Hello all, I'm brand new here with a problem.
I have searched this forum and the internet for two days now with out any luck.
My wife's 2004 durango 5.7 Hemi will turn the engine over with no problem but will not start.This happened one time last week,but I went outside and fiddled around with the fuel pump relay and fuse and it fired up.
Now a few days later the truck fired up every time no prob,until Sunday morning.Went out to leave and it just spins the motor over no sign of starting.
So I like to work on my own stuff and I immediately think fuel pump since it cant be heard when turning the key forward. After taking the fuel tank out and have the fuel pump in my hand I decided to test it on the bench with 12v,and it runs with no issue. Since it was apart I installed a new on anyway and still the same outcome no start.
After that it went on a obd2 scanner with no codes showing,then tried a new battery with still no luck.
So i am here begging for advice,has anyone had issues like this? I have also checked the voltage at the fuel pump wires in the back and they read 11.82v when the key was first turned on,oh yeah it also has a new connector/plug to the fuel pump too.
Any advice would be great,didnt mean to ramble on.

 

DT04:
You made the correct move by replacing the pump since you were that far in.
How many miles are on the D?

For the engine to run, you need spark, fuel, and compression. Do you hear the new pump coming on for few seconds when you first turn the key to on without going to start?

Does the tach need bounce at all when the engine turns over as you try to start it?

If there is no tach movement, think cam or crank sensor.
If either of those is on the fritz, you get no spark and thus no vroom vroom.

Have the spark plugs ever been changed? The factory spec is 30K which is a bit on the overkill side. If they are OEM, they may not have any electrodes left to make a spark.

Don

 

Thanks for the reply Don,thats just the thing,the pump doesnt give that little buzz when you first turn the key over.
And the truck has 113,000 miles on it,not sure about the plugs since we have only owned this for a few months.
I just came in from working on it and took the crank position sensor out to replace it,had to order one so I'll be able to pick it up tomorrow.

 

Well,the ol' Durangatang is back in action!!
I put the crank position sensor in tonight,but it didnt fire right up. It took a while for the pump to prime the fuel system back up,I dont really know if this was right but my wife would crank it over for a few seconds and the engine would kinda hit a little and just give up. I was standing outside the engine bay with the intake tube off so i could get to the check valve on the fuel rail. After she would crank a little I'd hit the relief valve and air would hiss out. So eventually after doing this for a while it finally fired up! I let it sit and idle while I put the intake tube back on, and the engine sit and purred while it came up to operating temp.

After it was nice and warm I took it out a flogged the living P*@s out of it! So all in all it is running like normal again.

 

DT04:

That is great news! With 113K on the clock, now you can spend some time doing things like trans fluid/filter, transfer case, axles, and coolant system service.

If those plugs are original, they are about 70K overdue for a replacement.

Don

 

I know Don, after getting it running this past week I feel like I have been neglecting it a little. But my wife drives the wheels off this thing,its hard to find it parked for very long .
I will definatly give it a tune up I noticed it has a slight rough idle.

 

Did it threw any codes??

 

Nope,no codes.Thats what really threw me off. I guess if the crank sensor isnt sending a signal the pcm doesnt even think the engine is turning over.Just an un-educated guess though.

 

Well......sad to say it did it again!
Same thing,same symptoms,blah,blah,blah. But this time when the wifey came in and told me the car wont start,I went directly to the fuel pump relay. It still clicks the relay on,but no start.......so I smacked the top of the relay with the heel of my hand pretty hard,and it started!
So this is telling me there must be some connection issue in the fuse box under the relay plug????? Not sure yet though because I havent had time to take the fuse box apart and investigate,and I'm a little scared too,but dont tell my Wife!

I'll post more when i find out

 

DT04:

Sorry to hear of the setback.
Be careful poking around that power center with the battery connected.

There can be issues with the PDC as well as the fuel pump harness ground connection.

Don