Life ....

is a ballgame, and once in awhile you get a curve ball thrown at you. Trip to Oregon to pick up my new mower yesterday. Everything went great, get an early start (13 hour trip), mower gets loaded fast, get a bite to eat and head for home. Call my wife to tell her everything if fine....then 20 miles down the road I smell diesel fuel. About that time I am on a 3 mile 6% grade near a wildfire. I'm thinking maybe someone spilled some diesel on the highway, or I am just smelling the fire retardant. Anyway, it seems that there is a blue haze behind me, so I think it is on the road, but no one else is stirring anything. I get to the top of the hill and decide I better stop at the rest stop and check things out. Soon as I slow down smoke comes pouring out of the hood...and when I stop diesel fuel is dumping on the ground like crazy. Shut it off, open the hood and diesel fuel everywhere. Obviously a line is broke somewhere. I think it is a rubber supply line...fortunately I have cell service and a smart phone so I call the Dodge dealer in Bend (70 miles away) and talk to the service guy. He says they have been changing out #4 injector lines, so sure enough the clamp on #4 is loose. Within an hour and a half, I finally find a mobile mechanic who will pick up the part and install it. 4 hours later, he shows up with a buddy, they put on a "new and improved" line in 10 minutes, hand me a bill for $361 and I'm back on the road. Long day.... Moral of the story? If you have a common rail fuel injection Dodge Cummins, check the #4 line for a loose clamp...it will rub and crack at the worst time! I did some internet searches and this appears to be a common problem.....and it got me in the pocketbook.....$71 part.

If the problem is common enough that any random dealer knows about it and there is a ''new and improved'' part available why no recall from Dodge? If they make a recall in the future you can probably get your jack back.

There will be a recall soon. Make sure your problem gets reported to NHTSA. Lucky it didn't burn to the ground. High pressure fuel spray atomizes real nice and can get to lead to a "thermal event" in a hurry. It doesn't take many instance of trucks or tractors burning down to get NHTSA and company lawyers and insurance involved.

Paragraphs are a wonderful thing.

Wow!!! you need to go buy a lottery ticket! No Fire, no tow charge, no overnight stay, quick fix, on the road in four hours. How lucky can you get?

At least he used punctuation makes, so it was easy to read.

(quoted from post at 15:29:52 07/10/15)
Wow!!! you need to go buy a lottery ticket! No Fire, no tow charge, no overnight stay, quick fix, on the road in four hours. How lucky can you get?

Click to expand...

I know, there are two ways to look at it. Now that I was able to get a good days work in today and maybe get a little nap in, I am thankful that it wasn't a lot worse. Still wish I would have spent more time on the Dodge forum instead of the tractor forum :shock:

(quoted from post at 15:08:51 07/10/15)

Paragraphs are a wonderful thing.

Click to expand...

Give me a break...I had 5 hours of sleep and was headed out the door when I wrote this....just take a deep breathe before reading and you will get through it.....LOL!

The pressure surges in the rail when the injectors
fire, and for some reason #4 likes to come loose,
the movement from the pressure surge causes it to
crack. I think I've read that the replacement hold-
down is a different color for an easy visual check.

(quoted from post at 06:39:59 07/11/15) The pressure surges in the rail when the injectors
fire, and for some reason #4 likes to come loose,
the movement from the pressure surge causes it to
crack. I think I've read that the replacement hold-
down is a different color for an easy visual check.

Click to expand...

The new line I got eliminated the plastic holder, clamp and screw. It has the bracket that bolts to the engine crimped on it with a rubber grommet between the bracket and fuel line.....no screw to come loose.

(quoted from post at 07:52:58 07/10/15) If the problem is common enough that any random dealer knows about it and there is a ''new and improved'' part available why no recall from Dodge? If they make a recall in the future you can probably get your jack back.

Click to expand...

Kinda strange, today I get a recall notice in the mail for my 04 Dodge ....but it is for the airbag!