December 07, 2005

It Doesn't End...

I dropped my truck off at Dodge yesterday, so they could check it out today... Now, you may not recall, but around 2 months ago, I started having issues with it... The diagnosis then from a diesel truck place was injection pump... The most expensive aspect of the engine with the exclusion of the block... So they did that, and in the process blew the computer up... So they fixed that, and said it was fixed... It wasn't... SO back it went... They then found they had timed the pump wrong, and fixed that, claiming all was well... It was not, and I couldn't take it back to them, so it was off to a dealer... Well the first dealer told me they wouldn't look at it as I needed a diesel specialist... That seemed fair if weird since they sell the damn truck... So I went to the dealer they recommended... That was yesterday...
Today, they called... They informed me with great authority that the problem was the fuel itself... Nothing mechanical... They had checked the injection pump and the turbo system, and all was well... Just burn off the fuel, put new stuff in and I'd be fine...
A word about diesel fuel... The fuel you buy at a gas station is #2 diesel fuel unless you live someplace like Alaska... If you by chance have an oil fired heating system in your house, you most likely use #2 fuel oil... The difference between the two is that they add a red die to the fuel oil, and don't charge the highway tax when they sell it... It works exactly the same in the engine... I can not begin to tell you how many miles I have driven on the stuff over the years... (warning this is not a legal activity, do not try this at home...) At any rate, I had the stuff in my tank this time because my girlfriend had just filled her fuel oil tank in her apartment when the boiler died, and the landlord converted to gas... So there was this 270 gallon tank of essentially diesel fuel just sitting there, and I'd hate to see it become a haz-mat cleanup down the road... So I was using it... That's what is in the tank now... Remember the only difference is some red die, and its got no tax on the price...
They claimed the problem is the fuel... They claimed it was the fuel because they see the red, and know something is different... They are idiots...
A word about the Cummins engine in my truck... That engine can run on #1, and #2 Diesel, #1, and #2 Kerosene, JP 2, JP 8, Jet A, and a couple more I can't recall... Its pretty much a multi fuel engine... Yes I would expect a little less or a little more power on a different fuel... I Expect to possibly damage the exhaust system running something odd... However, running #2 home heating oil in the truck, will not, and can not cause intermittent power issues... Intermittent is the key folks... If it was a fuel quality issue it would be an across the board issue...
In the process of some other research today, I think I have it figured out... It should be the fuel transfer pump... That should cost me a couple hundred bucks for the part... I can do it myself, even though it will be a pain... I will be ordering that part in the morning... Hopefully by next week, I will be able to get the damn thing installed and I can close this chapter in my life...

Posted by Backstage at December 7, 2005 11:06 PM | TrackBack
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