'02 Cummins has NO power when towing

Gotlift01

Gotlift01

Captain Insano
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
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My brother bought and '02 Cummins a few months ago, and right after he bought the truck the VP44 went to hell so the dealer threw on a new one. Well now whenever he hooks up to his 14' enclosed trailer, the truck seems to have NO power when pulling the smallest hill. Even with the trailer completely empty it just will not climb hills for crap.......he can get a running start at them and lose 20mph by the time he hits the top.......and I'm talking a pretty mild hill crusing down the interstate. Once he starts going up the hill, the truck bogs down, pedel gets hard and it won't accelerate at all unless he kicks it down......which to me is just not right!

Any ideas what could be causing this? I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what it is. I told him to replace his fuel filter just for grins and that didn't help at all. We reset the APPS by unhooking the batteries for 30 minutes and that helped with throttle response a little bit just driving around, but it didn't help at all with towing the trailer.

So if any of you have any suggestions, I'm all ears!! He is getting pissed and I'd like to help him out before he drives it off a cliff!! LOL
 
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If you do the 3 key turn trick does it show any codes?
 
Dirty air filter? Have you tried recalibrating the apps? Map and IAT sensors clean?
 
Basics to check (and yes, you might have done these, but I would recheck them).

What kind of FP are you seeing at the IP?

When was the last time you checked intake manifold bolts for proper torque? (18ftlbs, BTW)

Is the air intake system clean? Do you have a torn/cracked/loose intercooler boot? T-clamps torque to 75 INCH pounds, basically really tight with a 1/4 drive rachet.

Pulling the battery cables for 30 minutes will do just about nothing, pull all cables and touch the master (driver side) POS and NEG cables together for 30-45 seconds to completely drain the short term system memory capacitors. Rehook cables and reteach the APPS.

Does your brother run any type of fuel treatment/additive? If not take two quarts of tranny fluid and pour into the tank then fill up. If that makes you nervous put a gallon of Power Service Diesel Kleene in instead. Or if you can find a station that sells biodiesel in your area fill it up with the highest bio level you can find, B80 or B100 is preferable. Just keep a spare FF on hand, you'll need it.

Check to make certain the turbo is making good boost, hook up a boost gauge and see what you get, should be at least 20PSI in top gear WOT.

If none of those help out yank the injectors and have them checked and try another pump.

If NONE of this helps....he's screwed LOL LOL
 
BgBlDodge said:
Dirty air filter? Have you tried recalibrating the apps? Map and IAT sensors clean?
Click to expand...

Air filter is good, it is brand new. Haven't tried the recal on the apps.......is that where you adjust the voltage??

Haven't checked the Map and IAT sensors......I will look at those and see if they are dirty! Thanks Tyler!
 
Billysgoat said:
Basics to check (and yes, you might have done these, but I would recheck them).

What kind of FP are you seeing at the IP?

When was the last time you checked intake manifold bolts for proper torque? (18ftlbs, BTW)

Is the air intake system clean? Do you have a torn/cracked/loose intercooler boot? T-clamps torque to 75 INCH pounds, basically really tight with a 1/4 drive rachet.

Pulling the battery cables for 30 minutes will do just about nothing, pull all cables and touch the master (driver side) POS and NEG cables together for 30-45 seconds to completely drain the short term system memory capacitors. Rehook cables and reteach the APPS.

Does your brother run any type of fuel treatment/additive? If not take two quarts of tranny fluid and pour into the tank then fill up. If that makes you nervous put a gallon of Power Service Diesel Kleene in instead. Or if you can find a station that sells biodiesel in your area fill it up with the highest bio level you can find, B80 or B100 is preferable. Just keep a spare FF on hand, you'll need it.

Check to make certain the turbo is making good boost, hook up a boost gauge and see what you get, should be at least 20PSI in top gear WOT.

If none of those help out yank the injectors and have them checked and try another pump.

If NONE of this helps....he's screwed LOL LOL
Click to expand...


Well I told him to order up a pusher pump just to be on the safe side.......fuel pressure looks good but having a pusher pump is just that added security you know!

I was thinking about boost leaks too........since the dealer replaced his Vp44 I'm kinda wondering if they tightened everything back up so I told him to check the boost and tighten the piss out of them.

He doesn't run any fuel treatment that I know of, or atleast he hasn't mentioned putting any in.........I will suggest it to him.

The funny thing about the truck is when it's not loaded the thing runs GREAT, has plenty of power and everything seems fine. It's just when he puts that damn trailer on that he has all of these problems. You would think if it had a boost leak that you would be able to notice the lack of power just driving around town......but I can't! So that's what is leading me towards something with the APPS.......but I could be completely wrong!:hehe:

Thanks for all the ideas guys......I'll try all these and see what happens. Anyone want to refresh my memory on how to recalibrate the APPS......I had it printed out somewhere but I can't find it.


Thanks guys,

Nick
 
That is what mine did when I forgot to plug the juice module back in. It runs alright, but like a slug! Good luck Nickolas!!!
 
I don't know if the DTR still has my write up on how to do it but you might try checking over there in the tech facts section. If they don't have it let me know and I'll dig it up tonight when I get back home.
 
Yep they still got it, I had forgot you posted that over there!! I'll give that a shot and see if that helps.....hopefully it does! Thanks dude!
 
No problem. Every truck I've done it on has noticed improved throttle response and slightly more power. I know mine was way off and even when adjusted full forward I couldn't get all the voltage I needed.
 
I'm hoping this is the problem, it seems like it almost has to be.......but with these trucks I'm not gonna hold my breath!! LOL
 
Is the truck a stick or auto? If it's an auto then it might need some service done to it such as tightening up the bands.
 
It's an auto. The tranny actually seems to be VERY solid in this one, sucker shifts awesome. It's just when you start going up a hill the pedel gets rock solid and you can't get anymore out of it without mashing it to the floor and kicking it down.
 
Sounds kinda like a typcial tranny. Well you oughta know what a busted one feels like. LOL
 
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