Fuel pump failure on the 2004 Dodge RAM 2500
When fuel pump failure gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Dodge RAM 2500 report fuel pump failure at a median of 80,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles, from 19 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 55,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 120,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 64,951 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 54,802 miles | 65,429 miles | 81,400 miles | 110,750 miles | 119,753 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $600–$2,600 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 8 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2003, at a median of 40,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 90,000 miles.
By volume the 2001 carries the most reports, with 21; the 2004 has 20. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I was driving on interstate 20 in a 2004 dodge 2500 diesel pickup at 70 MPH when, as I found out later, the lift pump went out leaving me with no power and no warning, with the truck immediately slowing with loss of power steering. I was in the left lane passing a line of trucks at the time with a line of traffic behind me. One of the trucks that I was passing saw the trouble, slowed and allowed me to cut through to the right shoulder, avoiding an accident. I later found out from dealership personnel that this part has a history of going out and that the factory will not allow the part to be replaced but requires a retro fit of a different system to solve the problem. There was no notification of the problem from dodge warning of this possibility. They will not even acknowledge that this part is a problem even though they will not allow dealerships to replace it. It would appear that someone will have to die to get anything done. If this continues to happen , with no warning, I feel certain that someone surely will. If this part has this type of failure, that appears to be well known to them, then it should be recalled and fitted…
The fuel pump on my dodge diesel failed on me while driving with my wife and 2 month old daughter during one of the worst snow/ice storms of the season. We were in rural central missouri about 7 miles from the nearest town. Fortunately we were in an area where we had cell phone service and were able to call a friend to come and get us. What makes me furious is that I later found out this type of malfunction is very common and dodge has actually discontinued the original under hood fuel pump because of it's poor history and I had to pay almost $900 to have an in tank fuel pump installed. I feel this should be a recall item because I don't feel I should have to pay for their poor engineering. *tr
I am concerned with my 2004 dodge p/u 2500 diesel. On 1/17/08 I had to have my transfer pump (fuel pump) replaced. When it went out I was driving and had no prior warnings that it was going out or was bad. When it went out I was stranded and had to be towed but was luckily in a situation where I could maneuver my truck to the side of the road safely. When I called the dealership later that day to see if they had a chance to diagnose the problem the service guy I talked to said he hadn't looked at it, but was positive it was the fuel pump due to the amount of them they have had to replace. It seems to be very common for this year truck and previous year dodges to have this problem. The dealerships are very aware of it and are now replacing them with the new style that seem to not have the problems of the pre-2005's. I checked with the dealership to see if my transfer pump had been replaced with the new style pump and was told no that it been replaced with the old style that have all the problems. My truck is still under warranty and I feel that due to the safety issues that could come from your pump going out while driving they…
Also reported on the 2004 Dodge RAM 2500
Other steering problem
Other powertrain problem
Other suspension problem
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Other body or interior problem
Airbag inflator rupture
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 20 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does fuel pump failure happen on the 2004 Dodge RAM 2500?
Across 19 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 80,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel pump failure on the 2004 Dodge RAM 2500?
20 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed