Lift pumps

jdlayton

Member
Looking for a bit of advice, my 1999 Dodge Ram has over 100,000 miles and works great no problems what so ever, but I understand that the lift pumps are subject to failure and they fail without warning and can cause the injector pump to fail also, so my question is since I have that many miles should I replace lifter pump any how as piece of insurance from posible problems down the road. Any advice will be greatly appreciated and Thanks
 

BJ'sDad

Active Member
I'd say replace it for piece of mind on your part.
I had a 97 and put 80K on it in 3 years and never had a minutes problems, but I replaced the one on the 01 I have now at 45K just to be on the safe side, these new fuel pumps are expensive to replace.

I replaced mine with the OEM pump I found on Ebay from a dealer in Texas for a good price. Or, you can go with numerous aftermarket pumps/line kits etc.

If your truck is stock or close to stock, I'd say you'd be fine with the OEM replacement, if you have done a lot of HP mods, go with the big line kit and aftermarket pump.
 

kakampers

Past Heartland Ambassador
We owned a 98' Dodge Cummins until recently. Our lift pump started to go at about 80,000. We caught before it damaged the injector pump, thankfully. However, we did not replace the pump, we added a FASS pump between it and the fuel tank to bypass using the lift pump. MUCH better idea. The OEM pumps are too prone to failure. The FASS pump has a great rep and history of longevity. And you're right the injector pump is VERY expensive...safer to protect it with something that more reliable.
 

dieselengineer

Charter Member
Get a fuel pressure gauge and install it at the CP3 pump or inlet to the injector pump. You should have 5 psi min at the inlet. The common rail engine, the OEM lift pumps are just able to maintain 7 psi on a good day. That is why there is so many after market units and kits. If you don't want to have another gauge, there is kits that use an warning light. With the OEM pump, change the fuel filter every time you change the oil and keep an eye on fuel pressure.
 

kickerxt

total newbie
dieselram.com. you will find lots of answers here about your cummins with lift pumps being one of the most common questions.
 
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