Maintaining Your Dodge Cummins Fuel Pump and Injectors

Extending High Pressure Fuel Pump and Injecotr Life

The Cummins diesel is a longevity engine. When serviced properly, the engine should last 500,000 to a million miles between teardowns. Peripherals like the turbocharger, fuel injectors and the fuel pump, however, can wear out or fail much earlier. A well maintained fuel system can keep injectors going for 250,000 miles or more. The original common rail diesel injectors and CP3 pump in my 2005 Ram have been trouble free for 180,000 miles now. These injectors have delivered good performance and fuel efficiency. There are no signs of spray pattern…

Your Dodge Ram’s A/C System

HVAC Charging Gauges

Are the summer months in your truck spent with the old-school “2-60” air conditioning (two windows down at 60mph)? A properly operating HVAC system provides comfort and safety. The pages of many prior issues of the Turbo Diesel Register magazines have been devoted to the removal of the instrument panel to replace a leaky air conditioning evaporator core (‘98-‘02), leaking heater core, flimsy blend air doors (‘03-current), etc. And you’ll find some of the A/C parts for the DIY-er at Geno’s Garage. Instead of covering “how to change a part,”…

The Case of the $942 Fuel Filter

Digital multimeter

(or How to Change a #5 Injector) Solving the mystery of a vehicle’s mechanical problem can require some lengthy detective work—as demonstrated in this repair that I call “The Case of the $942 Fuel Filter.” The initial complaint by the Ram Turbo Diesel’s owner provided me with scant evidence for solving the problem: “It runs good,” he said, “for a while after I change the fuel filter, but it has low power.” I doubted that the fuel filter was the culprit. But I had little to go on. This would…

The Many Steps to Diesel Success

When I was a small boy I was live baggage on family trips from the Northeast to visit the grandparents a thousand miles away in Indiana. There were no Interstate highways – just the promise of the Pennsylvania Turnpike with its four smooth concrete lanes and many child-pleasing tunnels. The rest of the way was two lanes, small towns, and diners with steamed-up windows. Constantly in the way were highway trucks, only lately powered by weak-but-economical six-cylinder Diesel engines making 160 horsepower. Drivers knew what was next on their routes,…