dripley

My seats are getting in pretty bad shape and I have kept my eyes open for something for replacement. Found these Saturday morning. https://greenville.craigslist.org/pts/d/98-01-dodge-ram-2nd-gen-truck/6281653808.html Just to good to be true. I think I could sell mine for $75 on Craigslist. Any way I called him and sure enough he had sold them. Told me he had another set but I thought he told they were sold also. 2 hours ago I get a phone call from the same guy telling me he was home and had pulled the second set out and cleaned them up and was hoping that i could get there in 30 minutes if I wanted them. Fortunately for me I have friend down his way and he went and paid for them for me so I can pick them up next weekend. These are what I have. Got them for the same $125. My cab and hopefully my arse will be thanking me.

I am thinking that this was more of the issue for me. While working on the truck I was contacting or jiggling the connections that were and are my problem.

Have you checked for any DTC's? I would not just a guess at buying and ECM or a VP without something else. As you say they are both very pricey, and ECM's are very iffy unless you know who to but from. Not sure any one here or elsewhere knows who to tell you to buy one from either. I definitely don't unless it is Cummins.

We in the Smokey mountains are used to this picture. But you cannot smell any smoke. It just looks the same.Our smokey look comes from the vegetation.

Everything I have read says no. With that being said I have had a few electrical gremlins that have gone away after I have had the batteries disconnected. Though when I started noticing that I tried the disconnect alone to cure and it did not work. So I am not sure what is happening.

The last time I had my fuel system open was to replace the lift pump motor. It took for ever to get it to fire. Never had any trouble before this getting it to fire off but it was a pain this time. I did everything you did with no luck. It did start not too long after a pulled the factory fuel filter. I think yours is just being finicky like mine was that time. If the pump is pumping fuel you just have some air trapped in there somewhere.

Oh yes. Hence the end of procrastination on fixing mine.

I still have the low warning light that I bought from BCD in a bag. Sounded like a good idea at the time until I learned about the importance of minimum pressure. I believe the BDP comes on at 5 psi.

No windows that sucks. I had to make trip in Jefferson City Missouri for a day trip. About a 13 or 14 hour drive. My project manager asked me if my AC worked and I told no. He could not understand how I could the trip without it. I told no big I would just roll the windows as I usually do. It rained on me almost all the way there and back and I could only open the windows about an 1.5" each. That was with the temps in the low 90's. Most miserable trip I ever made. The good part, I got it working again right after that. I feel his pain, if I would have made the trip windows up and the sun shining.not sure I would have made it.

This is a very patient place. I have learned a lot here due to that.

I hope you got that backwards. The 14 is thicker than the 16.

That is where mine is leaking. I have a little while yet before I can do it. I cant seem to find this addressed any where except in the included instructions. Seems some of the remans come with a little shorter rod on them.

How easy is it to buy the large bottle of 134a? Not that I need it, just thought that size might be more difficult to buy considering the EPA regs on using it.

Have you had any success? I have been wondering about this ever since I read the instructions that came with my kit. I cant weld so I would have to take it somewhere and have it done. I thought maybe you could thread both pieces and use a rod coupling and lock tight on it if there is enough room. Sure would hate for it to come apart though. I am still on this one though.

All good advice above. If you think the truck is nickle and dimeing you now, not fixing the whole problem will 100 dollar bill you later. My VP just crossed over 200k with good fuel and pressure + 2 stroke. The VP has taken a beating as far as its reliability over the years but there is nothing with them if you give it what it needs to live a long life.

All of this is the reason that most all us have fuel pressure gauges. That way you can see these issues as they are happening. I lost the pump motor on my lift pump a few years back and never would have known it without the gauge until the VP ground itself up and left me stranded. The truck ran just fine with it blown. The VP will pull its own fuel but not for long.

No need to be under a load at idle, just crank and see what you have. The bad one is 2 to 3 while cruising. Probably near 0 at WOT. Have you changed the filters? The pump could be shot also. Do you know what brand of pump it is? Is this pump using the factory fuel lines? If you are going to replace it also DAP usually has some good combo deals on VP's and lift pumps. The pump pressure you are seeing while cruising is low, very low. Mine will run at about 17 psi cruising, but stomp on it and its only down to 14.5. You get down to less than 14 and your getting less and less fuel for cooling the VP. The lower it gets the bigger the strain on the VP. I have to agree with @Mopar1973Man on the pump. Get a VP from a reputable dealer. It is expensive enough doing it once.

We here pretty say a minimum of 14psi at WOT. That allows the overflow to open fully and circulate the most fuel for cooling the VP computer. I believe if you go by the book you should see 10 psi at idle and maybe 5 at WOT. There have been a lot failures due to low pressure and that is where 14psi at WOT comes from. Hard to say what you will see on yours, depends on the fuel pump. The block mounted OEM pump and the in tank pump are both know to be crappy. I personally have an ADII165 on mine and run it at 18.5 psi at idle and sometimes I can pull down to 14. A lot us also run 2 stroke oil in the fuel at 1oz per gallon to help lubricate the VP. Fuel is the only lubricant that he VP internals see. Here is some further info.

There is some good diagnostic info on Blue Chip Diesel's web site if you to go a little further with diagnostics before buying a VP. It is worth a look.if you are interested. When my OEM failed it failed different than most all of the failures I have read about. Did not know much about them back then and it was still under warranty and Dodge got to buy that one.

Yep. went back looked those up and sure enough 218 and change.

Not good at all.

Plain stock ones I see on Rock Auto are less than 100 bucks, $2.69 each + shipping. Rybestos http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/dodge,2002,ram+2500+pickup,5.9l+l6+diesel+turbocharged,1440064,wheel,lug+nut,7676 The Dorman were half that much.

Curious about that myself.

I cannot disagree with what you say at all. As one who repaired his own and is a neophyte at it, I cant help but wonder why you can buy everything you need to do it almost anywhere. Kind of a conundrum at the least. Do you know how much of a difference there is between the different brands of freon out there and how you can tell the difference between them.?

Wal mart freon is cheap at $4.88 a can.