dave110

THANK YOU!!

See if it's stuck open. My hard start cold condition is back and so bad that I need to bleed fuel system every morning if I want to use it. Someone else changed O.F. valve and fixed problem.

I thought there was a procedure on here but I can't find it. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Good luck man!!

Thanks for the reply!!

A lot of the Amish still cut ice and have ice houses. No power except generator or here lately solar. Being around them all my life I guess I don't think twice about it. Goes to show how we take some things for granted.

Where did you get the stainless looking bottom trim on the truck? I might be able to cover up my bad door bottoms & cab corners for a few more years with that.

Good to know. Thanks.

For the 2nd item do a search for Torque converter lock/unlock. You have the hunting issue going on there and there are a lot of threads and even an article on it I think.

Thanks. Good to know how that works. Maybe mine quit doing it's job causing my sudden hard start issue.

Well, so far so good since I wired relay to wiper fuse. Still wondering though how this all of a sudden starts to happen after 2+ years with this VP. If it's a fuel pressure causing timing advance issue I would think it would have done it from the start cause I'm running the same 20psi now as then. It wonders me how the ecm can cut pressure with no regulator but maybe it's not doing what it used to? Something changed and that's what bugs me..... I'd like to fix it right.

So instead of the diaphragm cracking would you say the O-Ring is leaking or the plastic back has cracked? Would this shorten the lofe of the pump?

Good to know. Worry's me though why mine did not do it and then all of a sudden it does

First of all I want to thank everyone for their replies. Mopertech, I never would have thought my problem was a too much LP pressure while cranking but that was exactly what it was. Thanks to LIVE OAK for confirming this from Blue Chip’s page….. HARD START COLD, LONG CRANK TIMES, AND INSTANTLY RUNS SMOOTHLY This is typically due to a cracked or broken diaphragm inside the Injection Pump. To test for this try disconnecting the electrical power from the Lift Pump BEFORE turning the key on, and see if it starts better. This happens because the electric lift pump pushes air which is always in the fuel chamber inside the VP44 pump, through the crack or break in the diaphragm, into the mechanical high pressure pump and it becomes air-bound until it rotates enough times to bleed out the air. If it starts better without an electric Lift Pump, it is because the electric Lift Pump hasn’t forced air into the mechanical high pressure pump through the crack or break in the diaphragm, which is what separates the fuel chamber from the high pressure pump. This failure requires a VP44 replacement to fix the problem. This was my symptom EXACTLY. I tried starting the truck after sitting over night and it would not start. Pulled the fuse for the Raptor and it started instantly. It’s hard to deny Chip Fishers claim about this with all of the VP44’s he must have torn apart. It’s also hard to dispute Mike’s finding…. No diaphragm in the pump he disassembled. So if there is no diaphragm, what is it then that causes these pumps to suddenly not start when the LP is running? I never had this problem before with the 2 VP’s that I’ve had on this truck so something changed to give me this problem, and it changed pretty quickly too. Like the diaphragm had a little crack and gave me long cranks and the crack kept getting bigger until it would not start at all until the LP was disabled. I can’t help but think this fix is nothing but a Bandaid, I did not fix the problem and I would like to know what the cause is. For those of you who did this how long have you been running this way? I’m not sure I trust my truck now but at the same time I hate to drop $1000 plus into a VP if I don’t have to. One more thing. I did not like the way the LP was wired to the wiper fuse in the schematic for 2 reasons. 1) In an accident the LP would run until the key was turned off. 2) In the winter when the heater grid is activated the LP would be running at the same time for 25sec. or so before even trying to start. That’s a lot of draw on the batteries before the key is even turned to start. So I put a relay in the feed wire that goes from the battery to the original relay and triggered it off of the wiper fuse. That way the ECM still controls my LP, it will turn off when the engine quits, but it is still disabled during cranking. Sorry for the long post but I hope this will help someone else and look forward to hearing what the real problem may be.

O.K. so I unplugged the LP this morning to test and it fired right off. I would like to wire the LP to the wiper fuse now. There are 2 wires on the original plug that trigger the relay. They both look white. Where do they go?

OK, I'll try it but does that explain the white puff of smoke on a cold start? Just asking cause I don't know.

Well, on Friday it started like normal after sitting overnight so I thought I fixed it. On Saturday I had another long crank with a puff of white smoke so I guess I didn't fix. I'm thinking a cracked diaphragm from reading Blue Chips diagnostic page but I've also read there is no such thing as a diaphragm so now I'm confused. Is there a diaphragm in the VP 44 or not? I guess my next step is to disable the LP during startup but again I'm confused because I've read that is only during a HOT hard start and I have a COLD hard start problem. HOT starts are normal. After that I'll check injector tube O-Rings. Would I be able to see if they are leaking by pulling the valve cover? I'm not getting any fuel in the oil that I can tell.

Thanks for the replies Live oak & Mopar tech! I have not heard of the wiper fuse trick. My next thing was to disable the LP and try starting without it but this morning it started right up so I'm thinking I've found my problem..... I hope. I'll see what happens the next few days and post back. As far as the diaphram goes it all makes sense but I thought Mike proved that there is no such thing from reading another post from him. Or did I read that wrong?

A mechanical gauge shows 20, and my electric gauge says 12 so somewhere in between there. I thought that high pressure was only a hot start issue though?

Just wanted to tell you all what I found so far. I checked tightened the return line fittings at the 'T' and in the back of head. Then I checked all the other fittings I could think of including the test ports on the filter housing. Came out the next day and I thought it was not going to start. Finally it did with a big puff of white smoke and I saw a fuel puddle on the drive. Checked it out and found the filter housing cracked around the test port. I did not tighten much so I think that may have been the original leak. That proves I was wrong about an air leak high in the system staying high in the system. Got a replacement put it on and now to bleed the system like I've done many times before. Crack the line at VP inlet and got pure air free fuel, no start, so I cracked 1,3,&4 at head and crank, crank, crank, (30 sec at a time), recharge bats. and finally got fuel at #1but nowhere else. Read the article on this procedure and it says crack 3,4,&5 so I tried that..... for 2 days. I was ready to give up and condemn the VP for a stuck rotor then I saw some fuel at 4. Closed it ,crank again, and fuel at 5, close it and it kicks a little after I pump the throttle. Tried again and it FINALLY started so I closed 3 and it cleared up and ran smooth shortly. Absolute worst priming experience I ever had and I'm wondering why. I never had trouble before. Does this mean my VP is going bad? No codes. Any other thoughts?

Thanks for the replies. I will keep trying and report back.

I got the return line fittings tightened up. They sure made them easy to get to didn't they? I will run it today and try again tomorrow and see what happens. Where else could I be getting air into the system?

Found out that Geno's has about the best price out there.

For my dad's 2009 I bought a K&N filter. It has a 1" nut on the bottom that you can put a wrench or in my case a socket w/ extensions and get it from the bottom. Seems like a pretty decent filter that costs about the same as the other quality filters and no filter wrench is needed, FYI