So, before you guys tell me to search if this has been answered before, believe me, I've searched this forum and the other Cummins forums to the point where I can't even think anymore I'm soo tired.

 

I've been having torque converter lockups for a long time on my 2001. I've done every rewire out there, even bought the "sponge" (capacitor) from ATS to compliment their transmission and it still doesn't like being in between 30 and 40, you give it any throttle and it jumps back to 3rd and let off and its back into 4th... I've long suspected the alternator but it always tests clean, I'll get to that in a moment.

 

So this weekend, I decided due to excessive smoke and lag with my Edge disabled it was time for injectors. I went with some DAP +75s and Saturday night dug in and got them installed. Following numerous posts and YouTube videos I got through the process since I've never done it before I was a bit worried but it was actually easy (I'll be honest here, I may have skipped over any sort of priming/cracking open fuel lines  (I didn't know) and started the truck up, but it started right up and is really smooth, quieter than ever). Got everything torqued back down. Test drove the truck for about an hour and wow, big difference. I don't even think I need the Edge anymore other than for gauges.

 

Next day (Sunday) we decide to go for a drive, got on the freeway, tons of power, actually fairly scary to be honest about 3/4 through the loop while heading back towards my house the truck dies and then springs itself back to life, however looking at the gauges, I notice no fuel pressure at all... I kill and restart the truck make it to the next stop light and it does it again. Loss of fuel, truck stutters and then springs back to life aggressively!

 

Luckily, I make it back home and first thing I start checking is power to the relay to the fuel pump. It's got power at start, but even just sitting in my driveway, the power just vanishes from the fuel pump causing the truck to stutter and then fire back to life with 0psi on the lift. WTH?

Checking the relays, the weird massively zip-tied wiring job (the pump was installed at the same time as my trans) and 2 unused wires touching the body... grrr.

 

During all this I found the one connector above the valve cover I was just working with and likely bumped.. the one with the gray lock was unlocked and about 1/4 open... as deep as it goes, still probably fine, made sure that and the other connector there were clean and made sure they were locked. Cleaned the fuel pump relay connector (the stock connector that goes to the original pump) and every other connector within my reach including all 3 PCM connectors with contact cleaner and air.

 

At this point I notice my APPS reading on the Edge all over the place, thinking back to all my issues I'm like, "That damn alternator noise" so. I grab my meter and quickly do an AC test... .019 .5, truck stutters 2.5!, .02... well the 2.5 was a fluke apparently because the truck was stuttering.

 

Pissed off, I remove the alternator.. I had not purchased a fancy one that I had planned on like on my other truck yet. I'm shocked to find a Chrysler branded Bosch alternator when soooo many talk about Denso units on their trucks. I went to O-Really?'s and had them test it, their machine measures PASS with .40 ripple voltage (their threshold is 2.5!?) and I went, hmm I want to try something else. I run to AutoZone instead and theirs tested at .45, a brand new one actually tested .55 so I'm like, their machines are inaccurate anyway because of the motor that drives. I take a new unit and an old unit back to the house. I test the old unit's diodes and they are fine so I put it back on for now. Start the truck, now it's like 10 to 15 degrees cooler outside and the truck has been sitting 2 hours since it's last stutter episode and it's fine, it runs just fine... grr and the APPS is reading a nice flat 0% at idle.. however watching it, it eventually crawls up to 5%.

 

I'm at a loss on what to try next, is it just the APPS, can the APPS freak-outs make the whole computer shut the truck down, including dropping the fuel. Am I looking at a dreaded ECM replacement? Is the heat causing the ECM to be intermittent? At this point, I doubt the alternator...

 

TL;DR; Changed injectors, did valve adjustment, next day... It was hot, drove normal even APPS bounces around a bit as usual. truck died multiple times but only when foot off the pedal and came back to life... each time Airdog dropped out, Relays, Alternator, everything else appear fine, truck cooled down and idles fine, but afraid to drive it now.  

That's fine to disagree...  I just look from a different angle.