Mopar1973Man

Last head gasket I went to 135 foot/pounds of torque. Even though the max torque ARP calls for is 120 foot/pounds.

Again I would still check the flash on the PCm to be sure the PCM is programmed correctly...

Welcome to the Family... I'd be glad to teach you all I know. Just got to ask questions. There is no such thing a stupid or dumb questions...

Floor jack on the floor passenger side then place the 2x6 board under the cowl on the passenger side. Then just jack up the cab about 1/2 inch and the clearance will be enough to slip that stud in. The body rubber is just compressing.

Any other error codes present too? P0216 code will create timing issues. Depending on if it the timing is full retard or full advanced. I've had my last injection pump seize the timing piston at full retard and power is greatly reduced and hard knocking. Full retard will still run but the power is greatly reduced from the lack of timing. As stated by the Dodge FSM for the P0216 code. Not uncommon for a timing piston to seize up and stick. This is typically from low lubricity fuels and excessive use of cetane boosters and anti-gel. This is where the 2 cycle oil theory comes from. It wouldn't hurt to send to Auto Computer Specialist and have it reflashed to stock values to verify.

Easy I used a floor jack and a 2x6 board. I placed the board under the cowl and jack it up about 1/2 inch and the stud fell in on its own.

Yeah I would check power and grounds of the PCM. Then I would pull the PCM and send it to Auto Computer Specialist being the PCM creates the CCD network and supplies gauge data. Cluster is what creates the Bias Voltage for the CCD so it won't hurt to test the cluster by holding the trip button turn the key on and watch for CHEC to show and release. Any codes please list them.

Yup just found it on the internet... SB18-006-12.pdf

Yup. I've got a call in for returning the injectors and will be pulling the injectors for testing. I'll most likely get started on that tomorrow. I just checked both my 2005 FSM and my 2006 FSM and neither book list the error code.

Yeah... Out here truck owners buy blocks of mice poison and tie wire the poison blocks under the hood. This is why I mention it. Just attracting mice under the hood...

Yeah I've got to add that error codes to the list on 3rd gen since when I just looked it was missing. Strange enough my scan tool shows as a Grid Heater Performance on that code.

IIRC it was P1222...

Nothing wrong with the PSG circuits. The biggest problem is stock pulls from the hot fuel in the sender basket then a lot of people went back to draw straw in the basket which is a very poor idea. Mine is drawing forward of the sender basket which is typically cooler fuel. I've never had a PSG failure yet. (P1688 and P1689)

Just a heads up if you have a 3rd Gen and happen to have a weak connection or on connection on the grid heater power wire it can and will pop the grid heater light and chime as well just like a fuel rail issue. If you pop the hood and don't see any fuel leaks then proceed to get to home or safe place. Get your code reader out and check I'm going to bet there is a code for grid heater performance. Once the problem is fixed and the code cleared the light will remain off. In my case I've unhooked it back in the summer time be I was having a charge issue for the batteries and forgot it was unhooked. No hard starts. Funny part is the light tripped after 30 miles of driving and the engine was at full operation temperature which was weird it trip the grid heater. That makes me ask does the ECM command grid heat while you drive as well?

You gotta ask what was inside his garage that was attracting the squirrel to chew on the seal? People don't think about what the animal is looking for the smell of food possibly? Warm place to be? If you remove the smell of food and warm animals typically don't work as hard trying to get in to what ever being a garage or a vehicle.

Don't pull the trigger too fast. I need to get more snow be everything melted already. You might be ready for spring but I need to see another good snow storm to have enough water for summer. Heck this year was the least amount of snow removal work. I only plowed once. My yard is bare and nothing but mud.

A heads up if you draw your fuel from the tank and not out off the sender basket fuel temps are much much lower. Mine follow the IAT temp and typically match. Most of the winter I see +20°F to +60°F then summer 80°F to 130°F no issues with fuel temp.

