dripley

Welcome to the farm Arron. Hope all is well after the apparent accident.

I am a little delayed on this response, my apologies. Looking at the 2001 FSM it states that on manual diesel trucks the cruise is operated by the ECM. Autos are operated by the PCM. I am not thinking the PCM is going to solve your problem. I hate to see you spend all that cash on something that appears you do not need.

i want to heIp,but if the wiring is a mess like you said originally and the pump is used, who knows what is wrong. If you have power to the pump and it wont come on, the pump is probably toast. As Mike says the warranty most likely will not transfer. Plus if the pump is wired to something other than the oe harness, who knows how it will act. I dont.

The oe harness for the oe fuel pump is the one that needs to used for the relay to run the AD you installed. If those wires are not used then it wont give the pump the initial bump at key on. If you do have the right wires and dont have the bump at key on it is most likely ECM related. Does the pump run after start up? I lost my lift pump a few months ago and the engine will idle fine with out the lift pump working. Surging at idle could be other things as well. Check for trouble codes. If you dont have a scanner a local auto parts should be able to scan it for you and tell you what they are. There is more than one thing that can cause a surging idle. The codes will help point you in the right direction. And as Mike says, rampant AC voltage can be the root of many issues. Fuel pressure is another cause of problems, and needs to be known. Also it would be good if you would go to your profile and fill out your signature with info on your truck so we know what we are dealing with. Different year models of these truck work a little different than others. By the way welcome to the forum. This place is the sole reason my truck is still on the road 355k mile after buying it.

i would like to think that i did check all of the bolts for tightness. I have looked a couple times and dont think that is the problem. Every bolt i checked was tight. I did notice a few days ago that the plastic rivet that holds the inner fender well on has pulled thru the inner fender and is loose. I bought some replacement rivets for this purpose. The fender well moves up and down and might be the source of the clunk since I only seem to hear the clunk at low speed on a bumpy surface. All I need now is some free time to replace them. I sure hope it is not a loose tower bolt, that would make me feel like this !!!!

It sounds to me that your problem is in the power to the lift pump. When my grid heaters cycle my fuel pressure drops a little due to the voltage drop. You should have 12v to the pump on the oe harness. You could try hot wiring the pump to the battery just to see if that solves the pressure problem. Could be something in the ECM going out since the 12v comes from there.

I am seeing some wierd stuff. just trying to get thru it for now. I miss the M's.

Takes alot of the fun out of shopping.

A buddy and me had a 48 oldsmobile coupe with a flat head inline 8 cylinder back in high school. the head on that motor looked like a picnic table with spark plugs sticking out of it. The thing was huge. We had a lot fun in it but it was way beyond anything I knew about cars at the time. My buddy decided to clean the carb one and I walked in as he turned it over and something fell out of it. I was concerned about what where the part went back in and he replied "In this box where everything else that fell out of it". And that my friends was the last time it drove.

Did you have to buy a new one?

The Fass and the AD both use the relay. It's purpose is to take the power load for the pump off of the the ECM and use the oe harness as a trigger for the relay. If the pump is weak you might not see the pressure bump, but it should bump power to it. Dodge gave me on of those when mine went, for a $1000 anyway. A lot of monery for a piece of crap. Anyway when starting the engine the ECM should switrch the pump on and of rapidly to produce about half pressure for cranking. Hard to see that since the engine should fire right off. Weak lift pump pressure can take out the VP in two ways. Lack of lube for the pump's internals and no cooling for the pump and the electronics that run it. Good chance that is what is going on like Ghostman says above.

At key on the ECM bumps the lift pump for a second or so. The pressure bleeds off immediately and will stay that way until you turn the key. The ecm then pulses the lift pump until the engines fires off. My understanding is the VP does not like full pressure when starting. If you have or have installed an aftermarket pump and it is connected to the OE harness, that is how it should function. So key on 0 pressure except for the initial bump. Does the truck start normally on cold starts? Have you checked for any trouble codes? If he is only seeing 7 to 8 psi while idleing, he is grinding another pump to failure. He needs a better fuel pump. The in tank pump is as bad as the stock carter pump or worse.

The ECM In my 02 controls the cruise not the PCM. Mine is completely fly by wire. By that i mean there is no solenoid that controls the throtle, it is all electronic. I think the early 01's have the solenoid. It is located under the driver side battery. Not sure I would believe them if you do not have solenoid. I am by far not the expert on this but the only problem I have ever had with the cruise was cured with a an ECM and not a PCM. I am only speaking for manual trucks with out the solenoid. What is the problem you are having and have you checked for trouble codes? Since the ECM cost a lot more than the PCM you just dont want to replace it and hope that was the problem.

Much better pics than the quickie i took.

Not all have 4 wheel abs. If you look at the lower right corner of where you post you will see "More Reply Options". click on that and you can up load them from your camera.

looking from behind the right front wheel. My thumb is touching it. If you dont have the wire maybe you only have rear wheel ABS.

The front ones come from the unit bearing and should be clipped to the brake line and up in to the engine bay. Just look for the flexible brake line. You dont have to take off the wheel.

Try reading this http://bluechipdiesel.com/vp44_diagnostics.html it sounds like something in the wiring but I would have to let the article speak for itself. Hot wiring the pump like you did is about halfway down under header #3 in red.

It has been like that since they installed near 8 years ago. I am very used to it. As long as I know how much is really in there, I think I will keep my $70.

mine was very similar to that when new. I could run 60 or 70 miles after empty, near 140 at the fuel light. All that changed when the dealer installed the in tank pump. Now i get 300 miles out of the first quarter tank and about 450 at half a tank, That last half goes away fast. When the fuel light comes on now I only have 3 gallons left. All by the gauge of course.

My scan gauge blocks it and with my hearing I dont hear the chime. But i know my fuel gauge and I reset my trip meter every fill up. The light comes on at 1/8 tank like mike's pic and I have 3 gallons left. I dont push it as much as I used to but I am still guilty of pushing it.