Ok boys/gals, here goes;

I have a 2004.5 with 198000 on her and it runs like a dream. The only thing is sometimes (at first I thought it was speratic but it is becoming SLIGHTLY more noticable now) she is a bit*ch to start. I have on more than one occasion had to stop cranking it over, re-cycle the glow plugs and try her again. This is not dependent on tempature, I have had this on a warm engine in the summer, to a cold engine in the winter.

When my lift pump went, I assumed that it was due to poor supply pressure at start up, and that this would also fix my hard starting issue. Sadly (and why I am posting here) it did not.

I have a fairly good working mechanical knowlege, and this is leading me to beleive in dirty injectors. I work in the oilfield, and on many more than just one occasion it has been burning rig fuel, I religiously drained the water seperator and changed fuel filters with every oil change. When my lift pump died, I also dropped out the tank to inspect the tank for sludge and to my surprise (and delight) it was spotless. I have also almost always run an additive for lube and anti jell and this leaves me at a bit of a loss.

So in summary; Hard starting conditions, sometimes it will catch after 4-5 rotations, some times up to 8 or 10, sometimes it will sputter a bit and you keep feeding the starter to it it will catch, and sometimes, I mean like 20 seconds of starter to get it going. When it is warm and runs PERFECT, full power, smooth, a thing of beauty. But this starting issue is getting old.

I was going to pull the injectors and send them to a shop to get new nozzles (I would like approx 50 - 75 hp more, I dont feel like doing a clutch now, and it still needs to start in -45)
and have them cleaned, inspected and balanced. What do all you guys/gals out there think, and will that stock lift pump handle that increase in power, and do I need some sort of control system for the injectors (I dont think I do, but it is always wise to ask)

THANKS ALL!

 

are you running another oem lift pump??

 

no, my lift pump is different form yours as in the fact that my pump has a nipple that slips into the filter housing, but i do suppose that picking up one of your style oem pumps and placing it in the rubber line between my pump and the suction line from the tank would be easy enough. the only spot i could do it would be the engine bay though, the lines are all hard from the tank to the bay. its the damn hard start thing that is truly getting to me.

 

You might check the rubber fuel feed line from the hard line to the fuel filter housing. It might be sucking air threw it. If it cracked than that could be ur problem.

 

i just pulled it off and put it in the sink and blew through it, there are no holes in the line. and when i pulled the line off the pump, it was dry, not even a drip of fuel. i am not sure if this is normal or not, should the system stay primed, it seems the longer the truck sits, the worse it gets. any more ideas?

 

Electric pumps should always pushh fuel farther than they suck fuel. That is Dodges design having the electric pump by the engine and it sucks. I got a Raptor 150 GPH pump (same 150GPH pump as the airdog 150) and my starting problems went away. After my truck sits for a week or two my lift will run for about 5 seconds then turn off versus the daily blip on then back off. If it was mine I would get a different lift pump setup all together before going through the hassle of pulling injectors. JMHO

 

the thing is it never really did this before. it started good when i first got the truck. should that line always have fuel in it if the system was primed prior?

 

Could also be an injector issue

 

one other thing, the other day when i had it going, i was staring into the engine bay in dismay and started looking at the fuel rail. i ran my hand around it and discovered what apears to me to be a pressure relief valve (located on the rail between cylinders 1 and 2 (going from front to back)and runs the relief back to the low pressure feed/inlet for the high pressure injection pump) and it was hot, and when i say hot, it was much much warmer then the rest of the rail and the injection lines and it felt like fluid was moving throug it. is this normal?

 

Any updates??