Finally purchased a rebuilt VP44; it arrived yesterday & the swap was today's project. 

 

Replaced the factory VP44 11 years ago.  And apparently, I significantly over tightened the high pressure lines on the back of the replacement VP44 because I really struggled to get them off.  Modified a 17mm crows-foot flarenut wrench to get enough back pressure then I was able to get the line nuts to finally brake free.  My guess is i was trying to get the lines to not leak.  Now the ends are mushed over (see pic).   Hard for me to believe I tightened them that much but obviously I did (I was broke down out-of-town...might have had something to do with it). 

 

Anyway, does anyone have a good source for a replacement set of high pressure fuel lines?  Geno's shows a set in their catalog (the set, tax and shipping looks like is just under $1k and after buying the pump, I'd like to save some $'s if possible).

 

Thanks,

 

 

Check this link out.

https://www.google.com/search?q=2001+dodge+ram+diesel+fuel+injection+lines&sca_esv=edeca30911a1fd73&sca_upv=1&source=hp&ei=n-nTZoLACqTLkPIPyc-C0QE&iflsig=AL9hbdgAAAAAZtP3rxJa1xWfCcKDnC1GGQbOPxlX8yu1&oq=2001+dodge+ram+diesel+fuel+ijection+lines&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IikyMDAxIGRvZGdlIHJhbSBkaWVzZWwgZnVlbCBpamVjdGlvbiBsaW5lcyoCCAAyBxAhGAoYqwJItrEDUOFKWOWeA3ABeACQAQCYAW6gAbkdqgEEMzcuNbgBAcgBAPgBAZgCK6ACyR6oAgrCAhAQLhgDGOUCGOoCGIwDGI8BwgIQEAAYAxjlAhjqAhiMAxiPAcICDhAuGIAEGLEDGNEDGMcBwgIFEAAYgATCAg4QLhiABBixAxiDARiKBcICCBAuGIAEGLEDwgIOEC4YgAQYsQMYgwEY1ALCAggQABiABBixA8ICCxAAGIAEGLEDGIMBwgILEC4YgAQYsQMYgwHCAg4QABiABBixAxiDARiKBcICBRAuGIAEwgIGEAAYFhgewgILEAAYgAQYhgMYigXCAggQABgWGB4YD8ICBRAhGKsCwgIIEAAYgAQYogSYAwaSBwQzNS44oAeZqQM&sclient=gws-wiz

IBMobile, thanks very much for the link!  Your link popped up A LOT more alternatives than my simple search engine query.  After looking through a lot of Ebay adds on used (hadn't occurred to me, but since my truck has just about 545k miles, most looked better than mine) found a seller where the ends looked great and very little corrosion on the lines.  Here is hoping.

 

BTW, saw in your truck specs you have 4.10 gears.  Did you change yours or did that come factory?  Plenty of times I wished I had 4.10's, for towing especially, but having never done differential work I'm very hesitant to attempting a front and rear gear swap.

  On 9/2/2024 at 9:39 PM, fdfbuilds said:

BTW, saw in your truck specs you have 4.10 gears.

That's a stock diff in my truck with 4.10. 

The way your truck is set with 285 tires and a 3.55 diff the effective gear ratio is 3.42.  If you were to go down in size to a 245 tire the effective gear ratio would change to 3.69 where you would gain some better pulling power keep, decent fuel milage and help lower exhaust temps going uphill without down shifting, plus is cheaper than changing ring and pion gears.

Holy crap man, you must've really cranked on those. But who am I to talk when I stripped my abs module out when replacing brake lines... Anyways, anytime you have flared lines you can't go crazy with torque. Just a good snug will do. It's always better to not go tight enough and spring a minor leak than go too tight and strip out the pump or destroy HP lines. I would definitely recommend grabbing a used set off eBay or marketplace or even a local wrecking yard. 9/10 they are in great shape. Also I do not see the necessity in using crow feet for the lines. I got mine off with standard wrenches.

Edited September 3, 2024Sep 3 by QuadRunnerJake

The used high pressure fuel lines bought on Ebay showed up right after I was slammed with work.  Got them installed yesterday late afternoon, low pressure fuel flowing, new fuel filter, bled high pressure lines and up and running.  Good fuel pressure.

 

This morning, quite excited to drive it again, jumped in and lift pump didn't cycle on.  Hard start too.  Low pressure light on so shut it down.

 

Hard start - could be air in line from a broken seal (e.g. fuel return line)? 

 

This afternoon, lift pump powered on for the brief run prior to cranking.  I bumped the starter and the lift pump ran the normal cycle (25 seconds +/-).  But no start.  Might need to bleed the lines again or some other electrical problem.  Anyway, I don't want to run it now until the lift pump not coming on is figured out and risk damage to my newly re-built VP44. 

 

There is a relay switched with the ECM transfer fuel pump circuit with fused battery power running the lift pump.  Maybe ECM or wiring?  I'll replace the sending unit assembly, since I have it already, to eliminate pickup tube concerns...on the next free weekend.