Dodge truck problem

My 99 Dodge 3500 diesel farm truck would not fire up over 3 weeks ago.
It would try to start up, but was only hitting on a few cylinders and would not get going.
I could not hear the lift pump like I normally would.
I put a new lift pump on it and a new fuel filter and wired the lift pump straight to the battery with a switch in the line.
It is pumping now as I bled the filter.
It will turn over fine but will not fire up.
Gonna bleed the line going into the injector pump next and see what happens.

The guy that usually does my mechanic work told me he would come get it 3 weeks ago and when he did not show up, I went to see him and he promised to be there the next morning, he did not show again.
I have always paid him cash when he does work for me.
I am done with him.
Any ideas?

I don't want to put much money into a truck that is 22 years old.
Will look for a used truck if I can't get it going.

Richard in NW SC

My granddad had a mid 90s dodge diesel that acted like that it had 3 bad glow plugs in it I replaced the bad ones , then it would start right up

I don't think this one has glow plugs.

If you turn the ignition off and on 3 times, it will may display codes in the odometer field. That would give more to go on if there are codes. You have the dreaded VP44 electronic pump. Good luck.

I will check for the codes.

I just looked it up yours is the second generation , it does not have individual glow plugs it has a heater grid in the intake ,not saying this your problem but it might be a first step

I believe the 99 has the vp44 pump, this pump is cooled by diesel and not oil like the 12v p-pump. When the lift pump goes out they normally take the vp pump with them. I suspect you will need a new injection pump.

Cummins diesels don't have glow plugs, they have a heater grid in the intake. I am not an expert on the various years and changes that have occurred with the fuel injection systems on these engines. Right around the year of your truck there was/is a known problem with them. If your lift pump went out it also took out your injection pump. The injection pump is lubricated buy fuel supplied by the lift pump. No lift pump, no lube. My brother in-law has a 2001 that had that happen. New super duty lift pump and a rebuilt injection pump and a lift pump fuel pressure gauge on the dash.

If you have priced new and used truck in the current market, you might be better off putting $1500-$1800 into this one.

OTJ

Drove one that has a mod. near the inj. pump with a reset button underneath. Turn key on push button on bottom of mod. Had to do that every time to start. Hope this helps.

Yup your injection pump went to lunch and you can almost bet the farm that it will set you back 1200 or more , the one on my buddy's 2001 went out twice , first one he made the mistake of going to the dealer as they billed him for a bunch of work and parts before they highly trained service dept team decided that OH it's the injection pump like i was telling him all along . BUT the one thing that the dealership did NOT change was the Lift pump and in six months the NEW injection pump they installed took a dump. Then they would not stand behind it. And i ended up removing the pump after i got the tools to work on the 24 valves . Took the pump to the guy that does my pump work and got out the door for 750 . I added in a new improved lift pump and a back up frame mounted Holley and a dash mounted gauge and a frame mounted fuel filter for half of a Faff system. Now as to how much you dump into your old truck that is up to you . BUT have you looked into what a NEW one costs lately ????? . I did two years ago , not a direct replacement for what i have NOW but a step down , I have a 95 3500 dual rear cab and chassis . The one that caught my eye was a TWO year old NEW 3500 single rear 4X4 sorta plan Jane Cummins six speed setting on a dealer lot Been setting since the NEW 2018's came out , she was starting to grow a beard . So i had to ask , Well after all the fast talking and fancy figering i could drive that truck off the lot that day for the small sum of 53784 dollars and CHANGE. NOT happening . Now today the prices are even higher and now you can NOT get a TRUCK the way you want one as you can no longer get a standard shift and i for one plum hate automatics.

And added benefit of being easy to test.

Crack the lines to the injectors on a couple . Is it spraying fuel after cranking for awhile or just barely dripping

I have converted a few 03/04's to a in tank pump. Chrysler made a nice kit to do the conversion.

I have seen them run well for hundreds of miles with a bad lift pump till it knocked off are got to running bad. I have yet to see it take the injector pump out BUT in all cases they were just lucky it did not. I push all my customers to do the conversion the one's that don't come back at sometime telling me it knocked off hundreds of miles from home...

The injector pump can pull some fuel you may have been running with a bad lift pump for awhile I hope you are one of the lucky one's...

I don't claim to be an expert on your Dodge... Its just what I have seen...

I would be looking for a different diesel mechanic.

Perhaps a bit of diagnosis would be in order?

Like checking compression, checking for fuel pressure at the injectors, checking if the intake heater grid is working, and other things like that.

If the truck is in otherwise decent mechanical shape and not rusty, you would be surprised at what it is worth. You would be even more surprised at what it will cost you to replace it!

My 98 1/2 has the vp44 pump. It's been replaced twice that I know of. First time the fuel sender would go down to 3/4 and stop. everyone and his dog was driving it at that time and it was run out of fuel several times and there went the pump. Then I bought it not knowing the fuel sender was bad and I ran it out of fuel. $3500 later I had a new pump and left tank update. I am very careful about running it low on fuel since then. Some guys claim you should put a fuel pressure gauge in plain sight so you can watch it. I haven't gone that far. Then it got to acting up and going full throttle on me then going into limp mode. A new $$$ECM solved that problem. If that thing ever leaves the farm it will be replaced with a gasser.

tractor vet,

I still have a dodge/ram cummins with the stick. 2010 6.7 liter. I did not know that they no longer offer a manual transmission. Perhaps I own a unicorn.

D.

If the pump wasnt running and you put a new lift pump on and now you can hear it running you basically ran the pump out of fuel and you will need to bleed the lines at the injectors as many as you can get loose and it might take a good 30 minutes to get it bled they can be really miserable to bleed at times . Also crack the line at the pump or loosen one of the plugs on top of the fuel filter housing and bump the key to cycle the lift pump and let it run until you get a good stream of fuel coming out of the filter .

I would bleed it first but if that doesnt work . You can pull the codes by turning the key on let gauges come on then key off key on let the gauges come to Life key off so it three times and see what the codes are . If you need to dig in further after bleeding after a good bit of cranking after you get fuel to the pump and you are sure the pump is getting power the loosened lines at the injectors should spray fuel not just drip loosen them off a couple turns .
Injection pump diagnostic

never seen a 5.9 with glow plugs!

The VP44 is known for solder joints going bad.
Pull the pump and send it to someone like Schied.

There is (was) an outfit out of the Balkans that measured the internal components, slapped it together, and painted it gloss black without testing the electronics.