[RansomT]

With gassers I can explain what I have seen on replacing fuel pumps, do it all the time with older motorcycles. I believe it's the ethanol added to gas that causes the issue when the vehicle isn't ran on a consistent basis. Ethanol will seperate from the gas and collect mositure when the vehicle isn't started for awhile. The water soaked ethanol will sink to the bottom and you know what else is at the bottom of the tank, the fuel pump.

Oddly enough, this doesn't happen with E85 or ethanol based race fuels. Seems there is more than enough ethanol to absorb the mositure and keep it suspended away from the fuel pump. We should have never added ethanol to gasoline.

 

[TractorMan]

Ok guys, I took the truck in to the next dealer this week. Had a new pump installed in just one day. Much better than waiting weeks on the other dealer. Unfortunately as i think I mentioned earlier, the OEM pump was on back order. The site i had found online claimed to have one, until 2 days after i ordered it. They finally emailed me and said it was on back order and cancled my order and refunded me. With they had an accurate inventory online. SO i ended up going with a Bosch aftermarket one. hopefully it will work out for me.

I got the truck Wed, immdediatly noticed it the long extended cranking before start seems to be gone. I did let it get below 1/4 tanks as a test to see if the problem resurfaced. it did not. figured one time would not hurt anything. Fuel economy has also gone back to what has been normal for me. So I think i am good on that issue now. Thanks for your help guys.

Now if i can ever figure out my other issue that has lingered for the last couple years with minimal impact. I was hoping it was related but guess not. I have mentioned it in other posts here but never really come to a solution. When my truck is "cold" say coolant temp under 70 Degrees. Durring first start up it runs really rough and shakes aggressively until aprox 70 is reached then it smooths out. Seems to help if plugged in of course but that is not always an option. Once warm it runs fine.

Also not sure if it is related. I dont get in this situation often, but if i am going up a really long extened grade with enough of an incline that you can hear the turbo wind up (I have GDE Tune 2.0 so you can actually hear the turbo), During the long incline you can hear the truck almost spit and sputter almost like the turbo is cutting out or the fuel is cutting out. If never has died doing this. I never think to have my camera ready ahead of it happening and tend to forget about it as it happens so few and inbetween. often the same areas every time. i just dont go to them often enough. Dealer replaced manifolds 2 years ago thinking the swirl valves were gummed up but that didn't help. Honestly figured the cause would reveal itself by now, but not yet. Any ideas? and perhaps the rough starts and sputtering on long hills these are 2 unrelated totally separate issues. It wont do it on average hills or acceleration. and truck could be well warmed up and 2 hrs into a trip at this point when the sputtering happens. Otherwise it typically runs fine.

 

[chaloupechatte]

Hey guys, figured I would share my latest misadventure with you so at the very least maybe we can all get a kick out of it. Yesterday I was driving my 2016 Ram Ecodiesel down the Interstate. I just passed a semi in a light snowstorm, when suddenly I hear a ding and the check engine light comes on. hmm, couple seconds later get another ding and bright red symbol saying something like "service electronic fuel throttle". hmm, I quickly realise the engine is no longer running, my speed is dropping and the transmission can be felt shift gears down slowing me. All I see is a big "Freightliner" emblem getting really big in my rear view mirror. Perfect timing. So I quickly turn on my hazards and get onto shoulder avoiding the bird being thrown at me and air horn blaring. "sorry buddy, not intentional". So I quickly decide to see if it will restart and allow me to limp to the next exit about a mile down the road. Crank, crank, crank..... nothing. Hmm, I decide to grab my OBD Link and see what we got. All fuel system related codes. (See attached pic for codes). Hmm, you know i wonder, there is that CP4 recall I still have not heard anything about that is not good. Tow truck comes and takes me to the dealer, thankfully i was still local and not on one of my typical long distance trips. In route I called and warned the dealer, giving her the codes and my fears of the CP4 recall, she said they would watch for it and see what they find. Upon getting there, she says yep, there is a recall for that on your truck. So good news is if it is that you should be covered, bad news is parts were supposed to be ready first quarter this year, but current estimates are now 3rd quarter this year. Oh wonderful. They wont be able to look at the truck till thursday of next week so we shall see what we find. I will update you when I learn more. Ofcourse I work out of my truck often several hours or more away nearly every day. I need my truck to make a living. 3rd qtr is really not an option. And ofcourse since i bought the truck at another dealership becouse their salesman wasnt able to find me the truck i wanted for 2 years and i gave up waiting on him, they wont give me a loaner. only to the customers that got it from them. even though all my service on each of my vehicles is done there. nice policy. Dad recently totalled his spare truck so i cant use that. Fortunately father in law is letting me use his new tacoma. but I think i have already put more miles on it than he has. I cant keep doing that until 3rd qtr. Not to mention, I am a bigger guy, I look like I am climbing into a clown car getting in and out of that thing. lol. Now honestly i have not had all that much for issue given the amount of driving I do. so, i cannot complain about that. I will be patient for now and see what we find perhaps i will get luck and not take as long as feared. So what are your thoughts guys? you thinking the same thing, CP4? Little back ground truck has around 157,000 miles and the original engine was replaced around 53,000 due to a failed main seal dumping the oil out at once. Or so i learned after buying it. lucky me. I do most of my own preventive maintenance. I change fuel filters every other oil change so that would be roughly 14,000 miles. i do oil at 7,000 -10,000 miles. OEM Fuel Filters every time. I also religiously use a fuel additive for lubricity and other benefits since i owned it. last 2 tanks i let get down to 1/4 & 1/8 tank due to availabilty of local fuel stations at the time. upon restarting the truck the engine cranked and cranked for a long time before firing. making me swallow my stomach. but all other starts in between and since. it fired right up. never done that before. at first i feared bad fuel, but as i said ran fine and started fine every other time and this was 2 different stations 100+ miles appart. Coincidental or not truck is at 1/3 tank now sitting at the dealer lot. I forgot to mention tow truck driver said it did start for him when he was unloading it at the store. go figure. Sorry i am long winded, but wanted to get it all down. I will update you guys as i learn more.
View attachment 93732

