Mopar1973Man

Just wait if you buy a new truck. Injectors should be replaced somewhere around 100-150k miles at a cost of $3,500 or so. EGR issues plugging up the intake and grid heaters. DEF system failures where it leave you stuck and unable to drive the truck. Lower MPG's on the newer truck unless you delete it then if you live in a smog state that's not possible. Injector fails for some reason it possible to wipe out pistons and cylinders at the same time costing even more. So far there is nothing on the 3rd or 4th gens I'm happy enough to give up my 2nd Gen. Repairs are still way cheaper on the 2nd gen vs 3rd or 4th gens. Once warranty runs out you better be ready to trade it in. Lifespan on CR engine are much lower than the old 1st or 2nd gens.

@jlbayes is a member here too.

I've heard that in-tank fuel pump you should look for Delphi they seem to be the better brand of pump typically for gasoline or diesel.

Might consider twins at that rate. Talk to @TFaoro or @trreed they would know.

Gamble. It might run for a few weeks or a few months or a few years. There are 4 things that kill a VP44... 1. Low fuel pressure. Should be 14 to 20 PSI at all times. 2. Poor filtration. Cheap filters. 3. AC noise from a failed alternator. Should be less than 50mV AC. 4. Poor Lubricity. Today fuel is 520 HFRR Bosch required 460 HFRR or less. Hence the 2 cycle oil theory. So if there are any of these issues your chance of any lifespan is greatly shortened.

Fuse number 2 in the PDC. Pins 48 and 50 should be constant hot. Fuse number 9 in the Cab is ignition hot for both ECM and PCM.

Hook up a live data tool and watch the rail pressure. If the rail pressure start to slide downward as the engine warms up then you have a rail leak. Most likely the crossover tube is not seated properly in an injector or the crossover tube is loose slightly. I've seen this before. The one I dealt with the rail pressure was good cold as it warmed up it continued to slide down till it would no longer run (below 4k PSI). Let it sit and cool down the pressure returned. We started checking crossover tubes... Bingo! The truck has been running since.

You might want to talk to @cajflynn he made it to 1.3 million miles with a 53 block towing heavy every day.

Old NAPA vs New NAPA... Still the same part number 375-190 or 375-180. I'm currently running the 180*F version as a test.

Hmmm... @Me78569 would you say (7 x 0.010) VCO injectors and 62/68/12 Turbo with a Quadzilla Adrenaline?

Hold on a second... Let say the distance across the US is 3,500 miles (a bit more than actual). I'm driving 250 miles every TTS (Tues, Thurs, Sat). That's 750 miles in a week excluding any side or personal travel. So say 1,000 a week. If there are 52 weeks in a year then I'm doing roughly 52,000 miles per year. This is just to keep MoparMom alive with dialysis. If I can do this kind of travel to keep MoparMom alive I'm sure your truck could do recreational towing and travel the states way easier. This is my typical travel home to DaVita then I go over to my RV in Parma, The go back to pick up MoparMom and then head home. There might be side trips to shopping and such too.

Most of your problem we can shed some like on with these articles. Now since you didn't list the error codes you might want to check the articles for the error codes you are having there is diagnostic test listed in there too.

Since I change thermostats every coolant change it just way simpler to just get a fresh thermostat with a seal already than look for a replacement seal.

I know off at least two head gaskets on his truck.

@cajflynn ran Chevron Delo 15w-40 and fleetguard filter changing oil every 20k miles. Ask @dorkweed about his 3rd Gen. He ran WalMart SuperTech 15w-40 and Motorguard bypass filter. He managed to run ~80k miles on a single oil change. Testing with Blackstone every 7k miles and just changing the filters and topping off.

Like myself, my previous truck was a 1972 Dodge Power Wagon which I managed to break the front axle 3 different times with oversized tires. Find that part was difficult to get a hold of I finally broke down and bought a new truck. I purchased my truck on October 26, 2002 which just happened to be my 32nd birthday. So the truck and I celebrate our birthdays together. Yeah, I've managed to do some wear and tear, or go for broke. Thing is I continue to learn more and more about these truck the more mine breaks down or wears things out. Ok so the head gasket gave up and was leaking coolant. I learned that the cylinders are in excellent condition and the pistons are too. The head ended up getting a full rebuild. If you going to pull the head for a gasket you might as well have the valves and everything else done too. Basically, if you just take care of the problems early and quickly then typically you can minimize your damage.

356k miles and 16 years as well. Just done a head gasket and I know for sure there is at least another 16 years left in this truck. Cylinders are still got crosshatch marks, piston were clean, etc. I'm going past 500k miles for sure. 238k miles to the moon. So I've visited the moon now I'm heading back to earth. I might want to visit the moon again.

Error codes? Fuel pressure?

Never have used synthetic engine oil. Transmission requires synthetics. Everything else has been normal petroleum oils.

Talk to @IBMobile he got an idea on how to fool the grid heaters without throwing a code.

Absolutely no sealants to be used. Use a bit of anti-seize on the bolt and only use a nut driver to tighten the 3 bolts. remember those are tiny bolts and don't require a large amount of torque. The rubber seal does the task of sealing the metal to metal contact. Just need enough torque so the bolt doesn't back out.

Seriously this why I don't buy into the hype of synthetic oils and name brands. As long as the oil meets or exceeds the requirements of the engine use it. Our engines require CI-4 or better and typically 15w-40 viscosity is fine for most normal operation. Synthetic oil is not required. The only thing about filter filling I would heed the warning about filling the oil filters. Long ago there were reports of the oil cooling nozzles being plugged up with debris. Some of this came from the Fram oil filter problems and other came from debris falling into the center hole of the oil filter. (foil cover). Either way, anything placed in the center hole is unfiltered oil head for the bearing and cooling nozzles. Myself, I typically do not fill the filters anymore. Startup to oil pressure is typically 2 seconds tops. After having the head off and seeing the cylinder walls I was happy with the oils I'm using and plan on continuing down that path. Like currently running Delo 15w-40 CK-4 oil. I'm currently using NAPA filters being the frequency of my oil change is very short in time but still 7k thereabouts.

Let say in all the miles I've driven I've never had a explosive tire failure. I've had flat tires but that is even rare. Key is proper inflation pressure. Never inflate to max inflation and never buy marginal tires that require max inflation to carry the load.

1989 to 2001 is KDP years. There has only been one that I know of reported in 2002. The owner had a picture of the invoice up and it showed 2002 Dodge. Rather wild but rare.

If the oil is so dirty I wonder if that's why the cylinder wall look good because that oil is filtered first. Where the oil I poured in the valve cover ate the valve guide?