Education on Lift pumps.

[NSperduto]

Hoping someone could help educate me on lift pump, injection pumps, etc.

I and my buddies all have 3rd gen pickups. two 03's, two 04's, one '04. 5 and one '05.

We were on a trip with a buddy with a 96 and his truck broke down and he's been stuck now 400 miles from home waiting on a lift pump install by a cummins shop. We tried changing the filter and repriming it before calling a wrecker)(dealer couldn't get it in for service for 4 days. )



Anyway this led us to discussing our trucks and what would we do in event of a breakdown. All the trucks are stock engines with no mods and other than towing our campers for some trips, the trucks are not run hard.



Correct me if I'm wrong but after a couple hours surfing TDR, I think I'm reading that 03-04. 5 have a lift pump attached to the fuel filter housing and 05 has it in the tank. So the 05 pump is a pusher lift pump and the older is a puller lift pump ?

If the early pump goes bad, DC replaces it with an intank model or I can replace with an after market model myself.

I'm not sure what the options are(who mfgr's) for a stock pump for a stock truck or how difficult the install is

There's 2 pumps ? one for lifting the fuel up to the filter and another for injecting it ? Are the early lift pumps (non tank mounted) prone to failure on stock engines ? How reliable are the injection pumps ?



Short of just swapping out a good pump for an aftermarket pump, is there anything else that can be done to extend the life of the current lift pump or is the stock pump a piece of crap just waiting to die. Nobody has hit the 100k mark on their trucks yet.

Trucks range from 30k to 80k miles and nobody has had any fuel issues.



Also, if the non tank lift pump goes bad, is there anyway to get the truck to run. I read a bit of someone doing some kind of bypass, and temporarily running off the injection pump. but I searched and couldn't find anymore info about what is needed to be done. I could carry a new pump, but is there, is there something I can carry with me that could help in a pinch. besides a new pump. It would suck to break down with my 34 foot camper on the back in the middle of nowhere. Or am I worried about nothing.



So, could someone break it down in plain english and help educate a newbie or maybe point me to a FAQ that I'm missing somewhere.



Also is CP3 how people are referring the the injection pump.

Thanks,

Nick

 

[TCDiesel]

We have customers with over 100k factory mounted, I have 75k on my 03 factory mounted Pump, the mounted pump will not break Dyno or track records. I like the ease of replacing the the mounted Pump, you can easily remove and install in less then 30 minutes. the CP3 is the pressure pump that feeds the rail (CR) working Pressure is 5k to 24k stock 30k max.

 

[SDunkle600]

You are correct on your observations with respect to the lift pump locations. The 05 and up as well as the dealer retrofit kit is an in-tank lift pump solution. There are a few options on the market if you are interested in taking preventive measures against the factory lift pump. Many people have gone with the Glacier Diesel Performance kit which uses a Walbro pump and some have used a Holley as a replacement. From what I have read, the Glacier kit is as easy as it comes to replace both the LP on the filter housing or the in-tank (05 and up). I can't speak from experience though. I have been looking into the Glacier kit myself along with the 2 micron filter kit. Maybe someone can chime in that is using one of these solutions.

It seems that they wear much quicker with any fueling mods.

As TWest stated, the CP3 is the pump that takes fuel delivered from LP and pressurizes it into the common rail.

 

[jjdiesel]

www.glacierdieselpower.com I just installed the 392 kit, piece of cake, fuel pressure to 18#'s cruising. More reliable than the stock set-up. IMHO

 

[JensenD]

I just had the 392 kit with 2 micron filter installed, what a difference over the stock pump. Justs did 3400 miles with it and my quad box performed better, the truck pulled like never before (5000 lb trailer on the back), mileage went up from 3/4 - 2 pg (speed dependent, hand calculated). Best part, if it ever fails just unplug the electrical back to the stocker and up and running again. Best mod beside tc and vb I have done. I did the change for reliability as i am on the road 30-40k per year. Did not expect the performance gain, so obviously the stock pump really limits this motor. Made the quad std box act like a new unit, much more bottom and mid range.

 

[steved]

In short, the 03s and the 04. 5 will quit running if the LP dies, the 05 will continue running.

Reason: the fuel bowl mounted pumps will not allow fuel to pass them. The CP3 is fully capable of pulling fuel from the tank. The intank pump on the 05 will bypass fuel IIRC, and therefore the truck will continue to run.

I have a FASS and have been more than satified with it... the FASS, Airdog, RASP, and GPD kits are all good choices from what I have read.


steved

 

[JStegall]

Does anyone have a picture of the filter mounted pump? Trying to determine what I have.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I have the FASS but if the in-tank kit had been available when I bought it, I would have gone that way.

 

[AEdelheit]

In short, the 03s and the 04. 5 will quit running if the LP dies, the 05 will continue running.

Reason: the fuel bowl mounted pumps will not allow fuel to pass them. The CP3 is fully capable of pulling fuel from the tank. The intank pump on the 05 will bypass fuel IIRC, and therefore the truck will continue to run.

I have a FASS and have been more than satified with it... the FASS, Airdog, RASP, and GPD kits are all good choices from what I have read.


steved

The problem with the CP3 pulling fuel through a dead in tank pump is that you dont realize the LP died untill your stuck in a very inconvienent location at lets say 10pm when its snowing out climbing in altitude causing the CP3 to loose prime, lesson learned there.

 

[bchesley]

I just installed a Fass95 Titanium pump last month. I actually purchased it back in 2011 because I was worried my stock one was on its way out at 150k. I ended up getting 230k out the stock pump. I never thought it would die actually, but wish it would have sooner as I love the FASS. Even if you never add any power, the additional filtration should be worth the cost.

 

[mfurrh55]

You can install an in tank pump, i put one in my 01, 8 yrs. ago, it ran great with it,Monte

 

[jwduke]

www.glacierdieselpower.com I just installed the 392 kit, piece of cake, fuel pressure to 18#'s cruising. More reliable than the stock set-up. IMHO

Do you have a link to the actual kit? Can't seem to find it... thanks!

 

[JSTC]

How much fuel is in the tank? On the 96, I had a similar problem. The in tank fuel pick up tube is a hard coiled plastic tube that rubbed a hole around half way up. Truck ran great until fuel level fell down to where it was sucking air. Took me a while to figure it out. My friends 96 had a pin hole on top of the canister from rust. Quick fix was a piece of fuel hose dropped down in the tank.