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Dodge/Cummins 5.9 - #4 Injector Tube Failure Could be Bad

ajs
Explorer
Explorer
I am not trying to start a bash on Dodge/Cummins but am only trying to warn others of a recent problem I had with my Dodge that turned out to be a fairly common problem. I am sure a lot of you are already aware of the issue, but until a few days ago, I was not and if I can help even one person out there I feel this thread is worth it.



I have a 2007 Dodge 3500 4 door pickup with the Cummins 5.9. It has under 70k miles. My wife and I were driving home from our annual Christmas break trip to Arizona. (she works at a local primary school) We were pulling a car trailer that had our Suzuki Sidekick 4X4 on it that we had used to explore around the desert with on our trip. It was before sunrise on the 2nd of January and were were approaching Jackpot NV near the Idaho/Nevada boarder (middle of no where.) The outside temp was 7 below according to the trucks temp gauge. The driving tracks on the road were basically bare but there was lots of packed snow and ice along the edges of the road and in some places in the center of the driving lanes. The first indication of a problem was the check engine light came on but the truck continued to appear to run okay. A few miles later while approaching Jackpot, the truck died just like you had shut if off. I coasted to the edge of the road the best I could but was still blocking much of the north bound side of the highway. The truck would not restart and I could smell diesel. Got out for a quick look and could see lots of diesel under the front of the truck. I had to get the truck out of the road so we unloaded the little Sidekick as quickly as possible and hooked it to the front of the truck with a tow strap. Using low range and first gear in the sidekick, my wife was able to pull the truck and trailer into the town and into a safe parking place along the highway. After taking a break in a nearby casino to warm up and let the sun rise I begin to look for the source of the fuel leak. I was soon able to figure out that the source as the tube that runs between the common rail and the #4 injector. There appeared to be a crack in the tube very near the fitting on the injector. I really wanted to get everything home that day so I removed the tube from the common rail as that fitting was very easy to reach and get loose with an adjustable wrench. I didn't have to undo the harder to get to injector fitting as the tube broke off without effort. My plan was to crimp off the end of the tube and drive home on 5 cylinders. I figured that there was fairly high pressure on the tube but didn't at the time realize how high the pressure was. I could see the tube was very thick walled and would not crimp over with the basic tools I had. I ended up using part of the trailer hitch as an anvil and hammering the end of the tube shut. Put the modified tube back on the common rail fitting and gave it a try. The engine started right up and there was only a small drip out of the end of the tube. The engine ran a little rough, but not as bad as i thought it might. My next fear was that the computer would know that one cylinder was not firing and either put me into a limp mode or worse, shut the engine down and not allow it to run. With that concern in mind I had my wife follow me in the Sidekick rather than loading it back on the trailer in case the truck died in the middle of the road again and I needed a two to get to a safe parking place. I drove to the next real town (Twin Falls ID) with her following. The truck actually ran pretty well. At Twin Falls I stopped in a large parking lot and found the tube was leaking fuel at a rate more than I wanted to let it continue. There was a factory bend in the tube near the broken off end and I hammered that bend down in an attempt to kink the tube. It appeared to work so we loaded the sidekick on the trailer and got on the nearby freeway for the couple hundred mile trip for home. About 40 miles down the road I could tell the tube was leaking a lot again from the smell and white smoke trail I was leaving. Pulled over at the next exit and really went to town on the tube with the hammer. This time I smashed it enough to hold for the rest of the trip. Got home without further incident.

Was so glad to be home I took this picture:




Did some research online and found that the #4 injector tube breaking/leaking is a fairly common issue with this generation of 5.9 engine. It appears that the clamp that hold the tube between the two fittings and keeps it from vibrating is know to become loose and allow the tube to slowly destroy itself. If caught early and kept tight then the tube failure is normally prevented. There are a few forums that discuss the problem. One of them is:

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/3rd-gen-powertrain/189520-guys-check-your-4th-injector-line-sticky...



The first I ever heard about it was after my problem. If you have a 3rd generation 5.9 (approximately 2003 to 2007) and you have not yet had a #4 injector tube failure, I suggest you look into this further. There is an updated replacement tube available for about $30 from cummins and it is fairly easy to install so at least it will be cheap and easy to fix. I ordered my tube online as there is not a cummins shop nearby my home. I also found out the pressure in the tube can be as high as 26,000 pounds (yes that is thousands) so I can see why I had such a difficult time getting the tube to quit leaking. Also learned that a cummins will run okay on 5 if needed.

