There may well be a lesson or two in this short story, read on.
My truck died on the freeway, no shoulder, on a pass in Idaho, Memorial day weekend. Camper on and boat behind. Fortunately we had cell service. Unfortunately AAA said "So sorry, you are not covered because of the camper" I said "How about paying what you would pay to tow a KIA and we will pay the rest?" AAA says "So sorry, get lost" After 20 years of paying annual dues no less. Lesson number one-get the RV coverage, along with the "plus" which will allow a tow up to 100 miles.
Lesson number two-Don't expect to find a rental car on Memorial day. The tow company was very helpful but we were basically stuck.
The service people initially said I needed a new transfer pump, that turned into 2 weeks (just got my truck back last night) and 6 new injectors, injector pumps and a bunch of other stuff 5000$ in total, you read it right five thousand, because they said I got some "bad fuel" somewhere. Luckily all but 200 was paid for by warrenty.
Lesson number three-Don't get any bad fuel. This I could use some help with, I have had experienced people say "buy fuel only in places with high turn over like truck stops, because diesel goes nasty, grows a fungus or something", Others have said, "always add an additive, increase the cetane and counter for the low sulpher product out there" Now I freak out when I need fuel, wondering if this is the tank that will cause history to repeat itself.
Any words of wisdom out there?
Lesson number four-Have some valium handy for when the tow truck guy, with missing teeth, tattoos, pants half off his butt, and a cigarett hanging out the side of his mouth, says (while pulling your rig up on one of those new fangled platform style tow trucks) "Man is this outfit ever heavy"
2004 Dodge 1 ton, Firestone airbags, Rancho 9000's front and rear. 10.4 Citation slide in.
Sounds like time for a new emergency roadside service to me. We have been with Good Sam ERS for several years and have been very happy with their service when needed. No hassles about what kind of vehicle you have. Both times I needed service I was in the middle of nowhere and still had help within an hour.
The greater likelyhood was your lift pump died. The 24 valve cummins is notorious for that, the eletric lift pumps have a bad habit of dying. Once they go, the injector pump will try to continue pulling the fuel and burn itself and the injection system up.
It likely wasn't "bad fuel", just the notorious ****ty eletric lift pump. This could happen again, the rule of thumb is to get a fuel pressure gauge installed and monitor the fuel pressure, and also to carry a spare lift pump. If the pressure drops too low or to nothing, you immediately stop driving and install said new lift pump.
There's been many threads discussing this over the years. It was one advantage the older 12 valves had was they used a mechanical lift system that was less prone to failure and expensive injector repair.
Follow me as I full-time the Redneck Way at The Journey of the Redneck Express CBChannel 17Redneck Express '1992Dodge W-250 "Dually" Power Wagon - Club Cab Long Bed 4x4 V8 5.9L gashog w/4.10 Geared axles '1974KIT Kamper 1106 - 11' Slide-in
Sorry you had a bad experience in Idaho. All of our tow truck drivers don't look like that. As far as purchasing your fuel you are doing everything right. I'm surprised your warranty covered the repairs if it was due to bad fuel. The only advice I can give you is you MAY have the roll over valve problem on top of your fuel tank that will allow moisture and dirt to enter your tank. Dodge refuses to recognize this problem until the 2006 model year where there is a TSB to fix it. The problem is two open valves on the top of the tank. They are down in a depression where water and dirt will settle. Once the contaminant level reaches the valve it can easily enter the tank. All the valves are is a plastic barb designed to hold a 1/4" fuel hose. Grab a mirror and crawl under your truck. Check the top of the tank for these barbs. If there is no hose attached to them then you can get water in your tank. Take a couple of 1/4" fuel lines about 6" long and slide over the barbs. That's all the TSB is. Gets the open end of the valve up and out of the depression. Some guys are getting very elaborate stringing fuel lines and attaching fuel filters but I think the TSB method should suffice. As for additives, an independent diesel mechanic I know and trust strongly recommends Lucas in every tank. It's a little spendy but worth it to me. Finding it in gallon containers at truck stops helps the cost too. Also Joe is right on the lift pump and fuel pressure gauges. There are also some aftermarket pumps to resolve the problem. JMHO Good Luck
2011 F250 Super Cab Lariat 6.2 373 FX4 Short Box 4" BDS, 35" Toyos, TorkLift, 16.5K Warn, Locked & Loaded
2007 SunLite Pop Up
26th Marines RVN 69-70 Semper Fi M-14 was the only Woodstock I saw in 1969. JANE CALL HOME
1 800 HANOI
The only time I have had fuel problems was when I bought fuel from a very busy truck stop. They sold me some water with the diesel. It took about 3 months for the water to stop appearing in the separator.