Under the driver's seat, attached to frame, big white plug... Needs to be plugged back in... At home, put electrical grease plug back in.. Surround with secure material...

 

[TractorMan]

Yeah I know what plug you are talking about. I have squeezed that more together tighter before. I have seen it before when crawling under the truck. Is that ok to pull apart without disconnecting the battery? I have been meaning to pull it apart and make sure it is clean and put some dielectric grease on it. I get the feeling it was not put together well when my engine was replaced back in the day. They missed a lot when doing that.

 

[97hmcs]

Yeah I know what plug you are talking about. I have squeezed that more together tighter before. I have seen it before when crawling under the truck. Is that ok to pull apart without disconnecting the battery? I have been meaning to pull it apart and make sure it is clean and put some dielectric grease on it. I get the feeling it was not put together well when my engine was replaced back in the day. They missed a lot when doing that.

It's ok to pull apart without disconnecting the battery

 

[hinkle]

Did you ever get any progress on your truck Hinkle? Has it been diagnosed yet?

The tow truck took my truck on 2/17/23. The technician had an emergency and had to leave which delayed them diagnosing it a few days. The dealer still has my truck and they said they have found nothing wrong. I asked about the CELs and they mentioned one of them but said there was no longer an active CEL. I'm assuming that it cleared from the battery dying.
They did the same thing to me as you and tried to blame it on fuel, so far.

 

[TractorMan]

Yeah in my case I settled on it being the in tank lift pump. So I had it replaced couple weeks ago now. So far it seems to have corrected it. No more loud pump, no extended cranking, no stalling. I still have a rough idle when cold until engine warms up but that has gone on for a long time and seems to be unrelated.
Good luck with your issue. It will probably resurface. If it does die, in. My case I learned if I waited a while and tried restarting it would. And keep the tank above 1/4 if yours is the same issue

 

[Nate0341]

TractorMan, still rolling good a week later? I just experienced a similar incident this morning. Pulled the code while I was waiting for the tow truck and my reader stated "P016F". Bunch of lights flashed while I was accelerating and then it just up and died. Would crank and not start, tank is full (I have only ran the truck below 1/4 tank 4-5 times in the year I have had the truck). Once the tow truck showed up and gouged me for a $200 two mile trip I was able to pop the hood and poke around. I noticed that when I turn the key to "Run" to prime the system I here what sounds like someone blowing bubbles from where my fuel tank is. It is not super loud but it is definitely not the high pitched whine I'm used to hearing (I always assumed that was the noise of the pump in the tank). I will see if I can upload a 10-15 second clip of the recording for your listening pleasure.

Side note: This last Friday I went stage II with the tune and exhaust from EOC fellas from up north. I drove (following their directions of break-in) the heck out of my EcoDiesel and the difference is very noticeable. Before I got the truck home I was worried there was a link between the upgrade and the engine dying on the road. Once home and hearing popping and bubbling noises from under the rear of the truck I'm no longer thinking the stage II is responsible. Thoughts or comments welcome.

