons the sealed joints fail so quickly around here. I also suspect I am on borrowed time for my ball joints but I'll keep driving on them for a little while longer although they could get replaced this summer if she stays.

On the cluster, the first time the cluster was repaired, the dealer blew up the cluster installing the cab lights with only 10 miles on the odometer. The second time, the power door locks failed and it was replaced with a remanufactured cluster which failed again (odometer went dark this time) but under the 12 month warranty.

Right now, she is about to go in the shop for what I fear is a new set of injectors. I've been religious about oil changes and fuel filters, changing them every 7500 miles. I'm not sure why my injectors would have failed since I don't have any performance add-ons.

So this will be a big repair, which brings me to my current dilemma. How much more will she let me down? The new 2013's are nice and I am tempted, and I might even go with a 1500 since I don't really need something that heavy. So would you say my ownership experience has been average or above-average for repairs? What about the injectors? They should be more robust but it just seems like they aren't. If I get them replaced, I am likely to get an GDP 2 micron filter add-on as protection against future troubles.

Perhaps I am rounding the corner for another trouble-free 100k or maybe its going to be a bitter fight to the end. What do you think?

 

I wouldn't call that letting you down. I would consider that maintenance.

 

What makes you think injectors are going to be required?

 

Except for the instrument cluster, I'd also call it maintenance. Regarding the injectors, I'd think it highly unusual that all 6 would fail or need replacing at the same time. I have 135K miles on mine and all injectors are still original.

Good luck!

 

Dealers around here are advertising $14k off MSRP on 2012s. I personally like the peace of mind a warranty brings, and knowing that not much needs fixin' in the first 75k miles or so anyway. My 3rd gen was a great truck, best truck I ever owned...until I bought a 4th gen.

 

I say injectors because it has a lopey idle when the truck engages the automatic high idle. Normal idle is fine and truck seems to have no loss in mileage, but the automatic high idle does not sound right. This leads me to suspect there is a problem. Injectors might be a bit of jumping to conclusions but that seems to be a common cause of idling problems these days as well as cp3 pumps and FCA.

I have looked into this issue, and checked out the posts of others. Some have reported that replacing injectors resolved the issue and others said it made no difference. Some of have replied that this is simply normal but unable to provide an explanation. Another theory is an unbalanced injector due to normal wear coupled with the way injection events are programmed for high idle. This last one almost makes sense, especially since high idle comes from the ecu and not through the throttle like when using the accelerator pedal or the manual high idle through the cruise control. I'm pretty certain something has changed. I've tried a couple tanks with power service and the filter is less than a year old. I would have expected filter troubles to show up at idle and high idle as well as on the road. There are also times when the high idle is normal and then becomes lopey but then recovers only to be lopey again. Sometimes it shakes me in the drivers seat. So it could be something as simple as a sticky FCA but I'm inclined to not think so because I think I can hear it happening to a particular cylinder/injector. Oh yeah, it doesn't matter it is cold cold or warm outside or if the motor is warmed up.

So if it were injectors and only one injector what would you do? Replace one or all? You would hate to replace one and then two months later another and then another. Or, replace all of them, and get it over with for another 100k or more.

 

High idle, it kills power to 3 injectors, so the lope is normal. It's called 3 cylinder high idle, just so you know.

 

It was my understanding that the HPCR doesn't do the 3 cylinder idle. All I really know is that something has changed and I am concerned. I've listened to my father-in-laws 04.5 which high idles like a kitten. The high idle on my truck is quite a bit rougher. I guess one thing is the dealer has messed with my instrument cluster enough times that I wonder if that might not be a problem if I had some programming for the wrong model year.

 

The common rails do not cut off 3 cylinders and it would be impossible to program a 2nd gen tune into your computer. The lopey idle is very common(in high idle) our 05 did this, does the truck start with white smoke on a cold start?

 

At cold start up there is a puff of white smoke and then a little bit as it warms up in the first 30-60 seconds. Once warm, its clear and later start ups there is no smoke. So I can't say that there is a lot or that the white smoke is a symptom or just normal cold start behavior.

 

I can believe that the lopey idle is somewhat common. I've read a lot of posts where it was reported and others who said it was completely normal. I wonder where it comes from because it didnt used to be there (on my truck). I would almost say its an age thing which means something like valve lash or a sticky part is to blame but Ive read from others that have said their trucks have loped the day they rolled off the lot.

 

my 04 has loped almost since new even at normal idle sometimes no smoke at startup. do you have any mods?

 

No mods. She's in the shop now getting fixed but I won't have all the parts together until tomorrow. I think I have a plan to get her back on the road. The mechanic said that the pressure relief valve was leaking and that probably the fca was bad as well. It was also determined that one of my injectors was marginal. I have ordered a new fuel rail (which includes the prv) and a new fca. I will also be putting in new injectors and feed tubes. I am installing the fca betting that the cp3 is probably ok since I was able to generate enough rail pressure to test the system. Seems like I am basically rebuilding the fuel system, so now I'm wondering should I just replace the cp3 or go with my original plan of the fca?

 

I am in the middle of trying to figure out this lopey idle deal on the trucks. My truck does it when it is very cold out. Like 20 and below. Has the nice smooth 1000rpm idle when its warmer (25 and above). My truck has the cruise control high idle trick enabled. Its 1000rpms and smooth. Truck will raise itself up when its cold to a 1000 smooth idle but below 20 and extreme cold it will lump idle and it will do it when its half or more on the temp gauge and sits idling for a few minutes.

I can find no solid proof this is normal I have seen many youtube videos and many on here say its normal and I have seen people say its not normal. I talked to a cummins dodge mechanic at my dealership last week and he said he had not heard about the lumpy idle cold mode but would make some phone calls.

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I've always been of the opinion that the weak link OEM part gets replaced with a better aftermarket part when it fails or the opportunity presents itself. U-joints, ball joints etc. If they are the weak link and fail or are known to fail, replace them with better.
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