Re: Fuel pump, or Splice of Death?

From: Jason Bleazard (dml@bleazard.net)
Date: Fri Apr 27 2007 - 06:43:22 EDT


In article <f0pe86$1pp$1@bent.twistedbits.net>, jon@dakota-truck.net writes:
>
> I would tend to think it
> may not be the splice just because of the degrading symptoms that seem
> to indicate a lack of fuel combined with a lack of failure of other
> components such as the PCM.

I'm sure you're right. From what I can see in the archives, dead fuel
pumps are fairly common. I've just been waiting for this splice to go
bad for so long that it was the first thing I thought of. I need to
re-solder that thing before it has a chance to get me.

> I know the '95 has a returnless fuel system,
> but I don't recall when Dodge eliminated the in-line fuel filter. I
> have a feeling you don't have one, but if you do, check it out to make
> sure its not plugged.

The FSM says the in-line filter was eliminated for '95. I haven't
double checked to be absolutely sure, but I've never noticed anything
that looked like a fuel filter under there.

> While you are fiddling with
> the relays, you probably have a relay which is identical to the fuel
> pump relay in the PDC powering something else - swap them to eliminate
> the relay itself as a suspect.

I already swapped it with the A/C relay. No good. Why I have an A/C
relay on a truck with no A/C is beyond me. I guess it's possible that
they're both bad and I just never knew that I had a bad A/C relay. I
could try swapping it with the starter relay, I know that one's good.

And speaking of the starter, I've gotta say, I'm pretty impressed with
this Energizer brand battery I got at Wal-Mart two years ago. I don't
know if it was actually made by Energizer or if they just put their
sticker on it, but considering it was the cheapest battery I could find,
it's holding up amazingly well to all the cranking and cranking and
cranking I've been doing in hopes that one of my various experiments
might have helped. It seems that the pink bunny with the sunglasses is
on to something.

> See if you can hear the hum of the
> pump when you turn the key on.

Nope. Of course, I was listening for it yesterday morning on the 2001
for comparison purposes, and couldn't hear it there either for some
reason. I do remember it being pretty loud on the '95, but I don't hear
anything now. Maybe the plastic skid plate muffles the sound or something.

> You might end up
> having to move the bed after all if you want to check out the
> situation there. (Especially with a full tank of gas thrown into the
> equation.)

Yeah, for once I'm wishing that they hadn't put that anti-siphon valve
in there. It'd be nice to be able to drain some of that out first.

> BTW, I know you were planning to head down here in a little bit to
> do some tune-up work, I'd be glad to help you chase this down or
> replace the pump, etc. but of course the catch is its a bit hard to
> drive down without a working fuel system. :-) If you were to rent a
> dolly, Norah's dak could easily handle towing the '95, and if the
> problem turned out to be something more, you would have the option of
> leaving it here temporarily since you'd still have a ride home.

Thanks, that's an option I'm considering. Especially after checking a
few prices. AutoZone has the pump assembly for $200. So far, the
cheapest I've been able to find locally is $360 Cdn (which converts to
about $310 US). I can rent a trailer for the day for $50, and with the
difference in MPG it's reasonably even from a cost standpoint. Having
the lift to help out would certainly be nice.

> The
> other option would be to load it in my trailer behind the 3500, but I
> am relatively certain that a U-haul dolly would be cheaper than the
> cost of diesel to pull the trailer up to Toronto and back,

It's only 120 miles more than what I would have to drive anyway.

> and of
> course that option does not leave you with a spare vehicle to get back
> home in case the '95 has to stay under the knife a bit longer.

Just call it "motivation to finish the job" :-). Actually, that's a
good point. Plus having you drive up just to turn around and head back
before we even get started would take up a couple of extra hours.
Towing it behind our truck might work out better. Of course, U-Haul's
web site doesn't think a Dakota is up to the task of towing another
Dakota (don't tell Mike). Oh, did I say I was towing a '95 Dakota? I
meant to say "Neon". That's better :-).

> (Hmmm, if I didn't know better, I might have suspected that
> your Dak was reading over your shoulder during the "Beater Economics"
> thread!) ;-)

LOL... I guess it's still mad at me. Think I should buy it a nice
bouquet of floral scented air fresheners?

-- 
Jason Bleazard  http://drazaelb.blogspot.com  Burlington, Ontario
his:  '95 Dakota Sport 4x4, 3.9 V6, 5spd, Reg. Cab, white
hers: '01 Dakota Sport 4x4, 4.7 V8, Auto, Quad Cab, black



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