I have questions about my dodge diesel and am looking for some thoughts to see if I am being taken advantage of.....
Anyone have a few minutes?

 

If anyone can help I am having some issues and over the phone a mechanic wants to schedule injector replacement/repair. Not sure. No one to ask....
2006 2500 mega cab short box - rough, droning idle when its has been sitting for several minutes. Drives smooth and strong. Idles nice for the first several minutes then gets rough. Poor mileage. Black exhaust. Always starts good. I did an oil change, fuel and air filters and appears no better. had 170k highway miles, never towed, and was taken excellent care of its entire life. previous owner used lubricant every fuel fill. Now at 200k miles and I have not used the lubricants. Over the phone the mechanic thinks I damaged the injectors. Does that sound like the right answer?

 

Welcome Aboard lizbethj78! Stay tuned - a Technician (or member) will jump in shortly to provide a possible solution. In the meantime, don't forget to browse Sub-Forums: Cummins Diesel for stuff related to your ride.

 

From previous experience I think injector cleaner is the way to go. I don't know if you have the time or how bad it runs but I would do some cleaner. I do not have a Diesel now but had two in the past and i thought they ran better with cleaner added.

 

It is so hard to diagnose new electronic diesels without being able to look at codes and actually be able to hear and see the engine react.

I would have to say though, the only thing that knowing what you are saying, and knowing what I know, if you dont have a chip installed, it doesnt really sound like injectors necessarily. And I wouldnt let a mechanic hit you for injector replacement without at least taking it to a different mechanic.

Try to find a Cummins dealership, see if they can take a look at it for you and read what your computer has to say and they should be able to help you and/or repair it. Granted they are a bit more expensive, but they have the proper equipment to properly diagnose, and usually make enough money in labor to not have to try and work you over.

I hope you get everything fixed without having to pay a lot of money getting ran around.

By the way: Modern diesels have pretty good filters, and diesel has a lot of detergents in it. So your injectors being "dirty" shouldnt be an issue. You would maybe have issues running the stuff.

 

Try posting in the Cummins area. You will probably get more responses from people who know this stuff.

 

I did take it to the Dodge dealership and they didnt hook it up to any machines, just listened and revved it up and said it was injectors.
So, that seems to be the diagnosis.... Unless I hear other advice...

I do have another question - I bought the pickup with a Bully Dog Triple Dog Power Pup chip and not so sure about it, partly because I have never used one. I did set it to the tow setting while pulling the trailer one time and I wasnt impressed. I have heard that I should set it to the performance setting while towing instead of the tow setting but I havent tried any more. I have read this is not a good product to use. Tried to do some reading but only found product info and not much feedback. What are thoughts on this? If I dont use it can I leave it on the 'stock' setting or do I have to have it actually removed? Or should I use it????

 

It does have 200k, I purchased it at 150k. The previous owner took excellent care of it and 90% of the miles were over the road, had never towed a thing. If he used the Bully Dog would that have caused any of the injector issues or is that more issue due to mileage? The system has been installed since the pickup was near new for fuel economy. I have heard the Bully Dog system can cause issues with the tranny. I did just have the tranny serviced to be on the safe side.

 

One other note re injectors if this helps: 1 read 94-94, 2 read 95-97, 3 read 101-104

Mechanic stated one is really bad, 2 getting bad and 3 are over compensating for the other 3

 

Have you put any diesel treatment in it yet????Overcompensating sounds strange didn't know injectors had the ability to learn unless the CPU is reading a mixture and trying to get more power to the engine.