Just bought a 2003 Ram 2500, 6 speed. Has 170,000 miles. The dealer said the lift pump was bad, so they put the upgraded "dodge fix" lift pump in the fuel tank. I just installed a fuel pressure gauge, the sending unit is on the rubber fuel line between the fuel filter and injection pump. The gauge is reading 9 psi at idle / steady speed and drops to 5-6 psi under full acceleration.
I had an 02 dodge 2500 and it showed 14 at idle stock and would only drop to 12 under full throttle. Are they that different? Or am I looking at a bad lift pump / dealer ripp-off?
I truly appreciate any help or advice on this. Thank you

 

Welcome to DTR and congrats on your purchase. Don't worry about your first post being a question, as that is what this place is for.
That isn't bad pressure for a stock pump, IMHO. My stock LP gave 7# at idle and 4-5# at WOT. It lasted till about 110k miles or so and I replaced it with the glacier (Walbro) pump. Turns out the isolator on my guage was bad, not the LP. Oh well, I have 17.5# now and dips to 15# or so.When the new LP is placed in the tank, there is a new wiring harness that connects to the connector that used to go to the old LP. Therefore, the old LP, if it was left in place, would have no power. The new LP could not push fuel through a dead LP, much less make 5#.Sure they did. The old LP was located on the back side of the fuel filter, not the side of the CTD. It used to suck fuel all the way from the fuel tank and pressure it into the fuel filter housing. They take off the old LP and replace it with a plate with a connector (banjo bolt in your case). The new in-tank LP pumps from the tank to the new connector on the back of the filter housing.Unless you plan to modify your CTD, you will probably be fine with the in-tank pump. If you are going to mod your CTD, then a Walbro pump would be an excellant choice and you can even buy them here at DTR. If you do want to go this way though, you will have to get rid of the in-tank pump and rig a new fuel suction tube. If you know the folks at the dealer, and it hasn't been too long, you should go back and get the old sending unit they took out of your tank.

 

Thank you FMB. I was doing some research on here and found out I was panicing for no reason. I was obviously suffering from an ID10T error. I had an 02 ram 2500 and it had 14 psi stock and I was always told anything under 12 psi was bad, so when I saw 9 psi on my new truck I freaked out. Did they change that much on the fuel system from 02 to 03? I truly do appreciate your help. I would have run out and bought the new lift pump tomorrow after work and wasted a lot of time and money.
My truck will be modded as money allows. I have done the free / cheap things already and soon will straight pipe it to get more sound out of her. I put a FASS fuel on my 02 and loved it, but still only had 18-20 PSI, if your pushing 27 then I may just look at the Glacier system in the future. Thank you once again.