[Home builder]

I bought a used dodge for work. It ran great and about 2 weeks ago it wouldn't start. It will start with ether and still seems to run fine. I took it to a shop today and they said it was a bad injector. After they replaced the injector they did a comp test and said #1 has 50 LB of compression and she still won't start w/o ether.

What is the cheapest way to solve the problem? Short block? Used motor, reman?

 

[Rimcrew]

How many miles on the truck? Any mods?

 

[Home builder]

No mods on the truck that I know of. 188k miles. I bought it at the auction to haul a cat excavator.
I drove about 15 trucks at the auction and this one ran the best. Just wont start now w/ o help.

 

[Home builder]

I've had ford diesels since 93. I was surprised this truck ran so strong. Maybe it has some mods. I just wouldn't know, I guess I will ask the mechanic.

 

[cerberusiam]

You likely have more bad injectors hence the no start without ether.

The 50 lbs of compression means you have a problem. Broken rings, burned piston, something. Need to pull the head anch check out the damage. You may be able to hone the cylinder and replace the piston\rings and have a good engine.

If it is too bad you will need a reman, rebuild, or find another engine.

 

[dozer12216]

Engine probablly dusted or worse. Now you know why it was in auction.

 

[Rimcrew]

Strange that it ran well with that kind of compression. Makes me think they got a bad reading...

I would suggest you get the capping tool and cap off one injector at a time and try to start the truck. If you have one bad one this will isolate it and perhaps you can replace one injector and be back on the road. The tool is around $30 at Geno's garage.

Also, look at each of the injector supply tube nuts to see if any look wet or coated in dust. My truck did the same thing and it was a loose nut. Torqued it to 37 ft lbs and it has run fine ever since. It had been leaking just enough to collect a small amount of dust on the surface of the nut which was a dead giveaway once I new that injector was not firing.

This should take an hour or so to do.

 

[steelhead01]

with only 50 psi on 1 cyl, you must have lots of blowby out the oil fill cap and the crankcase vent tube?
if so, I'm with your mechanic and cerb. on this one.

pull the head.

almost impossible to find a decent condition 5.9 HPCR engine that doesn't have the same condition or worse. lots of used 5.9 HPCR junke out there in the fields and yards. most get stripped for good fuel system parts, cranks and rods. the ruined blocks go to Chinese scrap.
know what you're buying used engine wise.

plan on 6 brand new Bosch injectors also, $3000

 

[Home builder]

Strange that it ran well with that kind of compression. Makes me think they got a bad reading...

I would suggest you get the capping tool and cap off one injector at a time and try to start the truck. If you have one bad one this will isolate it and perhaps you can replace one injector and be back on the road. The tool is around $30 at Geno's garage.

Also, look at each of the injector supply tube nuts to see if any look wet or coated in dust. My truck did the same thing and it was a loose nut. Torqued it to 37 ft lbs and it has run fine ever since. It had been leaking just enough to collect a small amount of dust on the surface of the nut which was a dead giveaway once I new that injector was not firing.

This should take an hour or so to do.

This is the 1st time I have used this shop. The truck isn't blowing a lot of smoke. I will get the guys to perform your suggestions. I find it hard to believe I need a new motor because the truck still runs strong. Just wont start on its own.

They originally called and said I just needed the injector on #1 and it would be fixed. When it didn't fire they did a comp test and said it was at 50 instead of around 500.

I don't know how knowledgeable this shop is, they have been recommended by my Ford mechanic who is a great mechanic. He just doesn't work on dodge.

 

[jf073]

First off how is the truck running right after it fires up, really lumpy/rough idle? And if so does it go away when at operating temp? Also where abouts do you live and how cold does it get there? Does the truck get plugged in regularly?

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[Home builder]

First off how is the truck running right after it fires up, really lumpy/rough idle? And if so does it go away when at operating temp? Also where abouts do you live and how cold does it get there? Does the truck get plugged in regularly?

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The truck runs fine after it gets started. I'm in Oklahoma and we haven't had to plug it in. It just got cold this week.

 

[husky9]

Would guess that since the truck runs good once it starts that is why no one is pointing a finger at the cp3? Only reason I wonder is maybe a pump that is just a little weak can't get after it enough at low engine speed of cranking thus needing ether. Just a thought, had a friend whose truck would also ONLY start on ether and a cp3 seemed to solve that problem if I remember right...was quite a while ago though

Also I agree with others that have stated check compression again, with that low of compression I'd think you'd HAVE to have some kind of smoke or noticeable blow by as the truck ran

Good luck! All those smart guys on here will get you taken care of...

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[jf073]

Like husky 9 said check your cp3 pump fairly easy to do with a quality aftermarket scanner. Another thing to look at is your in tank lift pump, are you hearing a buzzing from the tank when the key is switched on? And lastly I've never had one go out but maybe the grid heater?

If the truck does run well once it is started then I would be hesitant to say busted rings, that said I've had two of these motors go and both would start fine just miss a lot till warm.

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