Dealer actions suspecting faulty fuel injectors

What actions would a Dodge dealer take if the dealer suspected intermittent injector failure with a 3rd generation Cummins ISB powered truck? I ask this question because the correct action would be to remove the injectors and test them on a test bench. Here's the rub. Very few Dodge dealers could justify the cost of an injector test bench. So if they don't have a bench, how is the customer's problem resolved? Are all the injectors just changed? Does Chrysler allow the dealer to use an external injector repair/testing service or do they insist the dealership invest the thousands of dollars this facillity costs? Steve

Reply to
Steve Lusardi
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There is not one dealer with in a 50 mile radius where I live that can do any type of injector work and there are about 30 dealers in that circle. The majority of the dealers send the diesels to a local truck shop and I suspect this is the norm. If you find a dealer with all the equipment to work on diesels they are probably 1 in a thousand. Coasty

Reply to
Coasty

Coasty, Thanks for the reply. It makes financial sense as well. I have an injector problem that is intermittent. It occurs above 2200 rpm and gets worse with the rise in rail pressure, but it won't start happening until 30 minutes of continuous runnig of around 50% power or more. I believe the firing solenoid is sticking on at least one of the injectors. I have correct feed pressure and engine temperature. I have 12K miles on the truck and it is under warranty, but my local dealer does not have a test bench and I have the only Cummins he services, neither one of us knows the norm. He is a friend, so I do not wish to create a problem with Chrysler for him by requesting service he cannot supply. If Tom Lawrence is reading this, I would appreciate his confirmation. Further complicating this is that I have the only 3500 Cummins in Germany, if not all of Europe. Steve

Reply to
Steve Lusardi

Hmmm.... Banks Six-Gun, right? :) I'd take that off before taking it in for service. I don't know about over there, but here in the States, this will get you bounced out of the "warranty" queue real quick.

That aside, the typical way injectors are diagnosed is to use the DRB3 to shut down each injector in sequence, but this is only valid when the problem is continuous (or at least occurring steadily while being diagnosed) - the idea is that the faulty injector won't cause a drop in RPM when it's shut off, because it's not firing anyway.

Another slightly more non-conventional approach would be to put the truck on a load dyno, bring it up to temp, load it down, and check the exhaust runner temps with an infrared thermometer, looking for a differential outside the norm (expect the rear-most cylinders to run a little hotter than the front ones). This isn't something a dealer would be able to do - none that I know of have load dynos.

What a dealership over here would do is replace all 6 injectors. However, STAR (Chrysler technical assistance) has diesel injectors on restriction, meaning you (the dealer) need to explain to them why you need them, and usually the truck has to be inspected first. This is where any trace of a pressure box would immediately nix the warranty service.

Reply to
Tom Lawrence

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