Picture of the problem area



You can see the rail fitting for the broke tube to the left of the orange sticker. It is the fitting with the nick in it. To the left of that is the loose blue clamping block. It is the block that needs to be checked and kept tight, along with the other nearby blue clamping blocks. Further to the left you can see the #4 injector fitting with the short section of tube sticking out. Near the lower right of the picture you can see the end of the #4 tube where I kinked it and smashed the end of it to seal it off enough to drive home. The end of the tube is above the top of the fuel filter housing.

A few days later the new tube arrived.





Checked the other injector tube clamps. Found all of them loose. #3 was very loose. All tight now. Got new tube installed without issue.



Old tube. You can see where I smashed it closed.



Took truck out for a test drive and no leaks.

Used my cheap scan tool to reset/clear the check engine light.

All is well that ends well. ๐Ÿ™‚
20 REPLIES 20

john_bet
Explorer
Explorer
I have a '04.5 I bought new and I must be one very luck fellow. The only failure I have had is a water pump in 12 years and 188k miles. I do routine maintenance and go about my life with not extra concerns about the truck. I use it as a DD and a TV for our 32' Montana. Our towing usually consist of long 2 week multi-K mile plus trips to Montana or the Black Hills, thought last year we were gone 7 weeks and 7k miles to several points in the NW. I am not afraid to hitch up at anytime and head to where ever we want to go with no worries. I do not carry extra parts for this truck nor have I for any of our other vehicles in over 50 years of travels for work or pleasure. All of my vehicles have been Chrysler products and I put well over 100K miles on several of them with no break downs away from home. Just my .02$ worth.:)
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AH64ID
Explorer
Explorer
I have a spare in the toolbox.

Checking the clamp is a good thing too, and can prevent the failure.
-John

2018 Ram 3500-SRW-4x4-Laramie-CCLB-Aisin-Auto Level-5th Wheel Prep-Titan 55 gal tank-B&W RVK3600

2011 Outdoors RV Wind River 275SBS-some minor mods

noteven
Explorer III
Explorer III
jmtandem wrote:
This 4th injector hose is the #1 issue with third Gen trucks. Many folks carry a spare just in case.


Maybe I will purchase a spare number 4 and the tools to change it. Sounds like cheap insurance.


If you are still running the original #4 line go ahead and install your new updated #4 and keep the old one for a spare... the isolator on the updated line looks to be arranged so the vibration fatigue can't happen... my understanding is it is not a "known issue" that Cummins has let continue without fixing with an updated part. That is what the Cummins dealer told me.

The OP made a good roadside fix to get going again by batting the damaged line closed to stop the leaking.

BUT

As for deliberately running the engine with the injection system leaking pressurized fuel into the engine compartment...the alternator is brushless I guess, and there are supposed to be no other sources of ignition under the hood ... but diesel/air at 1:15 ratio ignites at 440 deg F...

Hannibal
Explorer
Explorer
Rbertalotto wrote:
Yup, very common problem on 3rd generation trucks. Anyone owning a Dodge diesel needs their head examined if they don't belong to the Turbo Diesel Register

http://www.turbodieselregister.com/

The magazine is pricless to identify issues like this. Interesting to note that of all the generation trucks, the 3rd generation is easily the most reliable. In every issue of the magazine they list issues with each generation. Most generations have a number of pages of issues. The Gen3 trucks barely fill a page! And I've been a member for years.

This 4th injector hose is the #1 issue with third Gen trucks. Many folks carry a spare just in case.


Second this. I was a member when it was an e-mail list back in '95. Then, if I remember correctly, a member created the TDR or maybe a website in between. Very valuable however it came to be.
I think if I were to buy a spare if I still had my '03, I'd go ahead and install it. It looks like it has a better support bracket.
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Bird_Freak
Explorer II
Explorer II
They all seem to have their problems. Good job getting it home.
Eddie
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jmtandem
Explorer II
Explorer II
This 4th injector hose is the #1 issue with third Gen trucks. Many folks carry a spare just in case.


Maybe I will purchase a spare number 4 and the tools to change it. Sounds like cheap insurance.
'05 Dodge Cummins 4x4 dually 3500 white quadcab auto long bed.

