Yup.

Not that I'm aware of and I've had it for 3 years and 38K miles.

Still worth looking at.

No such thing. Spent the last week dealing with RV Fridge rebuild only to find the reason it's not getting cold is the brand new heating element isn't pulling enough amperage to dissipate the correct amount of heat in the boiler. You never know..

That's on the list. First thing first, I ordered gauges. Once I get those in I'll have a lot better idea as to what's going on. Hoping for something simple and obvious, obviously. Then on to cheap or near cheap performance improvements to coincide with upgrading the tranny. Don't care to be stuck 400 miles from home with no means of pulling the rig back again. Not fun.

 

Update, Data and Questions.

First, Finally got the gauges installed. As I already had a trans temp on the A Pillar and needed to add fuel pressure, boost and pyro it took some hackery to get all 4 of them up there.

Second, I'd ordered a set of ISSPro EV2's from Diesel Manor (they have a complete kit) and weekend one into the install discovered the complete kit wasn't.

For starters, the docs were wrong, showing the previous generation motor in a couple key places (like where to put the boost gauge sensor). Much googling later, I found it only to discover the Boost sensor was too long to fit between the NPT port and the boost pump. What I needed was a right angle fitting which wasn't included in the kit. Nor were replacement 14MM washers for the banjo bolt. Called them and they sent out the 90 degree fitting and the washers. Weekend 2 I was finally able to get them all installed.

It looked like a MAJOR PITA to get the turbo off in order to drill and tap the exhaust manifold for the Pryo. I'd let the bolts sit for hours in various fluids designed to loosen rusty bolts to no avail. Sadly that left only the drill it out while turbo still on option. Not ideal but I rigged up a fitting to a vacuum while drilling and then went in after with both a telescoping magnet and another rigged up fitting to the vacuum through the hole after I'd tapped it. I got very little out with the magnet after a half hour's worth of fishing around and even less with the vacuum (a ball point pen shell as a straw into the vacuum).

Figuring I may eventually need to do something with the gauges I terminated all the sensor lines to an 8 pin male micro phoenix captive screw terminal connector and then hard soldered the gauge side lines to the ISSPro multipin connectors down to a female phoenix. I did the same thing with a 4 pin set for the ignition on / illum / ground lines, so now by unplugging 2 connectors I can remove the entire gauge set if need be without having a mess of wire all over the place to deal with. The existing trans temp line I put on an insulated blade and spade connector.

So fine, the gauges are in, and now on to the "what's this mean" bit.

The data thus far:

First: I haven't as yet attempted to tow anything, which is where I'm seeing the biggest issues. The following is all "unloaded".

I did pull the intake boot off the turbo. There no side to side play, in fact no play in any direction. There is no wobble at all when spinning it by hand. There is a bit of blackish buildup on maybe the outer 1/8th of the vanes (output side). The all look uniform and I didn't see any obvious evidence of heat deformation.

2nd Jasper Tranny: seems to shift funny. If you stand on it when cold it will not up shift. It will climb to around 2100 rpm and just stay there without shifting. You have to let off the throttle around 1700-1900 to get it to up shift. Same for 2nd and 3rd. Once it's warms up a bit it shifts easier but it doesn't ever feel like it "should". If you don't get on the throttle hard (like less than half), it more or less will shift ok. I've had several times in the morning where if you fire it up and immediately (like in 5-10 seconds after start) go into drive or reverse it's very sluggish and you have to give it quite a bit of throttle just to get it to move at all. If you let it idle in park for 15-25 seconds it's much easier to get moving.

Finally: around 40-44 mph there is occasionally a heavy shimmy vibration that feels like a front end issue, however this spring the entire front end on the drivers side was replaced by the dodge dealer (upper and lower control arms, various other bits associated) and the passenger side checked out ok, so I don't think it's suspension related but it feels like it. My wife calls it an epileptic fit. You can power through it by giving it more throttle. It's always done this (even prior to the front end fix), but it's less often after the front end fix and less severe when it does do it. Not sure what this is either.


On to the data:

Pyro

On startup rises to 350 or so, and hangs there for as long as I care to idle.
In city traffic will rise to 450 or so and when accelerating or when I'm seeing turbo boost may rise to 650-700ish. The highest I've seen yet was about 750.

When stopping to an idle generally takes no more than a minute and a half to drop back the 350 range, usually less than that in terms of time.

Boost

On startup and idle it barely registers. Just comes off the peg a little (.5 - 1.5 maybe) and that's about it. When the turbo kicks in under "city" acceleration it will crawl up to between 5-8. If I punch it harder I might see 7-9. Highest I've seen is maybe 11. It drops off pretty quickly right around the shift points. Once in OD if the speed is constant it drops off to near zero. If you give it a little pedal in OD it might come up to maybe 3-4. I'm not exactly sure what I should be looking for here, but it seems a bit low.

Fuel Pressure

When I installed it I drilled through and tapped the banjo bolt on top of the fuel filter / water separator (the forward most banjo bolt that leads to the injector pump). It was actually a lot tougher drilling the banjo bolt than it was to drill and tap the exhaust manifold for the pyro.

