May need a new lift pump: Should I stay OEM or go aftermarket?

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HillbillyD-Luxx

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Truck quit on me the other day in the driveway, when I put it in park it just shut down like i turned the key off. I cycled the key and tried starting it again. It cranked for 2 or 3 times longer than usual before starting, but it did start. It ran for about 3 seconds then shut off again. I tried restarting it again, but it would not fire, it just cranked and cranked. It doesn't smoke while cranking. I got out my programmer and put power settings back to stock to see if it was a programmer malfunction, but nothing changed, just cranked over but wouldn't fire. I am suspecting lift pump, but will obviously trouble shoot before buying an expensive lift pump on a hunch. My question to you guys is: If it is indeed the lift pump, should i stay stock or go aftermarket? Is it price comparative? Is there a distinct advantage going with aftermarket? What aftermarket would you recommend? I don't do anything crazy, so i'm not worried about starving the injection pump, so stock output is fine with for, fwiw. Thanks in advance!

Truck is a 2003 QCSB for the record with a BDTD Power Pup, version 2.3.1 always ran on tow mode.
 
hmmm

questions...

how many miles on your truck?
have the injectors been done or checked?
do you have two micron filtration on your CR?

id lean towards checking your injectors first, especially of the above answer to the two bottom questions is no... and you are over 100K miles..

may be leakdown over night, if it does the same thing each and every morning as well.. now that leads me to ask, is the first start of the day the only bad one? or is every start bad? does the truck run well when it is going? or does it sputter, and lose power..... check valve on the injectors returning too much fuel,

also can you hear the LP when you bump the key forward but don't start? IE watch the grid heaters and listen for the buzzing? try doing that twice if you can and start the truck... also if you do pull your injectors, and test them, and they are ok, then id say the LP...

they can also pick up crap if you run your fuel level too low, and get plugged, run a good dose of power service through the thank, try and clean it out and see what it does..

im not saying it is not the LP, im just giving you other things that may be worth a look as well...

I use a smarty on 5 all the time and have a stock LP.. when it goes though, im goin with an airdog.... fwiw... stocks fine too, but id rather have a pump outside the tank for easier service... fwiw...
 
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Go with an after market pump. The 03 trucks had the pump right on the side of the filter housing and then tended to fail quite often. I would do a fuel filter housing delete along with and after market lift pump and filter set up.
 
lemme guess, you've got 150-175k+ miles on your truck...

I'd just slap another canister mount pump on it and roll out
 
TxDiesel007 said:
hmmm

questions...

how many miles on your truck?
have the injectors been done or checked?
do you have two micron filtration on your CR?

id lean towards checking your injectors first, especially of the above answer to the two bottom questions is no... and you are over 100K miles..

may be leakdown over night, if it does the same thing each and every morning as well.. now that leads me to ask, is the first start of the day the only bad one? or is every start bad? does the truck run well when it is going? or does it sputter, and lose power..... check valve on the injectors returning too much fuel,

also can you hear the LP when you bump the key forward but don't start? IE watch the grid heaters and listen for the buzzing? try doing that twice if you can and start the truck... also if you do pull your injectors, and test them, and they are ok, then id say the LP...

they can also pick up crap if you run your fuel level too low, and get plugged, run a good dose of power service through the thank, try and clean it out and see what it does..

im not saying it is not the LP, im just giving you other things that may be worth a look as well...

I use a smarty on 5 all the time and have a stock LP.. when it goes though, im goin with an airdog.... fwiw... stocks fine too, but id rather have a pump outside the tank for easier service... fwiw...
Click to expand...

It has stock injectors on it to my knowledge. I have an OEM filter on it that I changed less than 3,000 miles ago. I am at 1/4 tank currently. I haven't kept the tank level from getting low as often as I wanted, it frequently got to 1/8 tank. Rarely do I let the fuel light come on (twice in 4 years). The only problem I ever had with my truck is it intermittently running at WOT for about 2-3 seconds at random, but only when the ambient air temp is below say 25 deg F. It has never shut off on me before, just did it this Tuesday. I just changed the APPS the day it shut off on me, but it did it on the way to change the APPS at my buddies garage (heated garage). So it shut itself off in the parking lot of the gas station when i was backing up t a parking spot. I got it started (cranked over about twice as long to get it started) and continued to buddies house. I changed the APPS with a TIMBO and drove back home. When I parked it at my house, that's when i had the shutting off issue again.
 
I haven't really messed with it yet, because I'm stuck working on it in the driveway, and the weather hasn't exactly been pleasant. The day it broke the windchill was -5. I am going to check and see where the lift pump is, I can't recall if it is on the back of the filter housing or not. If it is, would an Airdog Raptor 150 be a good choice?
 
You seem to want to get the A/M pump, given how you keep ignoring the advice (both here and on CF) to keep the stock pump. Geno's Garage has the stockers for a decent price, they are easy to replace, and should last at least another 100k.

Search for A/M pump problems, then decide if you want to spend your money on one.

I am 95% sure the pump is not the problem anyway, but it takes about 60 seconds to validate. Hope it warms up soon so you can find the root cause...
 
Rimcrew said:
You seem to want to get the A/M pump, given how you keep ignoring the advice (both here and on CF) to keep the stock pump. Geno's Garage has the stockers for a decent price, they are easy to replace, and should last at least another 100k.

Search for A/M pump problems, then decide if you want to spend your money on one.

I am 95% sure the pump is not the problem anyway, but it takes about 60 seconds to validate. Hope it warms up soon so you can find the root cause...
Click to expand...

how am i ignoring advice? please share
 
HillbillyD-Luxx said:
how am i ignoring advice? please share
Click to expand...

To put it really simple words. It sure sounds like an injector issue. Not lift pump if it's a 03 it has a in tank lp. And they are really reliable. IMO as soon as I seen that thread I thought injectors. Take it to the dealer and get them to do a return flow rate test. I bet that one or more inj. Is stuck open. Go ahead spend the money on the lift pump but it's probably an inj issue it only takes one bad tank of fuel to hurt cr inj.


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Geno's has stock pump for $160, that seems pretty reasonable. I was expecting around the 400-500 range. Hopefully it's something simple and cheap... like fuel gelling... fingers crossed...
 
i would imagine there is a relay for the lift pump, correct? if it was a bad relay though, i would think it would fail and never work again, not "start going bad"
 
HillbillyD-Luxx said:
i would imagine there is a relay for the lift pump, correct? if it was a bad relay though, i would think it would fail and never work again, not "start going bad"
Click to expand...

Crack the fuel line at the cp3 turn you're key or bump key is there fuel everywhere. If so you sir have a good lp.


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Stealth hotshot said:
Not lift pump if it's a 03 it has a in tank lp.
Click to expand...

No - the early CR's have the LP mounted on the side of the engine with the fuel canister.



FWIW, my friend's 03 had the same symptoms - was a cracked injector tip.

With that said, you can check the lift pump by pulling the fuel line and do the 'flow in a bucket' trick.
 
Hurley said:
No - the early CR's have the LP mounted on the side of the engine with the fuel canister.



FWIW, my friend's 03 had the same symptoms - was a cracked injector tip.

With that said, you can check the lift pump by pulling the fuel line and do the 'flow in a bucket' trick.
Click to expand...

Thanks, look into that as well. And yes, I believe my truck has the external lift pump on the back of the fuel filter housing. I haven't checked yet, but i believe that's where mine is located. from what i understand, some cr's have the lift pump in the tank, some have them external. If the external pump failed under warranty, they would replace it with an in tank setup.
 
i appreciate anyone that is offering helpful information, especially since i only asked what type of pump should i replace it with should it be the culprit. i am not ignoring anyone's advice for the record, so no one should be offended. i simply haven't had the time or decent weather to look at anything yet. I will definitely try some of the things you guys mentioned, i am thankful for you offering suggestions/solutions. I will definitley keep an update on what the outcome is. temps are supposed to get about 32-33 for a high this weekend, i will give it a go then. After that though, it's supposed to be single digit highs for the following week... eff that.
 
One thing i might add that i forgot happened, is that when i got my truck restarted, i revved it a few times to see how the throttle response was, and if it shuttered at all. When i would stab it (stab throttle and quickly let off), the rpm's would seem to hang there for a good second before coming back down. the harder i stabbed it and more rpms i would hit, it seemed to "hang there" worse. it wasn't as noticeable if i only took it to say below 1900 rpms. Don't know if this would indicate something different or not... Heck, it may have been that way since i owned the truck, but i never stabbed the throttle while in park like that before.
 
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