Mopar1973Man

Rough out there... I understand your position really well myself.

Unbolt the shock on the bottom and see if it push downward. If the shocks got over 100k miles it would be a good idea to just replace them. Like a friend showed me you just grab the front tire try to roll it forward and backwards with force. Like the truck I seen it on was 2005 Dodge 3500 the owner was able to show the control arm bushing failure easy as the axle rolled forward and backwards. The arms just banged back and forth on the mounts under the cab about where you feet would be. Time to replace. My 1996 Dodge 1500 does the same thing it like the low speed stuff traveling my driveway to the way and just touch the brake barely the rear axle locks a few times. After driving quite a distance and using the truck it will quit.

More pictures and info wanted...

Nope. All I got to do is turn off the Quadzilla and watch it all change up. The timing drops back down to minor 13* to 14* at 65 MPH EGT's rise up another 100*F and boost rises almost 2-3 pounds. No VP44 issues just tuning the engine for better MPG's. Here really soon I might release my Quadzilla tune for others. When the Quadzilla crosses over my 165*F warm up limit while cruising I find myself lifting my foot off the throttle before of the surge of timing that brings on more power. GPH flow rates drop and MPG rises. When I've had one trip now down and back from Ontario, OR and on a 1/4 tank fuel for over 270 miles. Not bad. As for the lopey idle and stalling, I thought the same thing being I've already changed 3 sets of injectors. Being the VP44 was still under warranty. Now after the valve lash it all changed again now very smooth idle, no more lope at idle, stalling non-existant like previous.

Don't worry... I'll post up the rebuild.This isn't my first steering box rodeo...

What is return out of the head is the pressure bleed off after the injection occurred. So if your injectors are set to 310 bar as that cylinder injector bleeds pressure past the pintle its sent down the return rail. It should be a very small amount of fuel. There is way more fuel returned from the VP44 than the back of the head. The few times I've been to a fuel injection shop to bench test injectors there has always been very very little fuel weep from the return port. As for exactly how much in ratio vs injected to the cylinder I don't know.

Check your control arm bushing. I've just seen a 2005 Dodge Ram 3500 with control arm bushing so sloppy the axle will roll forward and backwards with a little effort of push and pulling on the tires. Check your shocks this plays a roll in the death wobble. If you got a lift / leveling kit on the springs remove the kit to gain back the geometry of the axle. What year of truck? If your before 2001.5 you've got drum brakes and rather common when the drums have rust they will lock easy.

I'm in Idaho so... Hmmm... Might have to give Blue Chip a call and see if he will sell you the cover plate. Yes, I will not call it a diaphragm.

Right here with Google Business. https://www.google.com/business/ Yes. Google is a really good tool as long as your location GPS location is turned on. Then you can ask questions like "Fuel near me" or "Diesel Mechanics near me" etc. So Google will use your current location in consideration of locating a search for businesses near your location. So I'm using nothing more than the standard Google Search Engine for this information. https://www.google.com/ Ummm... I'm in a solar and hydro-powered house...

The diaphragm doesn't exist... It's a steel plate...

I think my changes are because of the ramped up timing I'm running with Quadzilla. I'm running 21.8* to 22.1* degrees of timing at 65 MPH. My EGT's are lower and boost is low but the cylinder temperatures are higher. This is seen in my coolant temperature which is about +5* warmer now because of more fire in the cylinder and less blowing out the exhaust port. So I figure the expansion of the valve stems filled that gap up and was not stay close long enough to idle right while hot. Never had a problem with cold engine only 100-110*F day after driving 2 hours it will lope and nearly stall some times.

Thank you... I've even added Mopar1973Man.Com to Google Business Listing for map and contact information to hopefully help the passing person. Just doing a search for "Diesel Mechanic near Me"... Now if you do a search for "Mopar1973Man" you'll bring up a full business listing. Then right here on the site people are placing information in the 911 Contact database... https://mopar1973man.com/cummins/911-support.html/contacts/ So I'm trying to give all the traveller the best chance at getting help.

Hua? Some of us have well over 15-16 years of age 300k to 400k miles and never changed a head gasket. So either the head isn't flat. The block deck isn't flat. Poor quality head gasket. Head bolts are not torqued right.

315k almost 316k... I'm not crying one bit... I've got to order up the kit and do the reseal on my next weekend.

Check both fuses. Check both with ohm meter I've seen fuses crack and visually look fine but ohm them out and find there bad. Check your clutch safety switch. If the contacts are worn it might not start. Starter relay. If the starter relay contacts are bad it might randomly start or not. Starter contacts. Same with the starter contact it might randomly start or not. Here is the starter wiring...

Finally after all this time the steering gearbox now just starting to leak power steering fluid. Input seal is weeping fluid and I had to top off with power steering fluid about 8 ounces worth. So I'm going to have to look into a gearbox seal kit and rebuild my box. I will not replace it with Bluetop or Readhead. Still tight steering just now starting to weep power steering fluid.

I ran 0.008 and 0.018 on the last time. The only problem was like I said before... When I checked with a 0.008 and 0.018 some didn't pass. Too tight yet on a cold engine... Went back to 0.010 and 0.020 for setting this time and doubled checked after torquing the lock nuts.

Enuf Said...

I agree I would get a service manual for it. It will prove to be very helpful on how to access different areas for servicing. Other than that basically its just another name of diesel engine but the basics are still the same.

@JAG1 Your movie loads just fine on Linux...

Exactly... Yeah, I feel stupid finding this mistake and glad there is no damage to the engine. Sometimes you got to swallow your pride and voice your mistakes so others might learn from yours.

Trick... If the gap is a bit loose twist both the allen and the nut together tighten. If the gap is bit too snug the twist the allen loosen as you tighten the nut. You can gain or lose gap measurement with this trick.

Yeah I know intake is like 0.006 to 0.015 and exhaust 0.015 to 0.030 don't quote my span I'm going from memory. My mistake I made was set the lash. Snugged the lock nut. Grabbed the torque wrench torque everything again but never checked the gaps. So the ones that turned just a weebit was the ones most likely too tight. Again my fault for being and a hurry and not checking my work. (Bad Mopar!)

I've just learned that valve lash that is done wrong or in a hurry and I didn't verify my measurements can have impacts on performance, idling, and lope. Just a few days ago I figured I would just verify the lash and cold engine I was having issues getting feeler gauge to pass on a few cylinders. I ran the head again and verified all my measurements after torquing the lock nuts. Now after a few days my lope at idle is gone. Performance has improved slightly and even the MPG is up slightly. So I've got to admit this was my bad but I wanted to share my mistake to hopefully help other spot weird performance issues and check the basic things that might cause issue. I remember I was in a hurry install injectors and ran the valve lash quickly and the mistake cost me a world of weird issues that never seemed to go away no matter what I did.