My 2002 Dodge Ram recently developed a long crank problem on cold starts. After sitting around an hour or more, the start takes 3 to 5 seconds. Upon start, there is a fuel smell. It's still under extended warranty so I took it to the dealership, they replaced the fuel pump. The problem persisted and long story short, it's now been in the shop three times for a total of about two and a half weeks! The second and third visits I was told there was a wiring problem. The long crank was present before I even got home!

Any ideas? The dealership has now resorted to not returning my phone calls. Any help appreciated.

 

Try a different Dealer.

 

Ditto.

Try a different dealer.

If you smelled fuel from a 3-5 second crank, You most DEFINTELY didn't have a fuel pump problem.
You probably have something wrong with either timing or spark.... Worst case, a compression issue.

Has it been throwing any codes?

Another possibility, now that I think of it, is a weak battery... Have enough juice to crank but barely enough for ignition.... might be time for a new Batt, which would also necessitate in-depth examination of the health of your alternator.... (I've had this problem previously in a few cars, and on several boats..)

 

Could also be a cam and/or crank sensor being slightly off. Off enough to extend the crank, but not off enough to set a code.

 

The battery is fine, we've had it tested. The dealership stated that reading the codes was difficult because they only have that 5 second window. It was explained to me that once the engine starts, all systems are normal and no code can be detected. Is that right? I asked the service advisor if they'd checked for leaking injectors, fuel pressure and a few other things I've learned from my research and I was assured they had. However, I'm not sure they have manually checked these things or just relied on the computer.

The truck went back on Monday, it's now Thursday and I haven't heard a word from them. But at least they got me a rental car this time. I will ask about the suggestions offered.

Changing dealerships is difficult. There's another one in the city where I live but popular opinion is that they focus on Chrysler cars, not trucks. There are a couple of other dealerships in surrounding towns and I may have to give one of them a shot.

Thanks for any past and future suggestions.

 

SOME dealers will try to milk a warranty. You can bet your last dollar they got paid from Dodge for that fuel pump even though it ended up being a wasted repair.

 

I have one here with an extended crank, intermittent, usually after it sits for 30 minutes. Wanted to know if anyone ever figured this out?