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You will probably have to get the switch from dodge. If you call or go in and call it a sensor they won't know what you are talking about. call it a switch.The only other possible thing I can think of would be that the fork inside the unit that moves and engages the axles together isn't moving quite far enough to close the switch. So take the switch off of the CAD and test it with an ohm meter pushing the button on it that the fork would press on to see if it has continuity when closed.If the switch works then it's probably just a matter of adjusting the switch (if it's adjustable) in far enough to work.If it's not adjustable then you may have to disassemble the cad to see what is wrong that it isn't turning on the switch.Test the switch I'm betting it is shot.

Not sure I understand what you are saying. I've never looked into how the cruse on my 98.5 works because I've never had a problem with it. Are you saying that there is a vacuum motor that controls the throttle? Where is it located? Is there an electronic retrofit that works better? How much work and expense is involved to convert to electronic? Thanks Jim

When I run on cruse control (60-65 mph) I get just a bit of surging on PM7 or above. I think it's because the cruse is too sensative for the increased power at the throttle and over fuels and defuels to try to keep a constant speed.

Jumper wires are real technical and real expensive you know $2,000 to $3,000. Ive got one I'll sell you for $1,000 used but in great shape. :lmao::lol: Just connect the contacts on the plug together with some copper wire to transfer the current from the posative + to the negative -. Sure you can test for voltage at the plug if you have a volt meter but if the light works why bother.

OK here is what I would do to check the wiring. Disconnect the plug at the CAD. Hookup a jumper wire to the contacts to mimic the CAD indicator switch being closed. Get in the truck and turn on the ignition. If the 4wd light comes on the switch is at fault or the CAD arm isn't moving enough to close the switch. If the 4wd light stays off the problem is in the wiring or the bulb. Let us know what you find. Jim

Just a thought but have you checked the bulb in the dash?

Has anyone stacked a smarty with a TST PowerMax3?If so how well does it work?ThanksJim

A lot depends now on how old the VP44 is. If it is the original 1999 VP44 that came on the truck the chances are good the diaphragm is damaged. I would bet that the pump didn't just happen to go out the day you had the pressure gauge put into the truck. Yes the VP44 will pull fuel without the lift pump as long as the line is tight and full of fuel. Once you get air in the line the VP44 won't pull fuel any longer. If the diaphragm is damaged, the truck could become hard to start. The pump may last a long time or die tomorrow, no way of knowing. The fuel pressure needs to be above 15 at any throttle setting to provide proper cooling to the VP44 electronics. I was into Cummins on April 1 talking to a Cummins mechanic and the subject of fuel pressure came up. He flat out told me the pressure to a VP44 needs to be between 17 and 24 at all times period end of story. Good luck.

I was under my 98.5 today and looked at the electrical wires on the cad. My wires are not black and green they are black and black with a white stripe. I also have the black and red vacuum lines. I suspect that the green wire you have that is disconnected needs to be re-connected an it is most likely carrying the current that illuminates the light on the dash. I can't tell you where it should be connected but I would look for a stub of a green wire near it where it was perhaps cut or got broken.

I set the valve lash when the new injectors I put in the injectors in July of 09. The injectors were new and came with new coppers and O rings. All of the original copper washers were accounted for when the old injectors were removed. My code reader is an inexpensive model that doesn't provide live data. (not a scan gauge II although I'm now thinking of getting one) The IAT got replaced and is now a new one. (I know that don't mean it reads correctly) Thanks Jim ---------- Post added at 08:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:28 AM ---------- Both the MAP and IAT sensors have been replaced with new ones now. The MAP was replaced the last part of March and the IAT on April 1. I will check the connections and wires to the CKP and cam sensors (98.5 has both sensors) and also the IAT and MAP sensors. I havn't tried disconnecting the lift pump see if the VP44 is hyper-sensitive to fuel pressure, what I have tried is: 1. Starting the truck without waiting for the wait to start light to go out or LP pressure to cycle up and back down (like one starts a gas vehicle) Sometimes starts sometimes not. 2. Let the pressure cycle up and back down bump the starter then quickly off and hit the starter when the pressure gauge is partially up 8 - 10 psi. sometimes starts sometimes not. 3. Bump the starter, let the pressure come up full and wait for 10 to 15 seconds and try to start it. This works about 70% of the time. Longer crank times seem to make no difference, if it don't start on the second or third revolution of the motor, It wont start on that try. I've read your page many times and given the link on more than a few occasions to others on the Cummins Forum. I may have to put in the cutoff switch for the lift pump. My wife will be thrilled, she says the truck looks like the cockpit of a 747 now. Thanks Jim ---------- Post added at 05:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 AM ---------- UPDATE Today I took off the apps and pulled the electrical plug cleaned it and applied dielectric grease. Pulled off the electrical T connector from the PowerMax between the MAP sensor and the factory wiring harness cleaned and applied dielectric grease. Cleaned and greased the connectors to the PowerMax in it's wiring harness. Traced as much of the sensor wires as I could get to looking for wire damage and found none. Yesterday I added a bottle of STP diesel injector to the 2/3 full tank of fuel. Took the beast out and warmed it up to operating temp. It seems to be idling a little better and it seems to be starting a little better, but it's still not where I want it to be. On the plus side the PowerMax is functioning better than it ever has. At 60 mph on the freeway with the PowerMax on 9 of nine I floored it, the trans dropped out of OD, the boost came up to 42, and the egts went to 1450 and the truck launched like it had a JATO bottle in the bed. I only let it run like that for about 5 seconds then let off. I know I need to keep the boost under 35 or so because the HX35 is running outside of it's design parameters at pressures above 35. Next is to take off the starter and check the CKP connection and wiring, the Cam sensor connector and wiring, and also clean and grease the ECM ground.

