Blown relay ... and still hard starting ... What's up ??

[mayfair]

I'm a little bummed ...

Yesterday when I went to fire up my Ram, it wouldn't turn over. At first I though it was that same annoying thing that has been happening lately. For some reason, when I let my truck sit for a few days when I go to try and fire it up I have to crank and crank and crank with my foot holding the pedal to the floor before it finally fires up. This whole process takes about 5 minutes before FINALLY comming it life. It is embarrasing, and annoying to say the least, but yesterday I had a new problem. Yesterday when I went to turn it over I noticed that my FASS wasn't running at all. I first checked the fuse and it was OK. I then decided to get a new realy and I found one, not the same exact one, but I found one and it got my FASS running again.

Whew ...

After doing the crank crank crank thing my Ram finally came to life and ran fine. This morning however, I had to do the crank thing again.

What's up ??

Why not only did my relay blow out, but why do I also have to crank and crank all of a sudden to get my Ram to fire up?

Any help is appreciated because this is really getting annoying.

__________________
1998.5 24 valve 5.9 Cummins - Quad cab 8ft bed 4X4 - FASS 150/95 - Areo Turbine exhaust - K&N intake - Mag-tec Hy-tec trans and diffs - 3rd Gen 17" rims and caps - Edge Comp Box - Various other mods

[ctd8999]

Your VP-44 maybe going bad. There is a diaphram in the pump that goes bad when this happens it lets the fuel drain back. If you park your truck with the front heading down hill is it hard to start ? Does it start right up after it has been run ? If the diaphram is the problem you can put a check valve in the line to stop the drain back. Just my .02 cents. Thanks Steve B.

__________________
99 QC SB 4X4 Goerend Trans/Converter, 619/1163 at FALL BRAWL 07 92 W250 Auto, 4" exhaust, 128K mi. Pretty much stock. Best ET 1/8 mi 7.46 @ 91.70 Best ET 1/4 mi 11.75 @ 114.27

[mayfair]

Once the truck is running, it'll start just fine. It's when I let it sit for a couple of days that I have this problem. I've never tried parking my truck with the nose down in my driveway, when I park, I back it in at night with the tail down.

Is this a common problem?

Will this check valve solve the problem and if so, where does it go, in the return line?

Where can I get this check valve if needed?

Thanks for your help !! Here' s how I park at night ...

__________________
1998.5 24 valve 5.9 Cummins - Quad cab 8ft bed 4X4 - FASS 150/95 - Areo Turbine exhaust - K&N intake - Mag-tec Hy-tec trans and diffs - 3rd Gen 17" rims and caps - Edge Comp Box - Various other mods

[Diesel-Dan]

Welp....hard starts like you are having are caused by air. Air is getting in some way, some how.

On how to check, i could be here all day due to the many areas that could allow this prob to happen. The VP is one, but if you rig up some clear line on the inlet and outlet of the VP. You should be able to see any air that is getting into the pump. This will give you a direction to attack.

Injector connecting tube o-rings have seem to be a issue for hard starts as of late. I know i have had 3 personal buds with this issue.

You can also clamp off lines and see if the issue happens as well.

Might try parking down hill as well. Air will rise to the highest point in the system.

Whats your fuel pressure doing?

These are the hardest issues to find.......so patients and thorough testing is the key to this one.

__________________
Dan MacDonald
Diesel Performance Products
Head of Wnty/Trouble Shooting

Please don't PM me. I have a Vendor section just for CF users to post questions. I would like to keep everything public as it might help others with similar issues. Thanks for your understanding.

---

Last edited by Diesel-Dan : 03-11-2008 at 08:37 AM.

[mayfair]

Yeah, I figured it was air, however where it's comming from is the mystery. I'm going to try and find a spot on the return line and clamp it off at night to see if the problem still happens. I do like the idea of a check valve though. Even if it's not the problem, it can't hurt can it?

Parking downhill believe it of not is more of a challenge than you can imagine. It's kinda hard to see in that pic, but I live in a rowhome in Philly. Usually there is a car parked right next to me ( my neighbors ) and in front of my truck is another set of cars. The driveway is as wide as a normal driveway, so backing out can be a real challenge, that's why I back in.

Here is a shot of my bike parked at the top of the hill on the "common" driveway. You can see the across the driveway's neighbors houses here and how close they are. In this pic they are empty, but when there are cars / trucks parked behind everyones house, things get pretty tight

__________________
1998.5 24 valve 5.9 Cummins - Quad cab 8ft bed 4X4 - FASS 150/95 - Areo Turbine exhaust - K&N intake - Mag-tec Hy-tec trans and diffs - 3rd Gen 17" rims and caps - Edge Comp Box - Various other mods

[mayfair]

Oh I forgot to answer your other question. Fuel pressure is fine once I get the Ram started.

