Tractorman

I have waited as you have both suggested and now there is no sign of fuel seepage on the injector line that was troubling me. I appreciate your tips. I am enjoying the RV275 injector performance. I definitely had to de-tune the Smarty, but I have found a setting that gives lots of torque on the low RPM end and the turbo spools quickly. I am sure that some of the improvement is just because the injectors are new. I have put on about 1200 miles, none towing - only one tank checked for fuel mileage and that was 19.5 mpg, so I'm not complaining. - John

Not quite, but headed there. I am the original owner. First VP44 got the P0216 code at 64,000 miles. I figured out how to drive around the limp mode for another year and 23,000 miles (to 87,000 miles) before the Dealer replaced the VP44 and did the in-tank lift pump conversion - all under warranty. I am at 305,000 miles on the truck now, so that makes about 218,000 miles on the second VP44 and still going strong. Interesting. We have the same year trucks with the six speed transmission. Just curious, did your VP44 have the timing piston failure, too? Did Dodge warranty your pump and do the in-tank lift pump conversion? - John

I'm glad you found your problem. I knew that there had to be a reason it was hard starting. I had a 4BTA in a 1/2 ton 1991 Ford F150 for over 200,000 miles when I lived in Leadville, Colorado. Elevation is 10,200 feet, so cylinder compression is much lower. Never used any starting aid until it got down to around 20 degrees. It is interesting that you mentioned an ether starting system. If it is installed correctly, it is an excellent starting aid. There should be a very small line going to a fitting on the central part of the intake plenum. Inside the plenum should be an atomizer that is sized for the engine displacement. The push button should only have power when the starter is engaged You can push the button as much as you want while the engine is cranking, but only a metered shot of ether is allowed each time you push and release the button. I had this system on my 4BTA engine. When I needed it at 20 below zero, it was so smooth it didn't even sound like an ether start. Hardly any ether is used because of the efficient way it is set up. One small screw-on bottle lasted me 1 1/2 years. - John

If you don't have a rigid sleeve inserted into the BHAF (something for the clamp to squeeze against), then BHAF clamp will always be loose because the clamp is compressing and deforming the material on the BHAF outlet. Dirt will likely enter here. I modified a short piece of exhaust pipe to just under 4 inches in diameter (and 7 inches long to reduce intake noise) to slip inside the BHAF. Dripley calls it the "BHAF muffler". - John

Understood. Thank you. - John

If you weld that bracket, it is crucial that it is in exactly the correct position or undue stress can be placed on the VP44 when it is tightened down. My truck is a pickup, not a van. I think Treed meant to write "cam" gear. - John

I will recommend to the owner to not use the programmer. Again, thank you for the detailed information, you have been most helpful. - John

I agree. There was no work done on the injector itself - the truck owner just replaced the solenoid, unfortunately, incorrectly, as in he didn't swap the ball and set screw from the defective solenoid. I have already recommended injector replacement with new Bosch units. I did a resistance check for the harness under the valve cover, but not the whole wiring harness from the ECM. I will do that, that way the connectors will be included. I would agree if the parts were exchanged in the high pressure part of the injector, however, they were in installed in the injector solenoid - this part only sees return line pressure. The ball and set screw were a perfect match. I am quite confident that this has corrected the fuel dilution problem since I witnessed the fuel coming out of the top of the solenoid while the engine was running before and without the ball and set screw installed. I think that there are two issues with this truck: * First issue: Cylinder #5 solenoid was defective (the codes and follow up resistance checks confirmed that) The owner installed a new Bosch solenoid, but without the ball and set screw in place. The engine cranked but did not start after the repairs. The next day the owner hooked up jumper cables and primed the fuel system with the bump start method and the engine fired right away and ran smoothly. Of course it was pouring return fuel out of the top of the solenoid, but the owner did not know that. The truck was driven a couple of days around town for about 15 miles. At this point the owner informed me of the high and diluted engine oil level. I instructed to not start the truck and I went to his house. This is when I witnessed the fuel coming from the top on the #5 injector solenoid. So, I corrected this problem and the engine has not started and ran smoothly since, but I know the fuel leak has been corrected. * Second issue: I have been puzzled as to why the engine didn't start and run right away after the #5 injector solenoid was replaced (without the ball and set screw). And when it did start the next day, why did it start many times and operate smoothly for the next 15 miles even though fuel was unknowingly leaking out of the top of the solenoid? And now with the missing ball and set screw put back into the injector solenoid, the engine does not even fire at all. Then after several cranking intervals the engine does attempt to start and barely run and you can tell that only one cylinder is trying to carry the whole load, and that cylinder is detonating as if it has extremely advanced timing, meanwhile heavy white smoke is coming out of the tailpipe. This is where I am thinking that there has always been an injector leaking fuel into a cylinder, even before the original problem occurred. My thoughts are that one leaking injector is pulling down rail pressure so no injectors will fire. Then after several cranking attempts, enough fuel is collected in the cylinder with the leaking injector and that cylinder fires prematurely and attempts to run the engine on its own (not with injected fuel, but leaking fuel). Just my theory. I will get the tool 04Mach1 recommends and I will get a tool to read rail pressure to see if I can find out which is the problem injector. The engine oil and filter has been changed and the truck has not been started yet. When we do get it to start, the oil and filter will be changed again within a few minutes. The name of the programmer is Ag Diesel Solutions model 20100, not familiar with that programmer. It is currently disconnected. Thank you very much for your detailed response. Your information is greatly appreciated as well as others. - John

