Tractorman

The above test would be a good test, but before I did that test I would turn the key to the "run" position and rotate the temperature control knob and carefully listen with my ear close to the blend door actuator motor. If I could hear the motor operate (or try to operate), then I would think the problem would be a mechanical one downstream of the motor. If I couldn't hear the motor operate (or try to operate), then I would follow up with @Haggar's advice. I definitely want to know your fix because my Heater Treater part has been in use for 5 years now. - John

That is a good test. When you turn the key into the "run" position, the lift pump will run for about 1/2 second. When you bump the starter, the lift pump will run for about 20 seconds. Make sure the key is in the "off" position (key can be removed position) before you start the test or you may get erroneous results. If you are not hearing the lift pump run, the, check the condition of the fuse. If it is blown, the pump may be faulty and drawing an excessive amount current. If you are going to keep this truck, and it sounds like you are, then you should invest in a factory service repair manual for your year and model of truck. This manual will show the locations of all electrical grounds for inspection. Or, you could become a member of this site and use the site's available resources, such as wiring diagrams. - John

@Zekeworst, even though the 0216 code is a timing failure code within the VP44 injection pump, I wouldn't replace it just yet. I would inspect / clean all battery connections and ground locations. I would also investigate the APPS voltage to ensure that you are within the correct voltage range. Then, I would clear the codes, drive the truck and see what happens. - John

If the engine still runs smoothly, but is just having a fixed power loss, then the engine likely has de-rated itself because there is a problem that may harm the engine if used at full power. Likely, a DTC has been set, but as @dripley has advised, you will need to get access to a good code reader. This will be a good place to start with your diagnosis. - John

If the two wheel drive front bearing in this application does not use a sealed bearing cartridge (unit bearing), then this procedure does sound right. If the hub uses an inner and outer tapered roller bearing that are not sealed then tightening to 20 ft/lbs seats the bearing races, backing off 1/4 turn gives free play, and finally hand tightening sets the preload. There should also be a locking device to stop the nut from turning. If the two wheel drive front bearing uses a unit bearing, then the 280 ft/lbs procedure would be applicable. - John

@pepsi71ocean, I agree with the above statement. Another possible solution with other benefits is to wire the grid heaters with a manual momentary switch. You get to make the decision as to how long the grid heaters stay on with your first engine start of the day. No more post cycling after engine is started, so the alternator immediately goes to work replenishing the batteries. This would significantly reduce the electrical load on the alternator during your day with many engine startups. I have used this mod since my truck was new. I am still running the original Bosch alternator. It has received one bearing kit and two brush sets during its life. Also, I went down in battery size to a Group 24 about two years ago. So far, no adverse effects. - John

I had a fuel gauge strapped to a my windshield wiper for a week and about 250 miles. Fortunately, it didn't rain. - John

Just curious, have you tried getting the air bag code cleared at the dealer? I don't know how it is with Dodge, but some auto manufacturers will allow ABS and Airbag codes to be read, but not cleared by after market diagnostic tools. Maybe someone else knows that answer. - John

Awesome! I only have 162,000 miles to get to get to 500,000. @dripley, I think you're about 9 miles past warranty getting that air bag light fixed. I am I the process of building a house and a shop this summer - just moved to Baker City, Oregon in January. So I am hoping no head gaskets or VP44 before then, otherwise I will have to borrow your roof that you used when you did your head gasket - that is, if your chickens don't mind. - John

Always learning something new. Thanks @IBMobile. - John

Just curious as to why not coat with PAG oil. - John

My mileage didn't suffer because I went back to where it happened and shoveled up all of the soot the exhaust spit out and put it back into the fuel tank. @dripley, seriously, I do appreciate your input. - John

@dripley, I appreciate your response. I just don't want readers to think that EGT's would go to dangerous levels if the throttle and the exhaust brake were applied simultaneously. Obviously, it is not something that should be done, but there is a condition that can occur (and has occurred to me more than once over the years) in which the exhaust brake does not release and you will have to drive the truck some distance to get off the roadway. This condition could occur even if throttle and clutch switches are installed. Just want readers to know that they aren't going to hurt the engine to get the truck safely off the road. Yes, they do - typically up to around 500 - 600 degrees if I stay under 2000 rpm while using the exhaust brake. The highest I ever reached was just under 800 degrees one time when using the exhaust brake at about 2500 rpm with a heavy load.. It is normal for EGT's to rise during exhaust brake usage because the engine becomes an air compressor with a restricted outlet. It is just my opinion, but I can't see how EGT's could rise to dangerous levels (1300 degrees for example) under any condition using the exhaust brake. Thanks for hearing me out. - John

