my 03 has had a hard starting problem for about a month now I first though I had a bad load of fuel but after changeing 4 filters in 4 tanks of fuel,I decided that I had a bigger problem. I took it to my dealer last week and after 16 hours of testing they told methat my fuel connection were not properly torqued. after driveing it for a short time I realised that it still had the same problem,I taoked to the dealer again they told me that they had no idea of what to do but would ask engineering again for new ideas. I went to a local diesel shop and asked them for help, they told me they didnot work on pickups but knew of problems with senors that would not allow it to start. they told me to take it to a another dealer where it is now they called and told me that after 8hrs they had no idea of what is wrong, they are also working with dodge engineering. the last I knew is that they were testing the fuel system as the first dealer did . any ideas out there??

 

I recived a call from the dealer today saying that a fuel line relief valve is bad and needs to be replaced. I asked that the deductable be waved as I already payed it to the first dealer and the truck was not reparied. I had to look to other means of finding the problem and went to diesel shops in the local to seek help. They told that they would help only, the truck was under warranty and they did not want to void that . so beware if your truck is still under warranty make sure that you get the correct information from dodge as the don't back up there warranty as you might think.

 

up date

Picked up my truck today, dealer #2 told me that they replaced the relife valve on the injector pump and that they felt that it helped a little. I started the truck three times after picking it up and feel that there is no change. The dealer also told me that an engeneer for dodge wantyed to look at the truck and they would let me know when he would be at the dealer ship to do so. I agreed to bring the truck in for him to look at. This dealer told that he has about 12 hours in on the truck, I left the truck off on tuesday of last week and have been with out it for seven days this time plus the six days the first dealer had it and he claimed he had 16 hour work in on it. If anybody has had a similar out there I would like to hear from you.

 

#1 check your oil, you may have a leaking injector.
#2 lift pump may be weak
#3 CP3 FCA may be clogged
#4 cam sensor could be bad

 

Have you considered that the check valve in the fuel pump may be bad, allowing fuel to drain back to the tank from the engine when it is not running?? This would take longer for the engine to fire off when starting. Did the dealer do a fuel pressure test?


Check out this piece of information on hard starting:

autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl795e.htm

Side note: (Per other Drew's reply of possibilities) I had a bad camshaft position sensor that took the dealership a few tries to diagnose. They had to hook up a diagnostic tool, and drive it, and found what was bad that way.

The symptom that I had with the CPS was not hard starting, but I would drive at highway speed and then let off the gas to adjust for traffic or something, and my engine would then backfire, miss, and generally feel like it was about to come out of the truck!! Then it would quickly lose power, not accelerate, and continue to die while I was still rolling down the road. I would have to pull over to the side of the highway and wait for about 20-30 minutes and then try it again. Sometimes things would be back to normal, and sometimes it would run really rough for a few miles. This usually happened in colder weather.

Runs good now.

Hope this helps.

 

I have been told that there were sensors on the crankshaft that need to prove that the engine is turning I was unaware of sensors on the camshaft. Boath dealers have done pressure checks and I would have to think a leak in an injector would have showen up. I thank you for the insight and will talk to the dealer about what has been suggested.

 

update I recived a call from the dealer today asking my permission to remove the fuel tank to check for dirt in the tank. they told me that if they found dirt in the tank that I would have to pay for the removal and replacement. They also told me that they were replacing the injectors at this time,I would have to think if the problem is,or was dirt that the injector pump would be damaged also

 

That's fair, But I'd recomend that you BE THERE when they remove the tank so that you can see for yourself what you may or may not be paying for. You don't want to get the ole "dirt in the tank" line.

 

Update I got my truck back last friday, there was no foreign material in the fuel tank and the dealer replaced all six injectors. the truck starts the way it should which is why I waited till this week to make sure that all was working well. Looking back on this experince it took dodge over a month to diagnose the problem and repeir it. It loks to me as though there star progam is cumbersome at best and led to an great expence to me although dodge picked up the bill on there work and parts I was with out a truck and had to make arrangements to make up for the loss of my truck. I also feel that the dodge dealer shipe do not have expert tec's to work on deisel engines so be for warned if you have to take your truck to the dealer for repair.

 

it's pretty amazing what some dealerships call "experts" or "tech's" Ive schooled a few in the past