Yup, I carry a code reader in the truck and check for codes on a regular basis when ever something don't seem right. There are no codes. Also Cummins Northwest checked the codes when they reflashed the ECM yesterday. No Codes.

It don't stall when shifting into reverse just drive which I find a little strange. You would think the load to the engine would be similar between drive and reverse. The converter has an 1800 rpm stall so there is a load transmitted when it goes into gear. It's strong enough that I have to keep my foot on the brake when it is in gear idling or it will start to move. On level ground it will actually accelerate at idle to shift to second and third upwards of 20 mph or so with no throttle. It has crossed my mind that it might be an APPS idle position problem and I've contimplated putting a Timbo on it but havn't yet. Thanks Jim ---------- Post added at 04:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:18 PM ---------- update OK, I took the truck out and got it up to operating temp 190 with oil at 180. Pulled in the drive put it in park and let it run a few minutes to normalize the temps then read each exhaust manifold temp within an inch from the head. Then I put it in drive with the parking brake set and let it run a few minutes to normalize then re-read the temps. This is what I found: In neutral 1= 268 2=298 3= 291 4=315 5=268 6=270 spread of 47 degrees between 1 and 4. in drive 1=290 2=300 3=369 4=391 5=356 6=315 spread of 101 degrees between 1 and 4. The injectors only have around 12K miles on them and were pop tested.

Good thought but I don't think that is causing it for two reasons. 1. The Truck itself don't surge/jerk forward at all like when the TC locks up. 2. The CoPilot controls when the TC normal lockup occurs (I can change the lockup speed setting) and when it goes to lockup there is a light that comes on, and the light doesn't flash at all. When the truck does go into TC lockup it is quite distinctive when lockup occurs as the tachometer reflects it and the seat of the pants feels it. I had a manual lockup switch before the co pilot and have done the same as you did so I do know how that feels in the truck. I also accidentally flipped the switch once when the truck was idling and it does kill the motor, that's why I bought the CoPilot and have been real happy with it. Thanks for the response and keep thinking on it as I said I need more ideas to explore in tracking this annoying little gremlin. Jim