Rbertalotto
Explorer
Explorer
Yup, very common problem on 3rd generation trucks. Anyone owning a Dodge diesel needs their head examined if they don't belong to the Turbo Diesel Register

http://www.turbodieselregister.com/

The magazine is pricless to identify issues like this. Interesting to note that of all the generation trucks, the 3rd generation is easily the most reliable. In every issue of the magazine they list issues with each generation. Most generations have a number of pages of issues. The Gen3 trucks barely fill a page! And I've been a member for years.

This 4th injector hose is the #1 issue with third Gen trucks. Many folks carry a spare just in case.
RoyB
Dartmouth, MA
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jmtandem
Explorer II
Explorer II
What I bought to keep in my truck is this: http://www.genosgarage.com/product/lt-testca/tools


I purchased one also. Cummins will run on 5 until you can get to a service facility and this gets the truck off the road or parking lot and avoids the need for a tow truck.
'05 Dodge Cummins 4x4 dually 3500 white quadcab auto long bed.

ajs
Explorer
Explorer
Have read that a lot of people keep a spare #4 injector line in their truck just in case. Not a bad plan to carry a spare one, but unless you have ever actually changed one you might want to rethink your ability to change one out quickly while broken down in the middle of the road. Changing one out is fairly simple in your shop with proper tools (think 3/4" tubing wrench, 10 mm socket with extension at a minimum) you likely have in your shop. Also even in best of conditions it is likely to take close to half an hour because of the limited access and all the stuff in your way. What I bought to keep in my truck is this: http://www.genosgarage.com/product/lt-testca/tools

If I lose an injector tube in the future I just need to simply unhook the common rail end of the leaking tube and pull it out of the way enough to install the cap and be on my way. Even with just a cheap 3/4" wrench or even an adjustable wrench a person should be able to have the engine back running in approximately 5 minutes. All of the common rail fittings (even the most hard to get to #6) are much more accessible than the much harder to get to injector fittings, let alone trying to deal with getting the tube clamp removed. (when I changed out my tube, the clamp mounting bolt was very tight and I needed a 6 point 10 mm socket and a fairly long breaker bar to get it loose without rounding off the head of the bolt) Also, this way if any one of the 6 tubes fail, I have the necessary part to get the engine running again and am able to drive it out of the middle of the road and home or where ever necessary. Just my opinion after dealing with the issue on the road and changing out a tube at home. You need to do what works best for you.

Flashman
Explorer II
Explorer II
Good post

I went out and checked all the clamps on my 2006. All were tight.

Do I need to bulletproof my truck with new head bolts and such? Or is that a problem with another brand?

noteven
Explorer III
Explorer III
bobcouch wrote:
Do they all fail around Christmas?
Here is what happened to us last year - Injector Tube


No ... ours failed 48hrs before lift off for a rv trip... was nice enough to do it in the back yard...

The replacement line is an update that is not supposed to suffer the fatigues.

$41.00 for the new one and a little fiddling to get it changed.

jmtandem
Explorer II
Explorer II
Thanks. Your write up caused me to start thinking about mine at 141,000 miles. So I checked them, all were very tight. I think I will order the part just to be able to fix on the road.
'05 Dodge Cummins 4x4 dually 3500 white quadcab auto long bed.

45Ricochet
Explorer
Explorer
Yes that is a very common problem. That was actually part of my oil change routine, check #4 injector line. Mine never was loose though.
If you haven't read about the water pumps yet you might google them also.
Keep a eye on your weep hole :W
2015 Tiffin Phaeton Cummins ISL, Allison 3000, 45K GCWR
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06 Ram 3500 CC LB Laramie 4x4 Dually 5.9 Cummins Smarty Jr 48RE Jacobs brake
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Grit_dog
Navigator
Navigator
Nice mc gyver job! Helps when you're packing an emergency tow vehicle behind your tow vehicle too!
Yes it's common and easy for about anyone to replace.
Mine lasted 60-70k mi too. Got another 70k on it now with a spare #4 tube behind the back seat.
Other ones have been known to crack but the 4 is the predominant failure. Dealer had a stack of them and already knew which one I needed when I walked in lol.

It's believed the clamp coming loose is what causes the failure. So like the op said check all the tube clamps and make sure they're tight. Plus the new #4 has an updated clamp as seen in the pics.
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