i just bought my 2001 2500hd last month. truck ran great until friday when i towed my 9600 lb boat for the first road trip. everything was going good for 30 minutes then the service eng light came on at the same time a thump and truck slowed to 45 mph could get no more. took to a Autozone nearby and the put the computer on and it read fuel leak (major).
could find no leaks and decided to take to dealer.
on the way, in stop and go traffic, sometimes i could not get over 15 mph and other times up to 35mph after turning motor off at traffic light.
got to dealer and they replaced fuel filter (warranty) and so i think my problem solved. (crankcase not full of fuel, no leaks, no smoke).
fishing trip saved!! NOT!! ten minutes of highway driving later and same
prob. back to dealer near closing and not much they could do. limped truck and trailer back home turning off engine evry time limp in mode re-occured. this problem does not occur when not towing. help, any suggestions?

Could be a number of things, who knows what that truck had done to it before you bought it. I had the same code on my Tahoe when they changed the fuel pump and left a quick connect fuel line loose on top of the fuel tank. No fuel on ground but it was part of the emmisions detection setting a major fuel leak code.

Hoseman,

Sorry to hear about your trouble. Keep this thread bumped and people here will chime in.....this is a great source of knowledge.

Well, I would have done the same thing you dealer did in that situation with that code.

keep a very close eye on the engine oil. If you have a major internal leak it will show signs of fuel in your oil. If it gets really bad it will puke out on the ground because the 01's don't have a PCV system, just a hose to the road.

That code is thrown by the ECM when the CP3 pump can't maintain the fuel pressure that is commanded by the ECM. So when towing your computer asks for 19,000 PSI and the system can only make 12K PSI....after a while it will throw that code.

Sometimes it is a major fuel leak...sometimes it is a plugged filter or something...changed the filter.....so that takes care of that....I wonder if the fuel pressure regulator is shot.....

I'm no mechanic.....just a shade tree......maybe Dmaxallitech or one of the other mechanics will chime in..

Good Luck! The Dmax is really a good motor....

whats up ? have identical problem towing my trailer. goes to limp the dealer says fuel filter but its not. its injectors, there just trying to get out of it. taking it in again this week will see what happends...

it's at the dealer now. i went back a few pages on this board and saw another similar scenario and i now believe it to be the injectors. will know more tomorrow. dealer said tech had done 75% of his analyisis and should know tomorrow AM.

I had the same problem with mine. The dealer changed the pressure regulator same problem. Tried to tow 12000 trailer went to limp mode. Dealer changed injectors same problem when towing. Dealer changed out injector pump and cured problem. Truck would run real good not towing. All codes showed high fuel leak.

I've had my injectors replaced three times now. Each time they've gone south, I got the same thing you speak of. Limp mode, with "Large leak detected". Be sure to tell the dealership to replace all the injectors, not just the bad one or two or three. And don't let them tell you that your footing the bill. The injectors have a 200,000 mile warranty on them. Hope that helps.......

I have exactly the same problem. Dealer checked it out and replaced the fuel filter, same problem, only now it happens while I am driving regularly. Will check for diesel in the oil. Please post results here.

I've had a situation like this where I was towing a 9000# trailer and it would either sputter and die on its own, or barely run at speeds no faster than 35-40 mph. Initially I'd let the thing sit for a few minutes and it would start and run for a while, but then after a few more minutes it would bog down and die. Same thing after a fuel filter change. I finally decided that air was getting drawn into the system somehow and was causing it to lose prime. I noted that when it would die, re-priming at the filter head until the button became hard to depress allowed it to start right up. I also have noticed that this has not happened since running several tanks of biodiesel through the system. Whether it was air leakage from the priming screw or a filter o-ring or wherever, or a case of crap/water in the tank, I haven't had any more problems in just over a year.

You might want to rethink where you buy your fuel - you might have gotten part of a bad batch. It doesn't really sound like an injector problem to me.

my 01 has been doing the limp mode thing since new. it started out just pulling my snowmobile trailer and progressively got worse now it go in limp empty at about 75 mph on the highway. the dealer put three sets of injecters, 5 fuel filters and 2 injections pumps. It in the dealer again now and this time they say its the fuel lines. according to the them the fuel lines are collapsing when it demanding alot of fuel. anyone told that yet. I'll find out this week if it worked.

I had the same problem only my truck would limp without a trailer. I changed two fuel filters and the fuel lines that they are talking about. Neither fixed my truck. I carried it to the local dealership and the tech said it was likely the injectors. I really didn't think that it would be because I didn't have any other symptoms, like fuel in my oil etc. Anyway he put the injectors in and bam. it's fixed. If you have already relplaced the fuel filter I would just take it in to the dealer. They can check the demands on the fuel rails to see if it is the pump or injectors..
I read a good bit about this when I was having my trouble and it seems that if it isn't the filter it will be the... FPRV the injectors the injection pump the fuel hoses ( which are leading in to and out of the fuel filter housing mine were kind of soft but they were nt bad) or the regulator.

GOOD LUCK

I have essentially the same symptoms. 2001 3500, 60k miles.

Under load (cruise control on going up an incline) it suddenly looses power and goes into limp mode. Service engine light comes on. Can then only drive at some limited speed, usually the limit starts at 65 but if I keep driving, the limit will begin to drop - 45, 35....

If I turn the engine off for a minute, it resets and power is restored. But once it happens, it is inclined to happen again soon. This seems to happen only when I've been driving for a couple hours (temp related?).

Took it to the dealer, who replaced all 8 injectors. That did not solve the problem. They have it again right now, but they don't seem to have any idea how to fix this.

Sounds like this a common problem.

Are there any solutions? What to look for?

i just got my '01 back yesterday it had the same problems going in limp. the dealer put fuel lines and an injector pump it seemed to do the trick. although its already had the pump replaced twice before. along with three sets of injectors.

My '03 began acting up this morning pulling a 2-car trailer, 14k lb or so. Check eng light stays on anyway since I put on the Edge J/A, 4" exhaust and Volant CAI, so no telling if it threw a new code, though I suspect it did. Will check it when I return to my shop.

Are these symptoms same as the rest of you? Loss of power, more smoke out the exhaust, loss of boost (varying, sometimes 11psi and sometimes will not top 4-5psi), then a short period of miraculous recovery (a min. or two, a few miles), then right back to acting like a POS again? This all just started this morning.

TIA for any info, and good luck with yours!

Brian Flanagan

I got the truck back from the dealer - problem remains. Dealer says the computer didn't log any error codes? I thought it always holds the codes.

Changing the injectors did change the symptoms some. With the old injectors the problem would happen and the "service engine" light would come on and stay on for several days. Now the problem still happens, but the "service engine" light comes on, but is clear by the next day if not sooner.

Short of investing in OBD tool, is there any way I can find the codes myself? My other truck had a way of displaying codes to the dash.

you guys are making me feel like i shouldnt bought dmax,injectors,pumps,fuel lines?these things are only a couple of yrs old!,i sold a 84 f350 w/6.9 that had 275k and didnt have these problems.mine is going to the dealer today to seek a power problem.good luck everyone