History of the truck. Truck was purchased in 2002 with 43K miles. Engine and transmission were stock except for a K&N drop in air filter. Early 2003 installed a PowerMax programmer from TST which displays boost, transmission temp, and EGT. Late 2003 installed a PacBrake, TripleLoc (three clutch disk) torque converter, and HP valve body from TST. 2007 spring had check engine light and intermittent hard starting local diesel shop diagnosed it as a fault between primary and secondary computer and cleared the code (don’t know what the code was). They checked my fuel pressure which was around 10 at idle and much less under static 2400 rpm throttle. He advised getting a new fuel lift pump. Aug 2007 installed a fuel pressure gauge, engine oil temp gauge, FASS 95, and rebuilt VP44. Fuel pressure 17 at idle 14.5 at WOT. July 2008 installed MagHyTech Double Deep transmission pan and 14CM turbo exhaust housing on the HX35. December 2008 began experiencing hard starting when hot after sitting shut off for more than 5 minutes. Truck had check engine light P0336 CKP sensor. Took the truck to Lithia Dodge in Anchorage who kept it for a week and said they couldn’t find anything wrong and the CKP was fine. I told them to change it anyway. They wouldn’t do it and told me that I had to remove the Fass 95 and any other aftermarket items installed on the truck (Pac brake, converter, valve body, programmer, etc.) as they didn’t understand how they worked or could affect the diagnostic equipment. I told them where to put their dealership and where I would not purchase my next vehicle. Took the truck home and changed the CKP with one from Cummins. Hard starting problem solved. I Installed 18” of clear fuel line at a high point before the vp44 to be able to check visually for air in the supply fuel line. (I have never seen any air) July 2009 began experiencing hard starting when hot and sitting more than 5 minutes again along with stalling when shifted into drive from park or neutral. I Cleaned the Map and IAT sensors. No joy. I installed a set of Edge 80 hp injectors, new connector tubes and O rings, and a CoPilot transmission controller for the PacBrake. I also soldered all connections for the PowerMax programmer and CoPilot. Starting and shifting problems went away. Aug 2009 installed BHAF and 4” MBRP exhaust. February 2010 Shifting and hard start problems returned. Truck starts fine after sitting overnight and completely cooling off, but stalls when shifted into drive. Engine does not idle smoothly seems to hunt for a idle rpm to settle into. If left idling for a longer period (30 min) the hunting grows worse until the tachometer is swinging 100 or so up and down. Revving the engine settles the hunting down a bit but the hunting continues. When the engine stalls after shifting into gear it usually re-starts on the first try. The stalling is worse when the truck is cold than when hot. The restart problem is worse when the truck is hot than when it is cold. Bringing the engine rpm up to about 900 will usually prevent the stalling when shifting. Sometimes after stalling several times and then getting on the road just idling along at 5mph or so the engine will suddenly go rumph, rumph, rumph, rumph, rumph quickly like it’s going to stall then catches itself and revs a little each time to prevent a stall. I have checked the fuel return line, rear banjo bolt, and all fittings and clamps for fuel leaks and found none. I have replaced the VP44 fuel return check valve. I have re-calibrated the APPS memory. March 2010 I noticed erratic boost pressure readings sometimes the boost pressure would read zero under partial throttle where it should have been reading12 or 14 lbs boost. Replaced MAP sensor and the boost reading problem went away. April 1 2010 took the truck to Cummins Northwest to purchase a new IAT sensor suspecting the stalling problem could be due to a faulty IAT and the cold outside air. While there a mechanic looked at the truck and noticed the sticker saying the last ECM program re-flash was in 1999. He thought a re-flash with the latest program might help the problem and I agreed. He re-flashed the ECM and kept his scan tool hooked up shut off the truck and restarted several times and noticed the IAT temp reading sometimes went to and stayed at 160. When it went to 160 the truck would not re-start until enough cold air came through to cool the IAT to below a 130 reading. I went home, changed out the IAT with the new one from Cummins, and took it for a test drive. Still have the stalling and hard starts but not as bad and the idle rpm hunting seems to have gone away. Yes, I have checked the grounds on the ECM and PCM. I have also cleaned all battery connections and used dielectric grease everywhere. So I'm Kind of out of ideas here. Today I'm going to get it up to operating temp then shoot the exhaust temps of each port on the manifold looking for enough variation to indicate a plugged injector or one that may have a lower pop off pressure. If I can't find anything there I may pull the connector tubes part way out and rotate them so the O rings seat in different positions and see if that does any good. I'm open to any and all suggestions to solve these problems. Thanks Jim

In reading your post a thought comes to mind that makes me question if what you were told by Bluechip Diesel was partially marketing hype. I'm not trying to say Bluechip is good or bad, I'm just questioning the validity of everything he told you. If all the parts used are OEM Bosch parts, How can His ECM have a different Case to withstand heat better? Does Bosch provide him with a OEM ECM with a different case than they provide all other certified Bosch re-builders, and if so how can that be called an OEM part? Bosch supplies all certified re-builders with the same quality parts. I'm not 100% sure just 99% but I believe that all Bosch certified re-builders are required by Bosch to replace the ECM, use the updated steel sleeve, and use Bosch supplied parts on every pump they rebuild. If the pump already has a steel sleeve and it is within spec the re-builder is not required to replace it. I believe they are required to replace the electronics and diaphragm on every pump. Now I'm not saying there are not certified re-builders out there that don't cut corners, but they are not going to tell you they do over the phone are they?