Joined
·
4 Posts
Hi Community,
This is my first post so forgive me if this is not in the right place or too long. I've been a member since 2016 and have been absorbing everything I see here. I have a 2015 EcoDiesel Laramie 4x4 Crew Cab 6.4 bed - completely stock - I am in SoCal. It has 37k miles on it and I bought it new in Dec 2015. It's been an awesome truck. The only mods are front/rear cameras, AmpResearch running boards and a hard tonneau cover (painted to match - Flame Red). I never tow anything with it and never carry anything heavy in the bed to overload it.
I have had every single recall done - including all the Diesel lawsuit recalls - no issues - truck still runs great. I use HotShot Diesel Extreme Additive every other tank. I change the oil every 5k miles (Pennzoil Euro) and the Fuel Filter at the same time. At least that's what I was doing until Covid hit and I lost track of the maintenance.
On June 12, 2022 we were did a 160 mile round trip day run. On the way to our destination, the truck ran great - we ran at 80+ MPH without any issues. On the way back, after being stopped for about 6 hours, the CEL came on - and I remembered all the posts I have read here over the years and thought "Oh Crap - is my engine about to blow?"
There was no loss of power - no anything. So I kept driving another 60 miles to get home. No issues.
When I got home I put my code reader on it and it showed P026C. I looked it up and it said something about "fuel injection quantity lower than expected". What the heck is that?? Back to the forum and searching the internet only to find a ton of stories about fuel pumps, fuel rails, bad injectors, stuff not covered under warranty and weeks at the dealer to diagnose and fix - only to have the code come up again.
Man - I'm going to have to sell my baby. This could be the start of a nightmare, I thought.
I somehow thought that there might be an issue with my fuel filter - because I missed changing it on the last oil change - that put it at about 10k miles. I figured I would change it and went and bought a WIX fuel filter and WIX air filter as well just for good measure.
I had previously bought the Geno's garage fuel filter wrench and drain kit. It took me about half an hour to change the fuel filter and air filter. (If you don't have this wrench and drain kit I highly suggest getting both - I did not spill one drop of diesel fuel anywhere - just make sure you have a half gallon container to drain the fuel into from the fuel filter housing when you remove the plug and something on the floor in case you do spill).
Once that was done, I re-pressurized the fuel system and started it. No problem. I cleared the P026C code and let the truck run for 5 min - it did not come back on. The next day I drove it 30 miles on the freeway at varying speeds - no code. A few days later I did the 160 mile round trip again - no code. I ran it past 90MPH, floored it several times to suck more fuel and nothing - no code. It appears to be cured. Whew what a relief!
What caused it? I believe that the fuel filter was so dirty that when I was on the original trip when the code came on - it happened as I was running from 70MPH to 80MPH passing someone and the truck got starved for fuel because the fuel filter was so dirty. I never believed it was my injectors because I have always used Hot Shot - they have to be clean and I never lost power when the code came on.
So - I think I dodged a bullet and wanted to share in case this helps anyone else out there. Change your fuel filter first if you ever get this code! Now I think I'm going to keep my baby since it was something minor (and my own fault)!
This is my first post so forgive me if this is not in the right place or too long. I've been a member since 2016 and have been absorbing everything I see here. I have a 2015 EcoDiesel Laramie 4x4 Crew Cab 6.4 bed - completely stock - I am in SoCal. It has 37k miles on it and I bought it new in Dec 2015. It's been an awesome truck. The only mods are front/rear cameras, AmpResearch running boards and a hard tonneau cover (painted to match - Flame Red). I never tow anything with it and never carry anything heavy in the bed to overload it.
I have had every single recall done - including all the Diesel lawsuit recalls - no issues - truck still runs great. I use HotShot Diesel Extreme Additive every other tank. I change the oil every 5k miles (Pennzoil Euro) and the Fuel Filter at the same time. At least that's what I was doing until Covid hit and I lost track of the maintenance.
On June 12, 2022 we were did a 160 mile round trip day run. On the way to our destination, the truck ran great - we ran at 80+ MPH without any issues. On the way back, after being stopped for about 6 hours, the CEL came on - and I remembered all the posts I have read here over the years and thought "Oh Crap - is my engine about to blow?"
There was no loss of power - no anything. So I kept driving another 60 miles to get home. No issues.
When I got home I put my code reader on it and it showed P026C. I looked it up and it said something about "fuel injection quantity lower than expected". What the heck is that?? Back to the forum and searching the internet only to find a ton of stories about fuel pumps, fuel rails, bad injectors, stuff not covered under warranty and weeks at the dealer to diagnose and fix - only to have the code come up again.
Man - I'm going to have to sell my baby. This could be the start of a nightmare, I thought.
I somehow thought that there might be an issue with my fuel filter - because I missed changing it on the last oil change - that put it at about 10k miles. I figured I would change it and went and bought a WIX fuel filter and WIX air filter as well just for good measure.
I had previously bought the Geno's garage fuel filter wrench and drain kit. It took me about half an hour to change the fuel filter and air filter. (If you don't have this wrench and drain kit I highly suggest getting both - I did not spill one drop of diesel fuel anywhere - just make sure you have a half gallon container to drain the fuel into from the fuel filter housing when you remove the plug and something on the floor in case you do spill).
Once that was done, I re-pressurized the fuel system and started it. No problem. I cleared the P026C code and let the truck run for 5 min - it did not come back on. The next day I drove it 30 miles on the freeway at varying speeds - no code. A few days later I did the 160 mile round trip again - no code. I ran it past 90MPH, floored it several times to suck more fuel and nothing - no code. It appears to be cured. Whew what a relief!
What caused it? I believe that the fuel filter was so dirty that when I was on the original trip when the code came on - it happened as I was running from 70MPH to 80MPH passing someone and the truck got starved for fuel because the fuel filter was so dirty. I never believed it was my injectors because I have always used Hot Shot - they have to be clean and I never lost power when the code came on.
So - I think I dodged a bullet and wanted to share in case this helps anyone else out there. Change your fuel filter first if you ever get this code! Now I think I'm going to keep my baby since it was something minor (and my own fault)!
