Please forgive me...I've got a few stupid questions.

I have a 2004 Ram 2500 4x4 w/ the 305hp 5.9 HO w/ a 6spd trans. It has about 73K miles on it.

What model injector pump do I have? Is it a VP44, CP3, or ???

I've been noticing a few things about my truck and was wondering if something was going on with it or if it was just me being paranoid. (This is my first diesel and I bought it used.)

-At idle when warm it will sputter from time to time. The rpms will drop for a split second and it will recover right away. When I initially noticed, it did this 3 or 4 times in the 5 minutes it was sitting there idling. I never noticed it in the past, but maybe I was just not paying attention before. (I heard it thru the tailpipe.)

-It seems to crank a little longer before it will start. I'm probably being picky here, but it will crank for maybe 4 seconds instead of 2. I have not been plugging in the truck at night, for it's been above freezing lately. It was in the 50's this morning, yet it still cranked longer.

-Now I'm looking for stuff to be wrong. One thing I never noticed before is the sound under the hood when putting the key in the ignition and waiting for the grid light to go off. It's not the grid heater noise...it's more of an electric fuel pump priming sound of a gas vehicle. It does this for 3 or 4 seconds and stops...and it appears to be coming from the fuel filter area. Lift pump? (I'm embarrassed about not knowing if this priming noise is normal or not, but hey, I'm an old school muscle car guy and not a diesel guru.)


Overall, it runs great, gets the same mileage as always, and barely smokes black unless you are on it hard. Never any white smoke as far as I know. I've been paranoid of the truck lately since I spent $1200 getting the air doors fixed and the evaporator replaced in the HVAC assembly. That really set me back, so I'm terrified something else is going to fail causing me more grief.

Am I just being paranoid and everything is fine, or should I take it in to be looked at?

Thanks in advance for your response. And sorry for the stupid questions...

 

congrats on the truck. CP-3 what you hear is the lift pump, it could be going bad and thats what is giving you the symptons your talking about. get a fuel pressure gauge and check it if its got good pressure then you need to look at other things

 

Thanks for the response.

Should the lift pump being making that 'priming' sound on a truck in good working order?

 

Since you have the 2004 305 motor, Check and see if you still have the fuel filter cannister mounted lift pump..........or if there is a dealer installed retro-fit pump

 

if he's hearing it then its on the canister, just cause its making noise doesn't mean its upto snuff, but when they quit the truck wont run. get a fuel pressure gauge to help keep an eye on it

 

OK.

Is there any particular brand or style fuel pressure gauge I should look into buying?

I'm new to all of this stuff, so I need all of the help I can get.

Thanks!

 

I have the same truck as you have, but 04.5 with the HO 5.9. I just bought a Isspro fuel pressure guage(low side- meaning before the injection pump) with isolator(comes as a kit) from piers diesel research in Washington. Everything should be there to do install. Good luck with the truck!! once the bombing bug starts, it gets addictive!!

 

As stated you have a CP3 hi pressure pump and a filter canister mounted lift pump if still stock. The dealer retro pump is in tank and I believe it is covered by the 100K cummins waranty. if you do some searching on here you may find a way to get it replaced before it fails. That should be your priming noise.

An extra second or 2 of crank time when it is cool and not plugged in wouldn't worry me much. Being plugged in would expand the metal a bit and thus reduce the time.

The sputter and RPM dip is likely the grid heater cycling. If it coincides with your dash lights dimming, that would be it. BTW you can ignore your volt gauge since it's a dummy.

Good luck with your truck.

Cya

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I really appreciate it.

It appears my truck was bought new in November 03, so I'm out of the 5yr/100 Cummins warranty. The original owner purchased it at the dealer I have bought new cars from since 1991, so maybe they would work with me a little bit if something does need to be addressed.

Is it common to have fuel system issues with relatively low miles on it? (73K miles.)

Not to beat a dead horse, but when I hear that priming sound for those few seconds after turning on the ignition, does that mean the lift pump is actually working as it is supposed to, or is it shooting more fuel to compensate for it bleeding down or something to that effect? (Not sure if that made sense or not.)

Again, thanks for everybody's feedback.

 

Not to bring this up again, but just wanting to know if anybody can answer this for me...

"Not to beat a dead horse, but when I hear that priming sound for those few seconds after turning on the ignition, does that mean the lift pump is actually working as it is supposed to, or is it shooting more fuel to compensate for it bleeding down or something to that effect? (Not sure if that made sense or not.)"

It's strange...it was in the low 30's this morning and the truck fired up on the first crank. Same way yesterday morning as well. (Not plugged in either time.)

 

check your warranty my 03 was a 7 year 100k mile they had a variety of warranty programs those years

 

After the ignition is turned on the lift/transfer pump will run anywhere from 25 to 40 seconds depending on which update to the ECM program has been downloaded. Lift pump running is normal.

 

All sounds normal to me. Grid heater kicking in and out, and AC clutch cycling will make the short idle drop. My truck also has a long crank at times, mainly during hot weather and I fire the truck up without waiting, kinda sounds like the truck fires off at the last minute. In the colder weather the truck always fires right off like an ol 12 valve. I love my 04, it hasn't caused me any trouble, but keep an eye on the stock fuel pump, replace it with an aftermarket system quickly for an ease of mind.

 

IF it is a lift pump that is mounted at the fuel filter you can get one at GENO'S part # FPD4089602 --179.00 I carry one under the seat. The pump life Span is 80.000 up to 120.000 that could be a cheep way if dodge does not fix it for you===GOOD LUCK