I've sent injectors back to Diesel Auto Power for pop testing. Fair prices and you can even do custom pop pressure setups. Like I sent my OEM injectors in and had 7 x 0.010 nozzles installed and pop at 320 bar. After 150k miles my stock injectors were 260 bar. Hence why I will tell anyone to replace injectors at 100k miles.

Might ask @Honey Badger what she has for an idea... She is a good herbialist.

W-T Ground mod. Bad fuel pump relay. Would be my first two thoughts for low voltage at the VP44. Double check the main power lead to the PDC.

I did a set of AC Delco ball joints over 200k miles ago and still running on them at 460k miles and still tight. (Personal opinion below here) The leveling kit does require adjustable control arms being the thrust angle is now wrong. As you level the front axle your changing the caster angle and also as it is lifted the factory track bar is fixed length and pulls the axle to the driver's side. Need adjustable control arms and an adjustable track bar too. Wide tires tend to eat ball joints up pretty quickly being the leverage angle of the wider tires increases the stress on the ball joint hence the quicker failure rate. Sadly, even expensive ball joints will not last with wide tires and/or lift kits. Physics is in control at this point. Doesn't matter what brand of ball joints or axle bearings you use it will fail quicker as long as the leveling kit and wide tires are used. It's the nature of the beast and the only way to fix the problem is to remove them and go back to stock. Yup, I know I'm still trying to get all the stuff pulled off Thor on my 2006 being the previous owner install wide tires and a 2-inch leveling kit and it's eating the front axle up and turning into a mess. No adjustable control arms or track bar so the thrust angle is still screwed up. Eating the tires up and wearing out ball joints and tie rod ends and already dumped $520 of wheel bearing in last summer. What I've done was bought a set of factory steel 17-inch wheels and go back to 265/70 R17 tires and now I got to get time to pull the leveling kit out so it doesn't look like a squatting truck taking a dump. Beast is all stock and everything last forever... Ball joint, tie rod ends, brakes, shocks, brakes, etc. Why do I know this stuff??? I had a 1972 Dodge Power Wagon (Old Blue) before Beast. I actually destroyed the front axle 12 different times with wider tires and lift kits. I only owned the truck for 120k miles and made it into junk in under 5 years. I blew up wheel joints constantly, ate wheel bearings all the time, and had to repack them monthly, steering absolutely sucked. Power steering gear boxes failed all the time. Then the power steering pumps wore out prematurely. I made a promise to my parents and myself that I would never do modifications that would cause this kind of damage. To date, my front axle suspension and steering are still factory tight and drive like a dream single finger at 80 MPH on Beast. All I can say is understand the physics of what you are doing and why and you'll see why the failure rate is higher.

LOL... I've got a o-ring kit sitting in Thor and just grab one and place it on the tip of the steel line and then screw it in. I never order a o-ring for just the power steering system. Oh where did I get that at? Amazon order a o-ring kit of all the common sizes and thats all. $20 dollars for a full kit of o-rings.

I never bait any trap and place in the truck your just making a invitation for more to come because they smell the bait. I just don't plug in my truck because once the engine goes cold like last week when it was -2*F. Rats and mice are not going to hang out under the hood. My previous time I was keeping the truck in the shop and the block heater plugged in the mice and rats moved in to hang out on the engine. Since then I've never used my block heater again. Again baiting trap you asking for them to come to the truck and hang out. Plug in the block heater you giving the wild life a warm place to hang out. Do not make it inviting and don't leave food in the truck you'll never have a issue. Same thing with my RV I've had mice getting in I used metal mesh and expanding foam to fill gaps and holes. I would never bait traps inside because your asking for them to enter the RV. Once I found the entry points and seal them no issues afterward.

Need to read... https://mopar1973man.com/cummins/articles.html/24-valve-2nd-generation_50/51_engine/swapping-vp44-cummins-engine-between-985-00-01-02-r429/?do=getLastComment&d=4&id=429

Good reason to have a Quadzilla because that data can be displayed while driving and data logged for abnormal changes. Compared to my Innova tool only displays but doesn't data log.