Any thoughts on why the relay crapped out?

__________________
1998.5 24 valve 5.9 Cummins - Quad cab 8ft bed 4X4 - FASS 150/95 - Areo Turbine exhaust - K&N intake - Mag-tec Hy-tec trans and diffs - 3rd Gen 17" rims and caps - Edge Comp Box - Various other mods

[Diesel-Dan]

Originally Posted by mayfair

Oh I forgot to answer your other question. Fuel pressure is fine once I get the Ram started.

Any thoughts on why the relay crapped out?

How long you got? With out lookin at it, i really cant tell you. Make sure the plug is pointed down that water cant get into it...and put some dielectric compound on the new relay just to ensure a good contact and moisture keep-er-outter.........yeah....

Back to your parking down hill.....one night of inconvenience might help figure out your issue.....so....

__________________
Dan MacDonald
Diesel Performance Products
Head of Wnty/Trouble Shooting

Please don't PM me. I have a Vendor section just for CF users to post questions. I would like to keep everything public as it might help others with similar issues. Thanks for your understanding.

[mayfair]

Good call on the grease and mounting it upside down. Right now I have the relay towards the top. It's not one of those fancy Bosch realys though. Any idea where I can get another one of those in case I need it?

I'll try and park my Ram nose down this weekend if I know that I won't be useing it. Believen it or not, it's a helluva lot harder if not at times impossible to pull into the driveway because of how tight it is.

If my Ram sits all weekend though and fires up fine on Monday, what would that tell me, and how how would I fix it?

__________________
1998.5 24 valve 5.9 Cummins - Quad cab 8ft bed 4X4 - FASS 150/95 - Areo Turbine exhaust - K&N intake - Mag-tec Hy-tec trans and diffs - 3rd Gen 17" rims and caps - Edge Comp Box - Various other mods

[Diesel-Dan]

Originally Posted by mayfair

Good call on the grease and mounting it upside down. Right now I have the relay towards the top. It's not one of those fancy Bosch realys though. Any idea where I can get another one of those in case I need it?

I'll try and park my Ram nose down this weekend if I know that I won't be useing it. Believen it or not, it's a helluva lot harder if not at times impossible to pull into the driveway because of how tight it is.

If my Ram sits all weekend though and fires up fine on Monday, what would that tell me, and how how would I fix it?

Well, that would confirm air causing the issue 100%.

__________________
Dan MacDonald
Diesel Performance Products
Head of Wnty/Trouble Shooting

Please don't PM me. I have a Vendor section just for CF users to post questions. I would like to keep everything public as it might help others with similar issues. Thanks for your understanding.

[ctd8999]

If it starts after sitting parked front down. It can be the diaphram in the pump, like Dan said just clamp the rubber part of the fuel line, you can use a small pair of vice grips and a piece of heater hose to do that. Have you checked you injector hold downs ?? If there not torqued correctly they can cause this hard start also. There under the valve cover. Good Luck with this. Thanks Steve B.

__________________
99 QC SB 4X4 Goerend Trans/Converter, 619/1163 at FALL BRAWL 07 92 W250 Auto, 4" exhaust, 128K mi. Pretty much stock. Best ET 1/8 mi 7.46 @ 91.70 Best ET 1/4 mi 11.75 @ 114.27

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by ctd8999

Have you checked you injector hold downs ?? If there not torqued correctly they can cause this hard start also. There under the valve cover. .

Unfortunately now you are starting to get into stuff that I don't know anything about at all. I have no idea what an injector hold down is, however I was planning on adjusting my valves very soon ( another thing that I've never done before ). Should I get whatever pieces that you are talking about and replace those as well while i have the cover off?

__________________
1998.5 24 valve 5.9 Cummins - Quad cab 8ft bed 4X4 - FASS 150/95 - Areo Turbine exhaust - K&N intake - Mag-tec Hy-tec trans and diffs - 3rd Gen 17" rims and caps - Edge Comp Box - Various other mods

[ctd8999]

Originally Posted by mayfair

Unfortunately now you are starting to get into stuff that I don't know anything about at all. I have no idea what an injector hold down is, however I was planning on adjusting my valves very soon ( another thing that I've never done before ). Should I get whatever pieces that you are talking about and replace those as well while i have the cover off?

No they don't need replaced. Sometimes when injector swaps are done the hold downs may not be tighted enough. Just trying to give you a couple ideas what my may your problem. Thanks Steve B.

__________________
99 QC SB 4X4 Goerend Trans/Converter, 619/1163 at FALL BRAWL 07 92 W250 Auto, 4" exhaust, 128K mi. Pretty much stock. Best ET 1/8 mi 7.46 @ 91.70 Best ET 1/4 mi 11.75 @ 114.27