 

[sam]

TractorMan, still rolling good a week later? I just experienced a similar incident this morning. Pulled the code while I was waiting for the tow truck and my reader stated "P016F". Bunch of lights flashed while I was accelerating and then it just up and died. Would crank and not start, tank is full (I have only ran the truck below 1/4 tank 4-5 times in the year I have had the truck). Once the tow truck showed up and gouged me for a $200 two mile trip I was able to pop the hood and poke around. I noticed that when I turn the key to "Run" to prime the system I here what sounds like someone blowing bubbles from where my fuel tank is. It is not super loud but it is definitely not the high pitched whine I'm used to hearing (I always assumed that was the noise of the pump in the tank). I will see if I can upload a 10-15 second clip of the recording for your listening pleasure.

Side note: This last Friday I went stage II with the tune and exhaust from EOC fellas from up north. I drove (following their directions of break-in) the heck out of my EcoDiesel and the difference is very noticeable. Before I got the truck home I was worried there was a link between the upgrade and the engine dying on the road. Once home and hearing popping and bubbling noises from under the rear of the truck I'm no longer thinking the stage II is responsible. Thoughts or comments welcome.

@Nate0341

Code P016F is the code that showed up for me when my lift pump died. Replaced the pump and all was good.

Sam


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nate0341]

This is a short video of the sounds coming from the "fuel tank area" under the truck. The link is to YouTube, hopefully this works.

Ram EcoDiesel Fuel tank

Does anyone know how many "pumps" are in the fuel tank? I would assume it's just one but I have yet to purchase an in-depth teardown manual for the truck. Any advise is appreciated.

 

[biodiesel]

This is a short video of the sounds coming from the "fuel tank area" under the truck.

There's only one lift pump in the tank. That pump doesn't sound good. Maybe @Brokedownbutgood can give his feedback.

 

[Brokedownbutgood]

This is a short video of the sounds coming from the "fuel tank area" under the truck. The link is to YouTube, hopefully this works.

Ram EcoDiesel Fuel tank

Does anyone know how many "pumps" are in the fuel tank? I would assume it's just one but I have yet to purchase an in-depth teardown manual for the truck. Any advise is appreciated.

Definitely sounds like a failed fuel pump but very well could be a wiring issue. Before replacing the pump go through all the wiring and verify.

 

[Nate0341]

Would I be looking for something other than obvious frayed, broken (or badly bent) wiring? Just curious as to what I might find. I’ll check all the connection points leading away from the tank. This “problem” sort of came out of no where. I’ve put 10K on the truck in the last 9 months I’ve owned it, have not had even a hiccup of trouble from it. Anyone know of any links here for dropping a tank?

 

[biodiesel]

@Nate0341, what is the mileage on your truck?

 

[Nate0341]

I bought her @ 118k back in July of 22. I’m now at a rough 128k. As stated earlier, I have had zero issues to date. No idea of the service history other than the weak updates of Carfax etc. I changed the oil, air and fuel filters back at 126K. I was (still am I guess) planning on changing front an rear diff fluid, (to include transfer case?) coolant, and transmission fluid.
I had a plan to change out everything I could on the “preventative maintenance schedule “ as I was military for 21 years with the last 8 in the maintenance field.

 

[biodiesel]

I’m now at a rough 128k.

I've loosely been keeping track of lift pump failures. This is just a handful that I've documented. I've documented 3 forum members who lost their lift pumps under 100,0000 miles. It seems that most lift pump failures occur closer to the 150,000 mile mark, but as you can see, there are some that have failed at your mileage, too.

We don't know exactly why some owners/operators can go 300,000 miles without a failure and others have early failures. It's been speculated that running the fuel below the 1/4 tank mark is harder on the lift pump, especially in the hot summer months. The fuel from the return line is extremely hot, dumps over the lift pump canister, and raises the fuel temperature to the point where the pump gets too hot.

Since you bought the truck used, you most likely don't know how full the previous owner kept the tank.

I just replaced the lift pump on my 2015 at 85k miles.

At 136k miles today my lift pump failed about 90 miles away from home, while working.

If our trucks have over 125,000 miles, we all should have a lift pump ready on the shelf. Mine went at 155,000

my lift pump failed at 176k miles. I replaced it with a junkyard unit that I got for $65 and came with a lifetime warranty (LOL). I'm at 224k at the moment.

Lost my pump at 180000 miles. I knew my lift pump was going as it was getting really loud. Stalled in a parking lot, I managed to get it to restart and got it parked. Truck stalled again. Pulled the codes and had P016f code. Got out of the truck and could not hear the lift pump.