(2003 4.7L Durango SXT, 4WD.....new cam/crank sensors in the past year. Cleaned throttle body. Runs great when it runs....)

Merry Christams folks. Was out doing Christmas shopping yesterday, stopped right in front of an Office Max to drop off a package....get back in the Durango and it cranks but will not fire up.

The fuel gage shows empty, but I know there was at least 1/4 tank (or so) of fuel. It is stuck there and I guess I will have it towed home. (Last night I poured more gas into it, the level read 1/2 tank...when the gage was working that is. Mostly the needle is on the extreem empty side all of the sudden.

The P0463 Fuel Level Volts HI error came up a few times. I read it with an diagnostic tool. Otherwise there are no faults.

I did get it to start twice, but it ran for about 15 seconds and died.....then the gage showed empty....It was mostly reading empty, but would briefly show a fuel level....then back to empty. I went this morning and after the inital start-up...now the level just sits on "E".

I tried disconnecting the negative battery cable a few times to reset the PCM, but still won't start.

I was thinking maybe I flooded it last night...so I came back this morning, it fired right up....but died after 15 seconds.

This exact problem happened before to me, in fact the fuel level was about the same (1/4 tank) when the symptom arose....the last time I poured fuel in the tank and it ran....for about 6 months until yesterday.

Has anybody had this happen? I did some searching but didn't find anything exactly like this.....any ideas what might be wrong?

Thanks everyone!

 

Oh, I also have the TCCM removed....but the truck ran fine during my errands for about 2 hours before it finally died....not sure if the TCCM could have something to do....I would think it would have died in my driveway if the TCCM was the problem.

Thanks for any help you guys can give me.

 

I think you are losing power to the Fuel Pump. Perhaps the fuel pump connector is loose, damaged, or have water intrusion, hence you lost Fuel level signal AND Fuel.
Reason it ran for 15 second is probably because the Fuel pump has a weak flow rate due to lack of power.
Or maybe your Fuel pump unit is bad. Try spray brake clean or starting fluid into the throttle body while someone else cranking it motor, stay at 1/4 throttle. See if it keeps the engine running. If it does, your problem is Fuel.

 

Thanks for the reply Steak59.

Since it's in a parking lot a few miles from home and we got 6 inches of snow on the ground I don't think I am going to do to much trouble shooting there, like dropping the tank or something.......

Do you think it would be worth replacing the fuel pump relay? Could that save me a tow?

Do I need to drop the fuel tank to get access to check out the connector you mentioned?

 

Update:

I went back to the truck this morning, finally. I stopped at the place that installed my remote starter to see if they could identify the mystery solenoid....

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...-identify.html

Those guys said that since i have a black key I don't have the SKIM module...so they didn't know what that solenoid was.

I also called a guy I race with who is also a service manager at a dealership and he had no idea what this was either.

Why do I keep calling it a solenoid......well, when I got back to the truck I moved the mystery module/solenoid/connnector thing up closer to the ignition where the key goes....turned it over and it started....and ran. I noticed that when I turned the key forward a black cylinder popped out of the middle of the mystery part.

I was pushing it in and out and the truck continued running.

I tucked the solenoid up into the wires and I drove it home!! GREAT SUCCESS!!! (Borat voice)

I got to my garage, the solenoid fell down so it was hangning.....CRANK NO START AGAIN....and even when I moved it back to where the key goes in it still wouldn't start. I tried to restard right away....not the truck is sitting. This issue happend a while ago....and after some time passed the truck restarted......

I don't know if there is some timer that won't let the truck restart if it senses an issue.....

 

I tool loaned a fuel pressure tester. Keyed on and fuel pressure read 46psi immediately.....during cranking the fuel pressure rose to about 50psi and stayed there.

I didn't note any significant leakdown of the fuel pressure, although after the truck had been sitting for a week and a half when I hooked up the gage it read 0psi.

The fuel gage worked properly today, reading over half a tank.

I pulled off the intake and turned it over and it just cranks but won't fire.

I pulled out the number 2 spark plug, turned it over and I can't see any sparking. I put it on the driver side valve cover and did not observe any sparking. The plugs have about 12k miles on them. I picked up a brank new plug, pulled number to coil off and couldn't get a spark during cranking. I pulled off #6 and also had no spark. So I feel confident in saying there is no spark.

The spark plug was dry as well....not sure if that is significan't or not....I haven't done this type of diagnosis many times before so I don't have a basis of reference.

Should the plug be wet?

I did notice that the first time the truck turned over with the plug out a big puff of mist shot out the plug hole....but I didn't note this again when cranking. I guess this was fuel....

A friend told me one of their shops fix it web sites said that if you have an erratic guel gage reading to verify the PCM's grounds (one on inner right fender, the other on the passenger side lower block) are good. I did this and both are tight, and I wiggled the wires during cranking an didn't make a difference. The crimps look secure. Doesn't seem to be a problem there.....

Does anyone have any suggestions on where I should look from here? Should I throw a used PCM or two at it at this point? Check out the spark circuit ground? (or would they be the two PCM grounds I just checked....idk, will have to look at wiring diagram I guess....)

The truck hasn't started since I was luckily able to drive it home last week.

Suggestions?