"That last is pretty important, you will send egt's thru the roof very quickly with very little throttle if its closed." I respectfully don't agree with this. In October of 2018, Mopar1973Man posted a similar statement. My reasoning is that when the exhaust brake is activated, only a fixed amount of exhaust gases can get through the orifice in the butterfly valve in the exhaust brake. So I am not repeating myself, I found the old post and you can click on it below to see more of my explanation. Click "Tractorman replied to a topic" - John

@Red Rambler, since you are going to the trouble of replacing the evaporator core and heater core, I highly recommend adding a cabin filter. Geno's Garage sells an excellent after-market one for abut $50.00 See photos. My AC system started losing refrigerant on a regular basis around 250,000 miles on the truck. I elected to replace the original compressor at 270,000 miles with another Denso unit just because of the wear factor. No more losing refrigerant after the replacement. At 283, 000 miles, I removed the HVAC unit and replaced the heater core with one from Geno's Garage. I elected to not replace the evaporator core because it appeared to be in excellent condition externally. Some people will think I am nuts for not doing this, but the AC is still working fine over 50,000 miles later. While I had the HVAC unit out, I did get some different sizes of glue-on weather stipping from the local hardware store to reseal around the ventilation doors. You didn't say how many miles are on your AC compressor. I don't think you can go wrong by replacing the either the compressor or the evaporator core first since both are likely candidates for failure. - John

I am still using a PacBrake that I originally bought new and put on my '99 truck when it was new. Then in late 2001, I bought the '02 truck and put the same PacBrake on the '02. It is a vacuum operated exhaust brake and I have replaced the vacuum operated cylinder twice. I have never replaced the control valve and the butterfly valve has been operating flawlessly. I have been using it for over 20 years and over 400,000 miles and it is still working fine. I know there is a PacBrake model called PRXB that is designed to produce significantly more braking power at low engine rpm's. - John

I am not sure what the correct answer is. I think anti-seize should work fine. I think the biggest cause of an exhaust brake butterfly valve seizing is that in many applications the driver does not operate the exhaust brake frequently enough. I have a PacBrake on my truck and the PackBrake has logged over 400,000 miles - 70,000 on a previous truck, and 338,000 on my current truck. I have replaced the vacuum cylinder twice, but the butterfly valve has never stuck or become sluggish. I attribute this to the fact that I operate the exhaust brake frequently every time I drive the truck. - John

Yes, this could be a possible explanation. One more thing to add to this step. After connecting the temporary jumper wire with a 5 amp fuse, use a test light to check for battery power at the alternator output terminal (via the 145 amp fuse). Do this before starting the engine. The test light should illuminate brightly. If the test light does not illuminate at all, or illuminates dimly, do not start the engine. There should be unrestricted continuity from the alternator output to the 145 amp fuse. I think you will get this figured out - just be cautious along the way. No telling what is wrong with a stolen vehicle with cut wires. - John

You are correct - it is still too tight. It should be effortless to move and you should hear an audible click when it reaches its mechanical stop in both directions. Just keep working on it. - John

@Florin1, could you make a couple of clarifications? Are these new batteries? Or, refurbished batteries? Before replacing the alternator, I would disconnect all battery cables and check battery voltage independently. The battery voltage will probably be around 12.5 volts because the alternator has not been charging the batteries. They should be within one tenth of a volt (.1 volts) of each other (this is important). I would leave the batteries disconnected and then recheck voltage independently about 24 hours later. The results should be the same. If one battery voltage is significantly lower than the other battery, then both batteries should be replaced. Is this fuse broken? Or, is this fuse blown? If that 145 amp fuse (alternator output) is broken, that could explain the alternator getting hot quickly as the PCM would sense low battery voltage all the time and would command maximum continuous output from the alternator. If this fuse is blown, then you will need to figure out why the fuse is blown. In either case, fully charged known good batteries should be installed. To protect the new alternator, I would do the following: Disconnect grid heaters at battery (driver's side) Replace the 145 amp alternator output fuse. Install the new alternator and connect the field wire connector. Do not connect alternator output wire at this time. Reconnect both batteries Fabricate a 5 amp fuse temporary jumper wire. Before starting the engine, install the temporary jumper wire with 5 amp fuse - one end to the alternator output terminal and the other end to the alternator output wire. If the temporary fuse does blow, then you need to find out why before proceeding further. If the fuse does not blow, you can connect the alternator output wire to the alternator and start the engine. Have a multimeter handy and check battery voltage immediately. Battery voltage should rise to about 14 volts and become steady. If battery voltage continues to rise (does not stabilize), shut the engine off immediately. Further diagnostics will be necessary. I would personally follow this procedure so I wouldn't destroy a new alternator. - John

