T210DRVR

So, to set the scene I'm going up about a 5% grade pulling a 15,000 lb fifth wheel. I'm WOT in third gear in the right hand lane. I'm rapidly gaining on a very slow truck and looking for a gap to move into the left lane. The truck was even slower than I thought and had to get off the throttle and tap the brakes to let a car by. I finally make my lane change and hammer the throttle, nothing! I'm not sure if I lost all power or went into limp mode. After about five seconds trying to figure out how to move back over to the right while rapidly decelerating the power suddenly returned.

So, my question is why it happened? Any thoughts?

M Penwald

Sounds like a clogged fuel filter or problem with the fuel pump. Check the pump fuse in the power dist box under the hood. When's the last time you changed your filter? A clogged filter will yield an accelerator feeling that's like stepping on a plum. When you let up, enough fuel passes through what's still permeable on the filter and you get fuel back to the engine, but a clogging filter almost always presents itself the first time when you're in a high fuel demand situation and you pass the threshold of the filter's remaining delivery capability.

T210DRVR

The truck only has 1,000 miles on it. Do you think it's likely that the filter could be clogged so soon? The next couple of hills went fine. Q

M Penwald

Clogged fuel filters don't get better, they get worse over time as the peak flow gradually gets lower and lower until it affects all driving conditions.

At 2600 miles, my truck did the same thing, then started dying. Changed fuel filter and it wouldn't restart at all. It was towed under warranty to the dealer who claimed they found it missing the fuel pump fuse. Long story short, I had no idea where the fuse was, never saw it and it if was indeed missing, it was missing from delivery. Dealer/Dodge refused to cover it under warranty and I had to pay $120 dollars to replace a $.35 fuse. Appealed to Dodge direct and was denied. Personally, I suspect South County Dodge of lying to get me to pay an hour of labor instead of taking the thin warranty payment for replacing a fuse. I'm curious if your fuse is there or is blown. I will never ever ever return to that dealer.