Not meaning to be the devil's advocate, because I respect your opinion,.......but why could that not be it?

By no means am i stating i am an expert on this but talking with a mechanic with over 30 years experience in diesel mechanics (rebuilding the vp44 himself). Just wished i had been told about the check valve rather than replace a perfectly fine lift and vp44.

I see two distinct trouble areas with your codes. The P0522 is likely the fairly common condition of the wire to the oil pressure sensor working loose or being corroded, or a bad ground to the PCM. The sensor itself also fails with some frequency, but generally does so over time.

If you check your oil pressure with a manual gauge and it is not up to specifications, then it is almost always the relief valve that is located inside and near the top center of the bolt-on cover to the oil cooler (the cover is the casting with the oil filter attached). That valve gets crud stuck under it and will then open and spill oil pressure.

If the manual gauge shows oil pressure to be good, then start looking for a bad ground.

The JTEC in a Dodge is the Powertrain Control Module. Check out the fairly comprehensive DTC listings here: http://www.dieselspecialists.net/sup...aderManual.pdf

I would pop a copy of the listing, as it is one of the few I have seen that is actually comprehensive enough to do some good, and is right out of Chrysler's internal documentation. That listing will also show you which codes will display the check engine light, but does not identify those that you can list by flopping the key around versus those that require a true scan tool, or even those that will only display with Chrysler's proprietary scan tool. But, it does allow you to narrow the field in your search for problems by providing you with a bit of insight into which SAE or manufacturer group a code will fit.

The P1693 does tell you that the problem is with computer or auxiliary processor output failures, and that an additional specific trouble code will be listed when scanned with the proper tool.

In my experience, when you have a P1693 and trouble with either the temperature gauge or the oil pressure gauge, it is nearly always a bad ground.

My recommendation is that you go to: http://www.bedlib.org/ebsco.html and select the ARRC logo, and follow the links to the engine electrical diagrams for your truck. What you want to do is disconnect the battery grounds, let the system totally bleed off any residual power in the airbag caps by waiting at least 30 minutes, and then pop either the APPS plug or the plug to the VP44 injection pump and then check one of the ground pins against the engine ground. If it does not have infinite impedance, then trace the circuits until you find a corroded ground wire or a bad pin on one of the processors.

If you did not have the oil pressure gauge issue, I would steer you to the VP44 injection pump, but the bouncing oil pressure is almost always an indicator of other grounding issues.

Two great sites. Thanks for posting.

I know that your problely talking to j-body but. On his frist thread he said he took it to the dealer, and they checked the pressure and said it pegged their gauge. So if the vp has plenty of pressure (or to much) then the by-pass being stuck open is not the problem. to much has caused hard starts, but I don't think that's his problem. I also don't think that that's the problem with MOST VP44

I didn't like the "most of the times that's all it is" quote. If it were an issue I would think that sometime between 1999 and now I would have been stung by mis-diagnosing it. Funny thing is there is no "spec" on that valve and none of the diagnostics touch on it. I did call our beloved "tech center" to question them about it one time and was told that it is just there to create some resistance to fuel flow.....no spec, no test procedure......of course I'm thinking "ok, WHY is it there then???". Personally I have never replaced one to solve a drivability issue of any kind. There is also a "built in" restriction in the pump body itself.....

http://www.realdiesel.com/images/vp44_017.jpg

....and your in no way the "devil advocate" Crob, nor am I to Chief, but when a statement is made that I question I want some facts/experiences to try to convince me otherwise.

.....now I want to round up one of those valves, gut it out, install it and see what happens.

....and on the 0522 as much as the sending units fail on these things that's my first thought. Again, using the DRB would tell you if it were a recent code, or one that was set up to 255 starts ago (all the higher it counts). Problem with some scan tools, and the key on/off method is that alot of people get a little excited about dtc's that may have been stored for a very long time. Oil psi sender shares the same 5 volt as the MAP sensor, the the ground wire is shared by multiple sensors. That would leave one wire from the oil sensor to the ecm suspect, or the sensor itself.

Thanks,
Plenty of good info and reading here. :)

.....now I want to round up one of those valves, gut it out, install it and see what happens.
__________________
2001 4x4 47RE 3.5 gear race car puller
Edge EZ RV275 injectors
Goerend Bros triple disc convertor and valve body kit
104K and counting....

sounds like a good test. with the gutted one installed, have someone else
crank over the truck and listen @ the fuel tank with cap removed.

please post your find.

......and did you "hear" something with your truck when you were having issues?

fuel forced back into the tank

Hey everyone sorry its been acouple days since i have been on here. Been going crazy trying to get the troop ready. Anyways there were no noises, the only very suspicious (i cant spell) thing besides the **** thing dieing was the white smoke. My truck makes its fair share of DARK BLACK smoke, but this was almost like blown head gasket style on a gas engine. Then it went away.......

Welcome back. I hope you got the troops taken care of.

Now, there have been a few suggestions made on things for you to try. What all have you done and what were the results?

....and back to my suspicion of the VP

ok i tried disconecting the batteries, for about 1 hour, and that didnt help anything the codes still came up. And the truck still ran like crap. I noticed a wire not connected to something, theres some unit attached to the side of the engine right side (drivers) close to the front it looks like it could be the oil pressure sending unit maybe? either way its not connected. I noticed my driverside batterys negative connection isnt that great on the battery also. thats where im at now fellas