Ok so my boss has an 05 power wagon with a 5.7. It has a really hard time starting. It cranks for ever before it fires and when it does start you can smell the fuel. It almost like it loading the cylinders with gas but not igniting. He has replaced a bunc of parts and still has this issue the dodge garage couldn't figure out what was wrong. Does any one or has anyone ever had this issue or possibly know what could be causing it.
List of parts replaced:
Throttle body
Fuel pump
Plugs and wires
I know there is more but I can't remember

 

By "Dodge Garage" are you talking about a dealership?

Odds that a dealer who has the truck in front of them can't figure out a problem but you get an answer over the interweb is pretty remote.

But it sounds like a classic case of an injector leak. Its flooding the cylinder - hence the smell. I bet cranking with the throttle floored will start it after it burns off the flood. Putting a gauge on it and checking fuel pressure will tell you but I can't believe they started replacing parts without reading a pressure gauge. That's like ASE mechanic school 1st week sh*t. I'm betting when they try to crank it, pressure increases then starts fluctuating. Key off and it drops to nothing within 20 seconds - classic injector leak. From there all they gotta do is pull the rail to find the leaky culprit. But if they don't know that, it's time to find another Dodge Garage.

Actually, I can see them being baffled. A leaking injector won't generate a Check Engine Light and these so called mechanics today are lost if they can't plug in a computer and have it tell them what's wrong.

Only other thing it could be (assuming good fuel pump and proper spark) would be a bad fuel regulator but I'm betting injector with that gas smell you describe...

 

Yes I see what your saying but from the smell I was thinking possible spark. Could there be a problem with Ecu? But that would probably throw check engine light. He did say some codes show so check engine light must be on. I'll double check tomorrow to see do you by chance know what the pressure should read? And I'm assuming your talking about checking pressure at the rail?

 

Codes are
Evap purge flow fault
Cylinder 5 misfire

 

Well its drawing a map for you right there. I'm not buying a certified mechanic can't fix this.

It's got a bad purge valve or a leak in the evap system. Probably the lines at the canister have a crack or bad clamp.

There is a problem with cylinder 5. My guess is that's your leaking injector but can also be bad plug, cap or even a tear in the head gasket at that cylinder.

Any shop should be able to trace the evap system for a leak and find the issue with cylinder 5.

You sure this truck has been to a "Dodge Garage" or are you and your boss dicking around with this truck in his driveway?

 

I asked him if has been to the dodge dealer locally he said yes and they couldn't figure out what the issue was. I have yet to touch the truck.

 

Time to take it to another shop. These aren't difficult fixes given the codes, the symptoms and having the truck in front of you...