I've been having this problem for about 20,000 miles. I'm thinking the fuel pump, if its on its way out, would have failed completely by now. How do you know the FP should be 54-56lbs?

 

I've done this before. Not to mention it's not my first day. [sm=icon_rtfm.gif]

I'm betting that your fuel filters inside the tank are clogged. There are 3 large ones that are attached. So I am sure that it is starving for fuel but it is getting enough barely and you are getting a bad spray pattern.

Replace the pump!

 

I would rtfm if I had one! All I have is the Haynes and it doesn't tell my anything... The problem is, I'm getting conflicting advice. You tell me 54-56psi at all times. Another guy on another website is telling me 49psi +/-5. I'm no injector expert but... if I were to reduce pressure from 54 to 49psi, I can't imagine that the spray pattern would change that much. Besides, if I'm fuel starved, wouldn't the O2 sensor tell my PCM to increase the pulse width? Could it be a problem with flow? I don't know what the flow rate is supposed to be (or do I know how to measure it). I tried the flow test by releaving the fuel in the gauge while I was at idle. The sound of the engine didn't change at all.

 

I have a mopar performance book that saysour fuel pressure is 49.2 psi for the injectors. If you find out it's the injectors/coil, I havea set of 22lbford racing injectors I just replaced for some MSD 24lb injectors and a extra accel coil.(coil requires a special harness from accel)

 

Well I consistanty read 49 psi while it's running... even at high rpms. Tonight I saw a strange thing, though. My wife had it out for a while. 3 or 4 hours later I hooked up the fuel pressure gauge. When it primed, it only primed to the mid 30's range. I didn't realize it was that low until I started it and it rose to 49. It did stumble a little at startup. I wonder if priming it again would have helped. I'm pretty sure that I've tried that in the past and it didn't seem to help.
Anyway, we're taking it to WV tomorrow. I'm going to measure FP in the morning and see what it looks like.. Wish us luck!

BTW, it is the original fuel pump.

 

Replace it!