Thank you. You are a star. This is the answer I was looking for. This tool should help me find the correct failing injector. I placed my original post on the TDR site as well, but the Mopar1973Man site wins! I will be recommending to the owner to replace all injectors with new Bosch units. But, for now at least he can start with replacing one or two as necessary to get the engine to run.. Thank you again, - John

The source of the fuel leak was the missing ball and set screw in the injector solenoid. That was fixed with a new ball and set screw. The engine oil and filter has been changed. I cannot do any tests that require the engine to be running. I don't believe any of the injectors are firing. I think that one cylinder has a continuous fuel leak from an injector and when enough fuel collects in that cylinder, the engine ignites that fuel and causes the harsh detonation and the ability to barely idle with lots of white smoke. To me it would make sense that a leaking injector could pull down the rail pressure enough so no injectors would fire. Does anyone agree? disagree? Am I crazy? If anyone agrees, than is there anything I can do to figure out which injector is leaking fuel? The engine is a 5.9 - I am sorry about not making that clear. - John

Great - glad you like it. I noticed that the switch you ordered is waterproof. I have a windshield on my truck, so I don't need waterproof switches inside. Actually the switch you ordered is a good looking switch with the illumination around the push button. I am jealous. - John

Although I have not resolved this problem, this article has given me a solid direction of diagnostics to narrow down the problem. Thanks, - John

A friend of mine is the second owner of a 2007 Cummins 2500 truck, 4x4, auto transmission, - all stock parts. He purchased the truck in January of 2013 with 104,000 miles on the odometer. The odometer currently reads 205,000 miles. A tuner has been disconnected from the engine for troubleshooting purposes. Until recently, the truck has started and ran well. I am trying to assist him to diagnose the following problem. In early December, he notified me that the truck started to run very poorly just as he was arriving home. He recorded these codes: P0205 Fuel Injector 5 Circuit P2149 Fuel Injector Group 2 Supply Voltage Circuit Using a multi-meter he checked the resistance of all six injector solenoids for comparison. All were normal except for cylinder #5 which showed a high resistance. On December 15th he replaced that injector solenoid with a new Bocsh unit. After the repair was completed the engine would crank over, but would not start. He said the starter seemed to be cranking at the normal speed. On December 17th he was able to get back to the project. He primed the fuel system with the lift pump using the “bump the starter” technique for about 25 seconds. With battery jumper cables hooked up from another vehicle the engine started quickly and ran smoothly. All seemed well. He drove the truck for about 15 miles over the next couple of days. It is a couple of days later and he notifies me and says that “check gauges” light came on and the engine oil pressure was reading very low. He checked the oil level and found that it was way over the full mark. At this point I recommended to not drive the truck and I would come over to his house and assist. I checked the engine oil level – it was very high and diluted with fuel. I removed #5 injector solenoid to inspect the two o-rings. The one on the injector looked like it had a possible tear, so I installed a new one. The o-ring in the nut looked fine. I re-installed the injector solenoid and placed the valve cover on loosely, started the engine, and then shut it off about a minute later. I then removed the valve cover and restarted the engine to check for possible fuel leaks. Right away I noticed fuel coming out of the top of #5 injector solenoid. I realized then that the ball and set screw must be missing. Since my friend had already discarded the old injector solenoid, I removed #1 injector solenoid and removed the set screw and ball for a sample. We went to the hardware store and with luck we were able to identically match both the ball and set screw. We put everything back together and went to start the engine. The engine would crank, but not start (just like a few days before). Except, this time after many, many attempts it will not fire at all. We have now hooked up a battery charger to maintain the charge. A few minutes later I crank the starter for a longer period of time and the engine catches, but only on one cylinder and is detonating as if the timing was extremely advanced. I release the key and the engine continues to barely run in this manner. A few seconds later I turn off the key because none of the other cylinders are picking up. During the time the engine was running, heavy white smoke was coming out of the exhaust. A few seconds later I crank the engine, but no fire at all – just like before. I do a few more short starting attempts and have the same result – no fire on any cylinders. I am beginning to wonder if there is an injector leaking fuel into a cylinder causing low rail pressure and early ignition in that cylinder. I decide to do an experiment. I disable the grid heaters and remove a through bolt on the intake manifold so I can get close to the cylinders with a small shot of ether. The idea is to get the engine to spin faster to build rail pressure. I have my friend start spinning the starter and I give a quick shot of ether into the intake manifold. I hear the smooth clatter of all cylinders firing briefly and the engine begins run again on only one cylinder, barely carrying itself, and detonating just like before with white smoke out of the exhaust. At this point I am stumped. I am having trouble believing that replacing an injector solenoid would cause this symptom, especially after the truck ran fine for a couple of days despite the internal fuel leak. Is it possible for an injector to have been leaking a small quantity of fuel into the cylinder for awhile (even before the injector solenoid replacement) and is now showing its ugly head? I don’t have any access to the necessary test equipment to perform some of the tests that will probably be recommended on this forum. I would just like to hear from anyone who might be able to tell me if I am on the right track, or anyone who could get me started on the right track. My friend just called me and said he just read the codes with his newly purchased scanner. The only codes currently displayed are P0201 through P0206 (Fuel injector 1-6 Circuit) and the code for the disconnected intake heaters. I apologize for the long post, but I did not want to leave out any information that could help. Thank you in advance, - John

