Oliver Closehauf
Senior Member
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2020
- Posts
- 745
- Reaction score
- 499
- Location
- Cincinnati
- Ram Year
- 2005 Laramie
- Engine
- Cummins 5.9
I've gone off the deep end. What started as a fuel system refresh, has turned into everything forward of the firewall except for the block, the turbo, the AC (only 2 years old) and I'm still on the fence about the alternator. I'm justifying it this way, I can't afford 100 grand for a new truck, but I can replace all of the 20 year old parts with new parts that will last longer than I will, and I won't have to live with the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head, which is a real thing for me. My friend asked me to borrow my truck to go get a load of railroad ties and I told him no, because I was worried that something would go wrong while he had it. And it turns out, had I let him take it, my rotten fuel lines would have failed while he had it instead of me.
Fixing those lines was an education. Everywhere I looked, things were getting "old". My starter wasn't as crisp as it was 5 years ago. The engine wasn't firing immediately anymore. I started watching more and more youtube videos and realized I was suffering from a lot of age related issues, and so was my truck.
That got me thinking about the work involved in doing a fuel system refresh. It would be a lot easier to replace the fuel pump if say the radiator and shroud were out of the way, and it's been at least 5 years since the coolant has been replaced, sooo pulling the radiator wouldn't be that much extra work if it was empty already. And I do have this trans fluid drip that I think is coming from the trans cooler that is just a drip, but a drip is a leak, so WTF just take it all out. My hydroboost is "weepy" inside the cab, not leaking, but you can see fluid, and my pedal feel has always been stiff and I'm getting the shhhh shhhhh when I turn the wheel and I have to regularly top off the power steering reservoir, so something is leaking there. So, not only fuel, but now I'm replacing ALL power steering components. And I know what you are thinking, my trans fluid leak is probably the power steering. I think it's both.
Then I see the video on the trans fluid heat exchanger. Ok that has to be replaced. I'm not messing with a bypass. OEM got 3 owners this far, but if I'm replacing that heat exchanger(Mishimoto), I need to replace the rusty coolant pipe that's not too bad, but I don't ever want to work on this ever again so it's on the list along with a new water pump, thermostat, and serpentine belt tensioner kit.
And if I'm doing all of this work, why would I NOT replace the ball joints which I've wanted to do for a long time even though I don't feel like they are a problem as long as I keep the greased up. I'm going with EMF. But I heard about the left side knuckle issue and even though I have no reason to suspect my truck is affected by it, I went ahead and got a new unobtanium left knuckle when I saw that Torque King had them (one) in stock. And well, I'm not pulling axels without replacing 20 year old u-joints, that's just stupid. We'll see how the almost new rotors and hubs look when I pull things apart.
At this point I have about half of the parts sitting in my back hallway or in transit. All trans and steering lines will be new, along with trans and steering coolers. I'm still trying to get a new Denso starter. The place I ordered it from couldn't get it. I'll try again after Christmas. Worst comes to worst, I'll rebuild it myself. Everything else will be "new".
SO, if you've made it this far, this is an excruciating amount of work for a lazy POS like myself. I'm trying to put together a plan to make things as efficient as possible, but I also don't want to miss anything. At this point in the plan (none of the actual work starts until spring), all of the "accessory" components are removed, I've cleaned the engine compartment and replaced the hydroboost unit but not hooked any lines up yet. I'm ready to move to the fuel system (finally). The CP3, all associated lines, rail and injectors are being replaced. Rail and lines would be removed first. But what would you do next? Replace the CP3? Or replace the injectors, or remove the injectors, and if you removed the injectors, would you do anything while they were out? Like a compression test? I know NOTHING about diesel engines, but I can read and follow directions. If I should run a compression test while I'm at this point (and you can tell by now that anally, if I should, I will) I want to run the test. I have no indication that I have a problem with compression and I have zero blow by. The engine runs fantastic and gets great milage. This is all preventative. I have an endoscope and planned to take pictures of the pistons just for posterity. But the engine does have 275k miles on it. I'm replacing injectors. If there is something I should do while they are out before I remove the CP3 and before I remove the starter, I want to get it in the plan in the correct order.
I'm open to suggestions (maybe too open?) so let me know if you have any.
Fixing those lines was an education. Everywhere I looked, things were getting "old". My starter wasn't as crisp as it was 5 years ago. The engine wasn't firing immediately anymore. I started watching more and more youtube videos and realized I was suffering from a lot of age related issues, and so was my truck.
That got me thinking about the work involved in doing a fuel system refresh. It would be a lot easier to replace the fuel pump if say the radiator and shroud were out of the way, and it's been at least 5 years since the coolant has been replaced, sooo pulling the radiator wouldn't be that much extra work if it was empty already. And I do have this trans fluid drip that I think is coming from the trans cooler that is just a drip, but a drip is a leak, so WTF just take it all out. My hydroboost is "weepy" inside the cab, not leaking, but you can see fluid, and my pedal feel has always been stiff and I'm getting the shhhh shhhhh when I turn the wheel and I have to regularly top off the power steering reservoir, so something is leaking there. So, not only fuel, but now I'm replacing ALL power steering components. And I know what you are thinking, my trans fluid leak is probably the power steering. I think it's both.
Then I see the video on the trans fluid heat exchanger. Ok that has to be replaced. I'm not messing with a bypass. OEM got 3 owners this far, but if I'm replacing that heat exchanger(Mishimoto), I need to replace the rusty coolant pipe that's not too bad, but I don't ever want to work on this ever again so it's on the list along with a new water pump, thermostat, and serpentine belt tensioner kit.
And if I'm doing all of this work, why would I NOT replace the ball joints which I've wanted to do for a long time even though I don't feel like they are a problem as long as I keep the greased up. I'm going with EMF. But I heard about the left side knuckle issue and even though I have no reason to suspect my truck is affected by it, I went ahead and got a new unobtanium left knuckle when I saw that Torque King had them (one) in stock. And well, I'm not pulling axels without replacing 20 year old u-joints, that's just stupid. We'll see how the almost new rotors and hubs look when I pull things apart.
At this point I have about half of the parts sitting in my back hallway or in transit. All trans and steering lines will be new, along with trans and steering coolers. I'm still trying to get a new Denso starter. The place I ordered it from couldn't get it. I'll try again after Christmas. Worst comes to worst, I'll rebuild it myself. Everything else will be "new".
SO, if you've made it this far, this is an excruciating amount of work for a lazy POS like myself. I'm trying to put together a plan to make things as efficient as possible, but I also don't want to miss anything. At this point in the plan (none of the actual work starts until spring), all of the "accessory" components are removed, I've cleaned the engine compartment and replaced the hydroboost unit but not hooked any lines up yet. I'm ready to move to the fuel system (finally). The CP3, all associated lines, rail and injectors are being replaced. Rail and lines would be removed first. But what would you do next? Replace the CP3? Or replace the injectors, or remove the injectors, and if you removed the injectors, would you do anything while they were out? Like a compression test? I know NOTHING about diesel engines, but I can read and follow directions. If I should run a compression test while I'm at this point (and you can tell by now that anally, if I should, I will) I want to run the test. I have no indication that I have a problem with compression and I have zero blow by. The engine runs fantastic and gets great milage. This is all preventative. I have an endoscope and planned to take pictures of the pistons just for posterity. But the engine does have 275k miles on it. I'm replacing injectors. If there is something I should do while they are out before I remove the CP3 and before I remove the starter, I want to get it in the plan in the correct order.
I'm open to suggestions (maybe too open?) so let me know if you have any.
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