Ok, this is the really odd bit. On start it quickly jumps up or around 15-16 and hangs there for as long as I care to idle. While it pulsates some (I have the snubber installed), it's not much, maybe +/- 1-2. On city driving acceleration, it jumps up to about 21, and hangs pretty close to there, but drops to between 11-15 at the shift points from first to third then comes back up to around 21. What's really bizarre is when it goes into overdrive at around 42-45mph ish. Once this happens it starts swinging a lot. It will do slow oscillations (like every couple seconds or so) between 13 to 24 ish and back. Occasionally it will swing from 20-30 a couple times then back to the 13-24 swing. When you hit the brakes when coming up to a light it drops down to around 13 or so and stays there until you idle then it creeps up to around 15.

I've occasionally seen it swing as high as 33 then back down.

I have also done an in park 2500 RPM test and it hangs pretty close to 22 when dong that with very little fluctuation.

I have not yet tested it at highway speeds for any length of time, nor under a trailer load yet.

Any insights as to the cause or causes and the reason I have no power under load?

 

Fuel pressure is low. Test for bad overflow by pinching rubber return line, should see pressure about peg your gauge, or around 60 psi with a blocked return line. If you don't make decent pressure, say 45psi or less, lift pump is weak and both should be replaced. Idle is 22+ psi, should be over 30psi on highway.

As for boost readings, they sound pretty close for a stock truck. Full load psi stock is around 17, lighter load on motor = less psi. Once power is added by sliding plate forward or etc. that number will climb. Without knowing max pressure and egt's hard to say there may be a boost leak or not. Intercooler boots are prone to rubbing on a section of the inner fender, or slipping off the nipple partially causing a leak that would normally be audible.

I will say, fix fuel pressure first, even if you just try a clean filter first. Then slide the plate forward a bit, boost elbow to set wastegate to 25-30 psi, and throw a 3k rpm governor spring set in and let her rip.

 

Danke!

I will pinch and check that and go over all the boots.

Fuel filter is new (last month). Have ordered prefilter basket and gasket and the short hose, will probably delete the fuel heater when swapping prefilter basket in case it's burned and the connector is leaking air.

Seems odd that with low fuel pressure it belches black when towing heavy. Doesn't that indicate lack of boost?

Will post what I find.

 

Ok so I attempted to pinch the line.

What a bear that was to get to. My wife tried (much smaller hands) but she had to stand on a step stool just to reach it and it blocked the light so I tried again coming in from the left side and was sort of able to clamp it off (small vice grips). I now see that a flat blade set of vice grips would make this much easier.

I don't think i got it completely pinched off, but it did raise the pressure by 10 when I did.

At any rate, rather than try to remove enough stuff to adequately get to the thing to be able to test it completely pinched off I'm thinking I may as well just go ahead and replace the OFV return valve as it's ancient anyway and from what I'm reading tends to fail. Any druthers on a replacement? Is it worth going to an adjustable one or just go with the $27 larryb's one?

I'm also thinking I've probably got air leaks and various hose deterioration. Time to just replace all the fuel rubber? I've read about using the marine grade trident stuff and found a boat place that sells it for about $2.50 a foot. What I don't know is how much and what diameters to order.

In other threads I've read that some folks just delete all the various metal line bits and go with hose from tank to fuel pump and back to minimize the connections and save time on the replacement (apparent some of these connections are a major pita to get to unless you have a lift, which I don't).

So the gameplay now is to:

Replace the OFV and if pressure doesn't rise, replace the lift pump as well.

Replace the strainer prefilter and gasket and delete the heater (and lift pump at same time if need be, and I'm thinking of ordering the studs to make the lift pump swap easier).

Replace the fuel lines and possibly delete the metal lines where applicable and just go all hose.


Any advice on this approach and gotchas to look out for?

 

I had a Larry B o/f, didn't last long, and it was always 5 psi low compared to the adjustable tork teck, which I didn't have to adjust. Has been solid almost 2 years now.

Many folks do tie wrap marine rubber to the stainless factory lines all the way to the tank. I haven't had to do that yet, just the sections connecting to the tank and to/from pumps. Supply is 3/8", return 5/16.

Easiest way I've accessed the tank top is unbolt bed on drivers side, loosen pass side, undo filler neck and jack the bed up a few inches to get to the fittings. You may find a rotted supply fitting, OEM had steel nipples out of tank top that like to corrode.

I also did find my in tank pickup screen almost completely clogged, needed attention.

 

Thanks Gorms..

Based on that I ordered the TorkTek adjustable. Also ordered a strainer service kit (screen, gasket and the short hose that goes to the lift pump). Ordered a new Lift pump, and the Larry B kit to delete all the steel lines and run hose from the OFV back to the tank and hose from the prefilter inlet back to the tank.

Being as I have both a hideaway gooseneck AND a set of rails for my Airbag 5th Wheel hitch and a spray in bedliner as well as an RV connect in the bed for the 5th wheel I'm thinking it's gonna be easier to drop the tank rather than try to lift the bed.