Those studs are threaded - I just don't remember the diameter and pitch. I do believe they are metric. I have a used bolt / nut / washer bin and I just sorted through the nuts until I found two that fit. You could probably find a nut on your truck that fits (not the one behind the wheel) and then match that nut to a couple of them at a local hardware store. Let me know how it works out and what you think. - John

"So from what you said, ecm must trigger power wires to energize coils and not the grounds" .... Yes. This brings another question that I may have asked, did you tie in both positive coil wires to a single switch? .... Yes. The two positive wires from the ECM are not used - I removed them and sealed the ends for protection. I ran a light gauge wire from a "hot" source, through a fuse (5 amp is adequate), and then to the momentary switch. From the switch, I ran a light gauge wire to one of the exposed coil terminals. I ran a jumper wire from that terminal to the other exposed terminal. So when you push a button you're energizing both grids? .... You got it! Now you can be the boss and tell them electrons when to flow! Your alternator will thank you. - John

I have used a toggle switch for operating grid heaters since my truck was new. My switch is a momentary switch that is fused to a hot source. This way I can engage the grid heaters without turning the key to the "on" position. Being that the switch is "momentary", the switch cannot accidently be left on. The two codes that are set are inconsequential. This setup has worked flawlessly for 17 years and over 300,000 miles. No unnecessary post heat cycles and a lot less stress on the alternator - I wouldn't have it any other way. - John

If suspension components are in good condition and the track bar is too short: * The axle will be pulled toward the driver's side of the vehicle and remain there. * The bottom of the sway bar links will follow the axle making it appear that the top of the links are leaning toward the passenger side of the vehicle. This relationship will not change after you have driven and parked the truck. For clarification, the track bar has only one purpose. It controls only side to side movement between the front axle and the chassis / cab, but still allows for up and down movement of the axle. So, if the sway bar links are sometimes tilted, but the axle is remains centered all the time then the track bar is not the problem. It could be as Dave110 suggests, that the sway bar is sliding in the bushings that mount it to the frame making it appear that the axle is moving.. It is easy to get off track when diagnosing suspension problems. At this point I would start from scratch and document your observations in detail. For example, in your first post you mention that the axle has shifted to the driver's side 1 1/2 inches and the sway bar links are tilted (this is very significant). Later you mention that the sway bar links are sometimes tilted and are sometimes straight, but you don't mention anything about the axle shifting to the driver's side or whether the axle is centering when the sway bar links are straight. - John

