After several incidents of the engine stalling like a vapor lock or fuel starvation, I decided to have a FASS system installed. That was done at an independent diesel shop with a very good reputation. Drove 350 miles home with no problems. Left Sat. to drive 175 miles to my son's house and the truck died several times acting as if it had run out of fuel. I had a fuel guage installed along with the FASS system so I knew that wasn't the problem. Each time this happened the check engine light came on. After pulling to the side of the road and putting the truck in park, I could turn the Key off, back on and the truck would start. When this happened a month or so earlier, I stopped at a Dodge dealer in Indy and they claimed there were no codes, changed the fuel filter and sent me on my way. Charge was $85 for diagnostics and $50 for filter. Well last Sat. after pulling over a couple times and restarting the truck it went to a dead pedal situation. Maximum rpm was 1300 and I turned around and drove back home like that. On the down hill I got up to 45 mph and uphill 25mph. It was a long 70 mile drive home. I jumped into the wives car and made the trip to my son's house for the holiday weekend. Now I'm back and I need to deal with the truck. I started it up this afternoon and it was as if nothing ever happened. I drove it 25 miles or so and it ran just fine, no check engine light. Now I can take it to my dealer and have it checked for a code but the minimum charge is $40 to plug in the laptop. If there aren't any codes stored, I don't know what to do. I called a tech that worked on the truck once while I was on the road and he said it sounded like electrical, he said failure to provide fuel doesn't normally turn on the check engine light. Should I invest in a plug in code reader $30 at Auto Zone and check for codes myself? Any thoughts???
Same old problem Well I spent a couple hours soaking the cable ends in soda water, they did need it, cleaning the batteries and spraying everything with red oxide coating. Greased all the posts and cable ends after they were tightened down. Ran the truck about 50 miles on the Interstate, pulled off the exit and shut the truck down prior to heading back. On restart it showed a check engine light and dead pedal at 1300 rpm's. Shut it down and refired, everything normal. Tried several more times and it was normal everytime with no light. Drove back to town and stopped for a cold drink. Came out of the store and started the truck, check engine comes on and dead pedal again. Shut it down and restarted several times with same problem. Waited 2 minutes, started normal and ran normal until I pulled out on the highway. At this point the check engine light came on and stayed on all the way home but the truck ran normal. It has been sitting in the driveway now and I haven't touched it. I have an important trip to the east coast next week towing my car to a show in my enclosed trailer and I need to sort out this problem before I leave. Frustrated
I'd probably go ahead and take it to a shop. It kind of sounds like a bad VP44, but that should be throwing a code of some sort.
He is throwing codes, but on the 98.5-99 trucks you can't check codes by playing with the key. You have to have a scanner. What you need is a downloader. Gives you a few extra ponies for pulling and also reads, describes, and clears trouble codes. I would log on to www.cumminsforum.com and see if maybe in the search function you can't learn anything about this. I am kinda leaning more toward the VP44 being ok because of how its intermitant.
Still diagnosing the problem This morning I took the truck to Auto Zone and they were nice enough to check for codes. First try was just a P1693, but after several starts the check engine light came on and the truck showed a P1689 twice. After some discussion with the shop that installed my FASS system, we agreed it looks like the VP44 is going bad. I have an appointment for Monday to have a new one installed. I will get the truck back on Tuesday and I leave for the east coast with a loaded trailer on Wednesday. We will see what happens. Thanks for the feedback.
P1689 - Data link failure between ECM and fuel injection pump. Low power, engine dereated or engine stops Either the electronics in the pump are bad or something else is going on. Is the plug still on the data link? There should be a connector about halfway down the block that isn't pluggind into anything and should have a plug or cap on it.
Was it the fault of the Edge EZ??? I found a business close to home that rebuilds Diesel Injection. Very modern facility with knowledgeable and helpful people. This is farm country and they seem to do a lot of Farm and Construction equipment in addition to servicing all the vehicle repair shops in the area. I never approached them before because they do not have service bays and I thought they would only deal with local techs, no direct customer business. I found the individual doing the rebuilds was willing to take my truck to his shop at home and perform the R&R there. He rebuilt the VP 44 using all the latest tech and then did the R&R about 30 miles from the business. He said that during the test drive, the truck acted like it wanted to falter one time so he stopped and unplugged the Edge EZ then drove back to his place about 20 mi. Following day he drove my truck to work about 30 mi. with no problem. I picked the truck up and paid him a very reasonable price and a warranty was issued through the rebuild facility. I hooked up my trailer, loaded and headed for Atlantic City, NJ. I have driven about 2000 mi. total without a problem. The truck runs great except there were times in PA when I wished I had the EZ but with the waste-gate elbow installed I was able to use the extra boost when needed. I'm back home now and not sure what to do. The rebuilder says it is possible that the edge caused the electrical problems in the VP 44 and he does not recommend reconnecting it until it has been checked. I would like to run the Edge but if necessary I will buy a new tuner. Does anyone know if Edge would checkout my EZ if I shipped it to them?
1. You can't run the boost elbow without the EZ. Your ECM will see the higher boost numbers without the EZ hiding it and the ECM will defuel the motor. 2. Edge should have no problem checking it out for you, and probably would send you a new one if there is a problem with it.
End of story, at least I hope so Contacted Edge, got a RMA#, downloaded their form for return of EZ for testing. Edge called today, EZ has a problem in it's brain and it can not be accessed. EZ was manufactured in 2003 and the brain is a sealed unit. Options were to replace it at about 10% off list or buy a re-man unit for about 40% off & 60 day warranty. The re-man is newer unit that can be accessed for repairs if needed in the future. Not sure how much longer I'll be driving this 98.5 so I opted for the re-man. I could have lived with the EZ dying a slow death, I just hate the fact it took the VP 44 out first. I do appreciate my local shop, Diesel Injection Service of Bay City, MI highly recommending the EZ be tested before using it again. They probably saved me replacing another VP 44. Back to the road, I need to pay for all these parts.