The notion is to just replace the whole shebang including the lines to eliminate all the issues up to the 7100. It's 20 years old and has been in TX for the entire time so the hoses and lines are probably way overdue for a replacement. The lift pump's going on 3 years old, and I'm guessing the OFV has never been replaced from the looks of it.

Any info on what / how to clean the in tank strainer would be good, or anything else to check while I've got the tank dropped.

 

Update. Last weekend pulled tank. Was a major pita to remove. Cleanup of the fuel module took hours. There must have been an solid inch of caked up dirt on top the thing.

Had to add washers to the sliding assembly as the screws had rubbed through the aluminum guide track.

The lower strainer had a lot of black gunk, presumably from the rubber fuel lines.

The inner strainer had a lot as well and I cleaned it up as best I could but that piece can't be disassembled. In the process of cleaning it the blubber disc on the bottom separated from the nub that held it in place. It appears to be act as a second check valve to keep fuel in the module when the tank is low on inclines. It doesn't appear as though it will move as enough of the center "post" remained attached to the disc so I reassembled it with that in place. Not sure if this is a concern or not, but I can't find a part number for the inner strainer assembly to get a replacement.

The fuel gauge sender measured pretty close to the service manual at the both ends of of the range ohms wise and didn't jump or skip in the middle. Outside of the inner strainers rubber disc I think the tank module is ok.

The top of the module does have what appears to be a vent line sticking straight up that's open to the inner module and from the amount of dirt that was caked around it I'm concerned that it could make it into the tank. Debating putting some hose on it and some sort of filter to prevent that.


After that pulled the preheater strainer and preheater, and had to wait til this weekend to continue.

Wasted a good hour attempting to pull the starter motor per the service manuals recommendation as part of the lift pump replacement. No way in hell do I have enough strength to get that top bolt off with a 7" 10 mm wrench. Gave up and reconnected the 12v and solenoid connections and went at getting the life pump and preheater off from the side.

Disconnecting the lines was a pita, and I inadvertently twisted the hard line that goes from the life pump up to the fuel filter / water separator (the one with the banjo bolt fitting on the rear of the fuel filter top). Can't find a part number to find a replacement for that. Googled for a good hour but can't find any place to get one.

The preheater thermostat connector disintegrated when I touched it, and there was a hole burned through the plastic connector housing. The preheater itself didn't look burned. I'll reassemble it and try the air pressure dunk the whole thing in water test and see if any bubbles come out.

I've seen a picture of the preheater removed and the strainer basket just screwed onto the top plate with the heater removed but I can't get it to thread more than a couple turns. It's almost as if the tread pitch is close but not exact so I have no idea how that was done. I'm hoping the heater has no air leaks and I can just reassemble it and leave it disconnected electrically.

The last time the lift pump was replaced by the Dodge dealer in Lawton OK (where I broke down and was stuck there for 5 days while these morons couldn't figure out what was wrong), they didn't use 2 gaskets on it, and plopped a ton of red gasket making compound all over the whole thing. What's the best way to get that gunk off the preheater/block?

So that's where I'm at with it. Gotta find a replacement for the line I buggered up that goes from the lift pump to the fuel filter / water separator, and hopefully a replacement inner strainer for the in tank module. And ideas where to source those would be greatly appreciated as well as any other thoughts.

I really never set out to be a mechanic, but here I am..

 

First off you need to check the timing , mine had been really dead for the first 4 years I had it. The dealer replaced the p7100 pump which was bad when I got the truck. Unfortunately I trusted their work and they set the timing to 9'btdc. when it should have been 12'btdc which made a difference in power and mileage. I have since gone to 15.5 btdc. and have never looked back.
In your post you mention black sludge in the fuel tank as being from the rubber hoses, unless you run a bio-cide in your fuel I wouldn't rule out bugs living in the fuel. You need to cut open fuel filters to see if they are plugged with the same gunk. If they are you need to run some kills'um in your fuel and keep a good supply of filters on hand as you will probably need to change about every 100 miles until you get the system cleaned out.
You mention electronic noise going to the PCM as a possible problem causing erratic trans. shifting, and T/C lock-up. A main cause for this is the wear in the TPS. I seem to remember a thread on here mentioning this years ago when I was having the same issues, the cure was I believe installing a wire and resister in the harness going to the PCM. It worked for me for the last 80 k miles. Check Gino's and ebay for the wire.

 

Thanks for the reply.

After pulling the tank / lift / fuel pre heater / etc in prep to replace all the fuel lines with new line, hit a roadblock due to other issues, so took it down to performance diesel in Emory, and for the first time in 4 years 3 Dealers and 3 Performance shops I finally feel like I've got somebody who sounds like the stuff I've read on the forum. His first mention about performance was timing on the pump. Said they're notorious for slipping due to an improper published torque spec amongst other things. At any rate, they're got it back together and are working on it. I'm out of time and have no garage or facilities to work on it, and winter is coming. Got deluged over the weekend, so the up on jack stands option no longer exists.

I'm hoping they'll resolve all this. Will update once I get something back from them.