Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Carter pusher saves my butt - AGAIN!

[Gary - K7GLD]

On our trip from Eastern Oregon down here to Lodi California for Thanksgiving, the truck gave out a sudden BURP as we were driving out of Sacramento in rush hour traffic headed for Lodi about 20 miles down the pike. Got a CES light, and a glance at the fuel pressure guage showed ZERO fuel PSI!



Couldn't pull over - too much traffic and no place to park anyway.



Slowed to 50 mph, and had 1/2 LB PSI, so limped on down the freeway slowly to Lodi and the kid's place. The pusher pump was ALL that kept us going - and IT was working against the blockage of the totally stopped stock LP.



This is the THIRD time that same pusher has saved my bacon!



I seriously doubt the VP-44 could have SUCKED fuel from the tank on it's own, and we COULD have been in deep doo-doo!



Got to the kid's place, first verified the pusher WAS working - it was - so then checked the LP, AFTER working the power connector into it, and IT took off and we again had full PSI!



Reached down, and the LP power plug easily came free of the LP - looked to see if the securing clip had broken, but it was OK, so reinserted it FULLY, and the locking clip clicked into place, and the plug was secure, and LP running great!



Dunno HOW or WHY it had worked loose...



NOW, my added Carter 4600 pusher has a bypass valve setup that allows fuel flow AROUND the pump if it fails, and testing proves it work great. BUT, the LP *doesn't* yet have one, and THAT was potentially a BIG problem in this instance - so guess what my NEXT project will be when we return home next week... :-laf



There's a moral to this story for other pusher pump users - I'll let you figure it out... :-laf :-laf



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[GOT-Torque]

Gary,



Maybe this is a dumb question, but does the setup in your pic use a check valve or anything to prevent the fuel from just circling thru the lift pump over and over (during idling conditions) and just creating excess heat?

 

[klaybus]

Yep... . He's got a ball check of sorts. I've read his posts regarding his pusher setup. Do a search by user name & you'll find the thread.



Clay

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Here's details on that bypass/checkvalve:



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59880



A couple of "humerous" comments from me in that thread, where I comment I haven't had the time or motivation to similarly bypass the stock LP - I guess I've now had the "motivation", and will MAKE the time! :-laf :-laf

 

[KTobin]

Gary, that's exactly what my bench testing showed would happen to vp fuel pressure if the stock LP failed with a healthy pusher. I'm glad you made it to your destination OK but I have to snicker. I copied your pusher setup right down to the high flow/low flow bypass. However, I kept going and wrapped the stock LP the same way knowing that the pusher cannot push through non rotating vanes of an electrically dead stock LP.



Kevin

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

The thing, other than laziness, that has stopped me from using the same bypass arrangement on the LP itself, is the threads used into the LP, I can't find to proper matching brass fittings at my local hardware store, so will hafta improvise...

 

[R-N-R]

LOL, I thought seriously about putting a bypass on the LP as well but left it short by only putting one on the pusher. I though I had already gone into "overkill". Now I will add this to my list of winter projects. Thanks for sharing Gary!



Here is my current setup

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