Need the Experts - Last night truck just quit after going thru stop light. 2000 2500 quad cab 176,000mi. Truck is stock. Trouble shooting shows good fuel pressure from LP (fairly new pump). No fuel from HP lines at injectors (not a good sign). No codes shown on check. Also checked Automatic Shutdown Relay in the PDC and appears to be working fine. My guess is the VP44. No idea how many miles truck ran when I lost the first LP, but have to imagine it certainly didn't add to the life of the VP. If it needs replaced, suggestions on who to order one from? Thanks for the help everyone provides here and all the great post I was able to review to get some background.

 

Sounds like a VP.
? when you say no fuel on the HP lines, did you just turn the key on, or bump the starter to find this out? My 98 won't kick the VP until I bump the starter.

 

Thanks for the reply Dctoner.

Tried both ways - bumping the starter to long cycle the LP and cranking motor over to turn over the VP. Have had the pleasure of bleeding system before and never had a problem getting the HP lines at head to bleed fuel.

Just order new one from MWFI - sooo.....I sure am hoping I haven't miss diaognosed the problem. Also ordered the low pressure warning kit to insure the VP never gets starved again. Any suggestions welcome. I could use a warm fuzzy feeling about now.

 

I would also try an APPS reset and disconnect the VP44 wiring harness and plug it back in. It sounds like you will need to replace it anyway but it may give you a few more miles out of it.

I wouldn't go with an idiot light, a gage will tell you the exact pressure your VP is receiving.

Have you replaced a VP44? It's not a bad job, the instructions can be found all over on this site. Just take your time.

When my VP44 was dieing it didn't throw any codes either, so you must of got one of the dumb computers like I did

For your warm and fuzzy, I noticed an increase in fuel millage after the VP44 install

 

Well, if nothing else, at least I know I'm not alone with this problem. Just finished up getting everything disconnected, except for pulling the gear, have to get a t-puller in the morning. Took about 1 1/2 hours and only the back injector fitting at the pump was a bit of a pain. Hope the VP pops out as easily and it all goes back together smoothly. Sure would like to see a slight increase in mileage with these prices and have it pull like it used to. Good idea on the gauge. I'll have to find one.

 

This is the one I run.

http://www.dieselmanor.com/isspro/r6..._fuelpress.asp

 

Not a bad price on the gauge.

Got the VP installed this afternoon. With a grunt and groan and a prayer it fired up. Took it for a very short test ride and seems to be the old truck I remember. Going to let it sit till tomorrow and double check for leaks.

For those who are contemplating doing it themseleves...it wasn't to bad a job. It did remind me why I gave that line of work up years ago though.

The only surprise was the location of the woodruff key on the shaft in relation to the TDC mark. With shaft at TDC, the key was in the 7 o'clock position. From looking at all the illustrations in the Dodge manual, I was expecting it to be at 12 o'clock. Went in ok though.

Only hard spot was HP line on block side of injector. Unscrewing the one above and below first and sliding them back on the line gives enough room to make it manageable. Cost of pump $1100 ... labor - about 5 hours taking my time, being carefull.

 

Glad you got it running, now get that gage in there to protect that new investment.