U-m-m-m-m....let's see....you have AAA road service but did not get the RV coverage. Seems there is a lesson here for all of us if we have AAA road service. That is why we have Good Sams. Have not needed it and have paid for over ten years, but if we do, am sure they will treat us right, as so many folks have reported.
Glad to hear Cummins has it's problems also; was ready to ditch the Ford PSD and go Dodge.
if you were here in the northeast even if you did have rv coverage with AAA where you are they dont have it here,but good sam and a few others are good all over the country.
1985 Class A Holiday Rambler Imperial 33 +1979 Class C Holiday Rambler Statesman 1000 = 24 ft
We had the same problem and as JoeChiOhki says it's not the fuel. And our warranty company paid for the repairs, too. I'm with others -- get GS ERS plan.
I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.
Dee & Bob
1990 Fleetwood 5er
2 cats - Donner and Dasher
12 grandkids
Ditto on going with Good Sam. They will also cover you if you have trouble with the boat trailer.
Good Sam also has a lock-out service which we have, hmmmm, used twice in the past year. Both times at pretty remote campgrounds. Luckily, one of them had a pay phone and the other one was within cell phone coverage.
Yes, we now have a key hidden!
Marilyn w/ Joe, 2000 Xplorer Class B van, usually pulling a Ranger bass boat.
Smudge, (in photo) a Shih Tzu/Yorkie Mix and Gizmo is waiting at the Rainbow Bridge
Well, a couple of things here. First, since I have a TT it's not the same as yours, but the last time I needed AAA (stranded in Ohio with a dead alternator) I was able to just drop the trailer and have them tow my TV - lIke I said, not the same.
However, as far as bad fuel goes, I can give you advice that comes directly from my Dad who drove a tanker for Texaco for 22 years. Never buy fuel from a station that has a tanker delivering fuel or has just had one. It stirs up sediment from the tanks and until the tanks settle again it can cause all kinds of problems.
2000 27' Fleetwood Prowler
2007 Ford F150 Supercrew XLT 5.4L
'94 son & '95 daugher.
RV'ing or Camping in one form or another all my life.
Offline
As far as purchasing your fuel you are doing everything right. I'm surprised your warranty covered the repairs if it was due to bad fuel. The only advice I can give you is you MAY have the roll over valve problem on top of your fuel tank that will allow moisture and dirt to enter your tank. Dodge refuses to recognize this problem until the 2006 model year where there is a TSB to fix it. The problem is two open valves on the top of the tank. They are down in a depression where water and dirt will settle. Once the contaminant level reaches the valve it can easily enter the tank. All the valves are is a plastic barb designed to hold a 1/4" fuel hose. Grab a mirror and crawl under your truck. Check the top of the tank for these barbs. If there is no hose attached to them then you can get water in your tank. Take a couple of 1/4" fuel lines about 6" long and slide over the barbs. That's all the TSB is. Gets the open end of the valve up and out of the depression. Some guys are getting very elaborate stringing fuel lines and attaching fuel filters but I think the TSB method should suffice. As for additives, an independent diesel mechanic I know and trust strongly recommends Lucas in every tank. It's a little spendy but worth it to me. Finding it in gallon containers at truck stops helps the cost too. Also Joe is right on the lift pump and fuel pressure gauges. There are also some aftermarket pumps to resolve the problem. JMHO Good Luck 
