Bad VP44

[thendrex]

As some of you know I've had a post on here for awhile about bleeding the injection pump. I finallty took it to Cummins here in Houston and they say I have a bad VP44. I put on a transfer pump and could never get the thing to bleed out. As I've learned here on TDR, the transfer pump is what cools the VP. Well, mine was a victim to the bad pump. Now I had to learn the hard way about fuel pressure guages. I will be installing one as soon as possible.

Has anyone come up with an alternative to these transfer pumps? I can't believe the poor mileage numbers I am seeing these pumps get. I see some of you getting 30k miles on a pump. Some are even going less. I can't believe Cummins can make such a great engine and have something as poor as this pump to run things. I would like to see an after market company make a pump that would retro fit the factory one. I'd buy one in a second.

Also, while my truck was at Cummins the technician said that he had to unplug my Power Edge. He said that it was "freaking out " his scanning tool. He said he had to leave it unplugged to reset everything where it needed to be. Should I pull the Power Edge off and have it tested or is this something normal that they will see during their tests? Sorry for the book. Thanks for all the help everyone has given me. I wish I would have signed up for membership a year ago. Sorry for the book, and help on the Power Edge will be appreciated!

 

[Steve Campbell]

Todd...

sorry to hear about your problems.



Good of the technician to only unplug your Power Edge, not void your warranty.



You probably need to upgrade your fuel delivery system. It sounds like the best long term route is an aftermarket pump (4601HP from Summitt for me) mounted back by the tank. Then either drill out the banjo bolts (Jeno's has them on page 8) or put in some parker fittings and new hose in their place.



Monitoring that fuel pressure post filter is a good idea in that if the pressure drops, it is time to change filter (no unnecessary changes that way) or the lift pump has failed.



I do not know about the scan tool and the Power Edge

 

[Jetson]

My factory lift pump lasted about 40K miles. Then I put the high volume Carter 4601 HP pump by the fuel tank as that was the supposed answer to the problem. That pump was very noisy and only lasted 10K miles. Then I tried a Mallory 110 pump. It lasted 17K miles, and the fuel pressure was too low from the start. Now I have a Mallory 140 pump, but only 10K miles so far. There is no answer to the problem yet, but I think adding a pusher pump by the tank (6-7 psi Carter) may help add a few miles to the stock Carter pump. Bigsaint has an expensive pump he is trying. Hopefully, it will last longer.

 

[thendrex]

I talked to the tech at Cummins today and they will warranty the pump for one year. Now, if I have pump problems in that one year and they see the pierced wire from the Power Edge on it they will NOT warranty it if it shows a pierced spot. So I was wondering if there was a power box that DIDN'T pierce anything and was a plug in module AND had adjustable capabalities? Something I can plug and unplug without the knowing the better ? I love my PE and I hate to do with out it, but I also don't want to void a warranty on a $1200 pump. Any info would be great guys!

 

[Archive]

Some friend us the Power Pucks, they use the big connector to the pump. . They like them, but they don't have the HP your Comp has... but. . lol. . U might be able to run both??? just don't tap the wire. . for now...

Bryan

 

[thendrex]

Can you use the box without piercing the pump wire?

 

[Bigsaint]

Todd, you are going to have to pierce that wire, one way or another, for the box to work. Blue Chip makes a pump coverplate that hides the pierce, but I seriously doubt that Cummins would not find it if they looked.



You have a couple of alternatives for more power now...



1) larger injectors and the Edge EZ box. The EZ uses the data plug and the MAP plug, doesn't touch the VP44 wire.



2) Edge COMP box, leave the VP44 wire untapped until the warranty expires. The Comp box will work the same as the EZ with the wire untapped. When you tap the wire, you have a power edge and ez box all wrapped into one.



Sorry to hear about the pump, glad to hear that the truck is running again.



I'm guessing that you have the older power edge box ( 3 light). If you already have the Comp. box, then just go to #2.



Scott W.

 

[thendrex]

Big Saint

Thanks for the info BigSaint. That's exactly the information I was looking for. I've priced the COMP boxes and wow! I guess I'll sell my old PE to help take some of the sting off of buying a new one. I don't have any transmission mods so how high can I go on the power level? I was on 3 on the old PE and never had any problems at all! Thanks again for the wealth of info. You all are making this easy!

 

[Bigsaint]

Todd, not sure, which transmission do ya have auto or manual ? If it's auto, I wouldn't go too high in the power upgrades. I'm guessing auto as I see that you have a trans. temp gauge. If that's the case, get the comp. box and use it as an ez box until you upgrade the transmission, for sure.



If it's a manual, the worst case is a toasted clutch. I never pushed mine passed the power of the EZ box, when the big injectors went in, so did the McLeod clutch. I'd be real hesistant to push the envelope with an auto, could get real costly.



You might want to contact Edge and see if they will give you a credit towards a new Comp. box, they are GOOD folks to do business with.



Scott W.

 

[TowPro]

You understand there are 2 kinds of boxes.



Ones that taps the wire at the pump, these produce large HP gains. (this is the one you have)



Ones that either plug into the pump wire connector, or the diag wire connector. These are the EZ, VA, BD has one, Bully dog has one, the Puck, etc, etc. These will give you some HP, but not as much as the boxes that tap the wire.

 

[Steve Campbell]

I do not know about the others...

but I think I know (OK - so maybe this is only heresay) the the Edge Pulse adds 85 HP without piercing a pump wire, only data port and Map sensor plugins.