Are you absolutely positive the axle was centered and the sway bar links were vertical when you first installed the track bar? Also, is this the first time the track bar has been replaced? There are two reasons that I ask this question. One reason is that if everything was aligned correctly and then shifted at least 1 1/2 inches over within a month, something very significant had to happen - like a coil spring broke, or something. The other reason I ask is that I replaced a track bar on my brother-in-law's 2002 3/4 ton 4x4 truck (a May build date) and the original OEM track bar that came off of the truck was about 3/4" longer than the replacement track bar. I was replacing a lot of steering components at the time and I did not notice the shifting of the axle and the misalignment of the sway bar links until after I test drove the truck. It took me awhile to figure out what was going on. I ended up removing the replacement track bar and placed both track bars on the floor side by side and found there was a difference in length - about 3/4 of an inch. There is only one stock track bar sold for the second generation 4x4 truck - they are all the same length no matter who you get one from. I know because I checked with three different auto part stores and NAPA bent over backwards trying to solve my problem, but to no avail. I ended up using Luke's Link on the original track bar. If this is not your case, then you can disregard. - John

These trucks should have had an eight or ten speed manual transmissions available from the OEM. Putting a 10 speed Roadranger behind a twin-turboed 5.9 is an excellent combination. Great design and installation - I wish I could drive the truck!

Yes, you should be able to hear an in-tank pump while it is running and you should be able to hear a engine mounted pump running, as well. Without knowing what fuel modifications a previous owner did and if you can't hear an in-tank pump running, then, unfortunately, you will have to pull the fuel cartridge from the tank (as mentioned above). I bought my truck new and the VP-44 failed at 87,000 miles. The dealership replaced the VP-44 and removed the engine mounted lift pump and installed an in-tank lift pump complete with wiring harness and relay - all under warranty. This was the factory fix at the time. Keep us posted... - John

That's good news - I was hoping for that kind of an explanation. Thanks. - John

Yes, I did. It was your suggestion in a different topic that prompted me to do that earlier today. Thanks for that tip. I am going to loosen more supports that hold the fuel line and try the method again. It is just seeping now, but I need to get it stopped. - John

I bought 6 new Bosch RV275 injectors one year ago (the price was right - $425 for the set) and finally installed them last Friday. The original injectors operated for 303,000 miles and had never been removed. They were still performing well – as in smooth idle, good power, and good fuel economy. I didn’t want to push a good thing too far. The job went smoothly with the help of this site. All of the old injector tips were clean considering the miles and years on them. I did notice however, that there is a black coating of something kind of oily / powdery (not sure what it is) in the intake area just below the grid heaters. It is not present in the air horn and the hose from the intercooler – they are very clean. I wonder if worn valve guides combined with lots of exhaust brake usage could be the cause. Maybe someone who has had experience with this can shed some light. The marks are from me using a scraper. I am having a problem with a very small leak with #1 injector line at the injector. When I removed the injector lines, I did it in groups of three, but I left all of the blue clamping points tight. When I put everything back together, the connection at the #1 injector showed signs of leaking (wetness on the head around the fitting) on a 5 mile test run. So, I loosened the #1 injector line at the injector and loosened the blue clamp nearest the injector and then tightened the injector line followed by tightening the blue clamp. No evidence of a leak on a 5 mile test run. However, after a 50 mile trip the head is slightly damp around the injector connection. I will try again, but this time I think I will loosen the clamps and the mounts and repeat the procedure to get the leak stopped. If anyone has any tips, please speak up. I like the performance of the RV275’s. I immediately dialed the Smarty tune back a setting. OEM injectors: SW5 – Torque Management 5, Timing 1, Duration 5 RV275 injectors : SW3 – Torque Management 4, Timing 2, Duration 2. Smarty Settings: Torque Management (1-6) Each higher number incrementally reduces torque management at low engine rpm’s. Example: TM-6 equal zero torque management and allows for high torque at low rpm’s. Timing (1-4): Each higher number incrementally advances ignition timing . (#1 is stock, #2 is stock with after market injectors) Fuel Duration (1-5): Each higher number incrementally increases fuel duration. (#1 is stock) The RV275 injectors definitely deliver more fuel. So far, the tune I am using with these injectors is performing well, lots of torque on the low end easy to drive without smoke. I am setting the tune as to how I drive with a manual 6 speed transmission and operating engine rpm’s between the 1500 to 2000 rpm range for almost all driving conditions. I will post more information as I get some miles on the new injectors and let you know which tune I end up with. - John

I don't see a problem with the alternator - it looks to me like it has a quick-connect feature. - John

I agree, and that is my method. I have jump started many vehicles in this manner. I still have the original Bosch alternator (brushes and bearings at 215,000 miles) with 303,000 miles on the alternator now. - John