I freed up a PacBrake butterfly valve on a '96 Dodge that had been frozen for years. I used carburetor cleaner and just kept exercising the butterfly valve until I could get full range movement. It took about a half hour, but I did get it working and it has worked fine thereafter. You will need a solenoid operated vacuum control valve with two working ports for the cylinder. Just provide a fuse and wire it to a switch of your choosing (I use a momentary foot switch) and you should be good to go. You may have to replace the vacuum cylinder. The cylinder barrel is so close to the exhaust that the seals suffer from the extreme radiant heat generated by the exhaust pipe, so the seals don't last nearly as long as they could - at least it is that way on my '02. The vacuum cylinder may bench test fine, but when you start driving the truck, the exhaust brake may become intermittent or stick in one position or the other after the engine is warm. The vacuum cylinder is about $150.00 - there is no seal kit available to my knowledge. - John

@dripley, I think he just hung the head from the wiper arm while he cleaned up the block. They don't make wiper arms like they used to. - John

It is not unusual to start having problems with third gear on a five or six speed transmission. It shouldn't happen, buit is not unusual and is almost always caused by poor driving habits. @Bafazaneand @Dieselfuture, the previous owners of your trucks likely caused the early symptoms of synchronizer failure in third gear. A poor driving habit example in this case would be of a driver slowing for a right or left turn in which third gear would be a good selection to complete the turn. Instead of matching engine rpm's to road speed when selecting third gear, the driver brakes, depresses the clutch pedal and lets the engine fall to idle. While making the turn, the driver pushes the gear selector against the synchronizer until the transmission goes into third gear. This effort forces the synchronizer to do all the work bringing the transmission input shaft up to speed to match the selected gear in the transmission. The correct method would be to use the throttle to control engine speed when the shift lever passes through neutral (foot off the clutch pedal) and bring the engine and transmission input shaft up to a matching speed before clutching and selecting the gear. The results will be that the synchronizer will hardly have to do any work at all and will live a long life. These poor shifting habits over time will take a toll on the synchronizer. Once the synchronizer fails completely, the driver will be required to match road speeds with engine rpm's to make smooth, seamless shifts. Think of it this way - anytime a transmission gear shift is not smooth, the synchronizer or the clutch will have to absorb all of the energy that made the shift not smooth. - John

Thanks for sharing the results of your repair. Sounds like you have a smooth operating machine again. I noticed some very hot spots on the flywheel in the photo. The clutch had some abuse at some point during its life, but you must have been treating it well since you got over 200,000 miles out of it. Here are some tips for anyone to keep a smooth operating clutch for the life of the clutch: 1. NO throttle when engaging clutch to get vehicle in motion - apply throttle AFTER the clutch is fully engaged. The high torque from the Cummins engine is more than adequate to get any load moving at idle. 2. Second gear starts are okay with empty or lightly loaded truck. 3. First gear starts should be used with heavier loads and / or towing. Second gear starts are okay if on slight downhill grades. 4. Match engine rpm and road speed when upshifting and downshifting. 5. Always shift to neutral for any extended periods idling at intersections (will increase the life of a pilot bearing). If you do all of these things, the clutch really has it easy and very little heat will ever be generated. Heat is the destroyer of clutches. @Bafazane, thanks again for sharing your findings and the results of your repair. - John

I would also double check the reliability of the multimeter being used. Test it on another vehicle with a known good charging system. Also, as @kzimmer has mentioned - wires just twisted together will get hot and smoke as the alternator will be charging at a very high current rate right after the engine is started (making up for high current draw from the use of the starter). - John