The last pre-emmisions diesel

[Midnightmoon]

It's the little things in life that make me happy. But, it did my heart good to see that caliper hanging properly by a wire instead of off the line....LOL

 

[Grit dog]

I ordered them from a vendor that had them in stock. Worst case scenario, I can return them.

So they bent?

 

[Frankenchevy]

So they bent?

Yep, bare u joint cross wouldn’t even go into the axle side shaft. It would barely slide into the stub shaft side.

 

[Grit dog]

Yep, bare u joint cross wouldn’t even go into the axle side shaft. It would barely slide into the stub shaft side.

Yikes. Guess I lucked out with mine then! (Although I wouldn’t have been surprised if they bent). Like I said in your thread on the other forum, I was astounded how hard they were to get out. Have changed a lot of u joints and none like these.
That really stinks and is not something that should happen. Bummer, man.

 

[Frankenchevy]

I’m thinking about swapping the injectors. Nothing crazy, basically a stock replacement as preventative maintenance. I’m looking at a set from BBI that they call “Stage 0.5” for about $4000 with tubes. Any thoughts? @Blue Ox , since you’re the injection guy…

BBI Fuel Injectors MY 03 | Cummins Dodge Ram 2003 - 2004.5 | stage 0.5 | Big Bang Injection

Dodge Ram 2003 - 05.2004 | Stage 0.5 2 years warranty – unlimited mileage

www.bigbanginjection.com

 

[Grit dog]

BBI are well renowned on the internet. Haven’t used them myself.
But for my money I’d just get new stock Bosch. Idk how crazy you’re getting with mods but stock injectors didn’t limit fuel delivery on our 07 with a 150hp tune.
If you’re making big power then you need more.

 

[Midnightmoon]

If you aren't getting any signs of injector failure, fuel in the oil, white smoke on startup, hard starts, etc., I'd just leave them alone and add a good 2 micron filter as mentioned earlier in the thread.

 

[Blue Ox]

I’m thinking about swapping the injectors. Nothing crazy, basically a stock replacement as preventative maintenance. I’m looking at a set from BBI that they call “Stage 0.5” for about $4000 with tubes. Any thoughts? @Blue Ox , since you’re the injection guy…

BBI Fuel Injectors MY 03 | Cummins Dodge Ram 2003 - 2004.5 | stage 0.5 | Big Bang Injection

Dodge Ram 2003 - 05.2004 | Stage 0.5 2 years warranty – unlimited mileage

www.bigbanginjection.com

For starters, we don't get involved in hot-rodding. So whatever "uprated" products are out there, you're going to have to take their word for it.

Bosch factory remans for '03-'04.5 are almost $400 ea. without the connectors. If you're just doing this as a precaution and you're not going racing I'd consider keeping it stock. It's tough enough to keep all this high tech cr@p operating correctly without tampering with it.

Do you know anything about the history of your injectors? Mileage, use or abuse, and do you have any current issues?

 

[Frankenchevy]

For starters, we don't get involved in hot-rodding. So whatever "uprated" products are out there, you're going to have to take their word for it.

Bosch factory remans for '03-'04.5 are almost $400 ea. without the connectors. If you're just doing this as a precaution and you're not going racing I'd consider keeping it stock. It's tough enough to keep all this high tech cr@p operating correctly without tampering with it.

Do you know anything about the history of your injectors? Mileage, use or abuse, and do you have any current issues?

I was looking at BBI because they go one step further than most Bosch retailers. They balance their injector sets to within 1% of each other. The stage 0.1 is just a factory Bosch injector with the standard VCO nozzles. The Stage 0.5 are factory Bosch injectors with a SAC nozzle. The SAC nozzle is supposed to be more robust and better running. The VCO is something required for emmissions in Europe and here I guess.

I have no interest in turning the truck up. I’m running a stock tune and a 4” MBRP stainless exhaust. Other than that, I’ll leave it alone. Hence going with a factory Bosch injector with the better of their two nozzles.

As for symptoms of injector failure, none that I can speak on at the moment other than the 200k that’s on the ODO. It starts fine, no smoke that I’ve noticed and idles fine. I bought the truck, brought it home and immediately began tearing into all the maintenance items. I drove it for all of 50 miles. I’ll check the oil for fish eyes or see if the level goes up. I’ll also look for leaks when I check valve lash and make sure all the lines and tubes are torqued.

A diesel shop in town can do an “in truck” injector test for $75. I think they just look at metrics from the OBDII. Is that a worth while test in your opinion?

 

[Grit dog]

A diesel shop in town can do an “in truck” injector test for $75. I think they just look at metrics from the OBDII. Is that a worth while test in your opinion?

Yes, it's worth it, IMO.
You want to know balance rates and return rates. If all in spec, I wouldn't touch 'em. Your 2 micron filter will likely keep them alive for a while longer.
That said, 200k miles, OE crappy filtration and original injectors in a CR Cummins are almost mutually exclusive. I wouldn't doubt for a second that they've maybe been replaced in the past.
"Some" injectors have catastrophic failures that can lead to the bad things happening to the engine. But most just wear out, slowly. Like our old 07, started/ran just fine. At about 120k miles I put them to an extreme test, truck was cold soaked at almost -30F for a few days and wouldn't start. Had enough cranking rpms (felt like it), but the return rate on 2 of them was just too high to build enough pressure to trigger the ECM to fire them at that temperature. Brought it back to town, 6 hours in the garage with some heat, and it fired up no problem. No smoke, no mis-firing, drove it for another month or 2, just plugged it in at night (Alaska, winter). Had a shop do a kill test, passed, and balance/return rates and return rates were just a bit out of spec on 2.
If we'd still been in Seattle, no telling how much longer they'd have lasted.

That said, if you suspect they were replaced anytime in recent miles with unknown re-mans, I'd change for peace of mind.

 

[Blue Ox]

What Grit dog said.

For $75 he's doing a cylinder contribution test. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not necessarily definitive.

I'd also agree that at 200K miles it's unlikely that original injectors are still 100%.

If you feel more comfortable with 1% balanced injectors, you go right ahead. Although I doubt the engine could tell. CR injectors are pretty accurate to start with.

Also, if you do decide to stick with Bosch make sure you get them through Bosch channels. There's a lot of counterfeits out there.

 

[Frankenchevy]

What Grit dog said.

For $75 he's doing a cylinder contribution test. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not necessarily definitive.

I'd also agree that at 200K miles it's unlikely that original injectors are still 100%.

If you feel more comfortable with 1% balanced injectors, you go right ahead. Although I doubt the engine could tell. CR injectors are pretty accurate to start with.

Also, if you do decide to stick with Bosch make sure you get them through Bosch channels. There's a lot of counterfeits out there.

Is injectorsdirect.com a Bosch channel? They seem pretty legit.

 

[Blue Ox]

Is injectorsdirect.com a Bosch channel? They seem pretty legit.

Seems to be.

 

[Frankenchevy]

I order the factory Bosch injectors with 50hp SAC nozzles. You’re supposed to be able to tune out the secondary injection event that only happens for emissions purposes. Then the main event can be tuned for duration and most report a ~2mpg bump.

 

[Frankenchevy]

Getting close to caught up on the maintenance items. I had to drag it out and wash the underside for Perry. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait another week before I wash the body. The stainless exhaust and aluminum driveshaft makes me tingle a bit. The injectors should be here Tuesday, I’ll knock out the fuel system this week. I got that redarc trailer brake controller someone mentioned too.

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