DD Pusher Pump installed

[ThomasLawrence]

Well, this was a fun day



Basically, this kit involves installing the pump on the frame rail, cutting the fuel supply line, removing the stock lift pump, and changing some fittings on both the fuel filter canister and the CP3.



The 3rd Gen's make it a royal b**** to do any sort of work on the lift pump... it's tough to get to it from up top, because it sits so low in the engine compartment, and yet it's up high enough (and blocked by the starter, drive shaft, trans cooler, etc. ) to make it almost impossible to get to from below.



So, I struggled for the better part of the day, finally getting the stock pump removed, and the new fitting installed on the back of the housing. Prior to this, I called in the calvary to come help (friend of mine with really long arms ). He arrived just in time to install the fuel line from the housing to the CP3.



Strugging a bit more, and jockeying positions between lying across the engine reaching down, and standing underneath the truck reaching up (how did I ever get this stuff done before I had a lift? ), we got the stock fuel line removed, and the new flare fitting installed and torqued.



We fought the truck for the next 30 minutes trying to get the damn flare fitting threaded on... it was in such a position where neither of us could do more than get our fingertips on it. Then, at one point, while we were both underneath the truck, he looks at the wheel well and says, "hey, let me try it from the side". I wanted to slam my head against the lift... why hadn't I thought of that 5 hours earlier?!



Sure enough, we pulled the wheel well liner out, and what was previously impossible became one of the easiest jobs that could have been done. Had I done this from the beginning, I would have saved myself a good 3 hours, about 50 less swear words, and about 20 psi on my blood pressure.



Well, live and learn, I guess. The rest of the job was simple from then on out (mainly because we were almost done at that point). I hooked up the tubing from the fuel isolator (installed previously along with a FP gauge) to the supply line (DD supplies all the required fittings and adapters), made sure everything was tight, bumped the starter to run the pump, saw no leaks (yeah, I couldn't believe it either), and bled the air from the fuel side of the isolator (via a convenient bleeder screw on the isolator itself). Of course, if you do the same, don't have your face right in front of the isolator when you remove the bleeder screw. 15psi sends diesel in a pretty powerful stream, right into my face.



Tomorrow, I just have to double-check all the connections for leaks, dress the lines and wires with copious amounts of zip ties, and put the fender liner back in. Scratch the fuel system from the list of "to do's"... now all that's left is a turbo and a transmission, and I should be ready for the TST box



All in all, this is a nice kit, with very good instructions. I would just suggest adding a tip about attacking the stock pump from the wheel well, for idiots like me who don't realize that themselves



-Tom

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Another tip: it's hard to bleed all the air from the antifreeze/water side. After a while, you will have poor fuel pressure on the gauge--but wait--the pump is OK, you just finally pushed the air up to the gauge. Bleed that side carefully, and pressure will be up again.



I agree it seems like the 3rd gen took a giant step toward welding the hood shut with a label "no user serviceable parts inside. "

 

[ThomasLawrence]

Another tip: it's hard to bleed all the air from the antifreeze/water side.

I have that part pretty much covered. First, I switched over to 1/4"OD tubing, rather than the supplied 1/8". The 1/4" is much easier to bleed. Then, I filled a length of tubing with coolant mix, using a hand-held vacuum pump. I capped the one end, and installed the other end onto the gauge. With the fitting on the gauge loose (and wrapped up in shop towels), I removed the cap on the other end, and tightened up the fitting while coolant leaked out. Now with about 12" of air in the top of the tube, I hooked up the vacuum pump again and drew a vacuum on the tubing, which brought any remaining air in the gauge up to the top (gauge was on the floor). Finally, I topped off the fluid in the tube, and re-capped it.



I then installed the gauge into the pod, feeding the tubing down and through the firewall (still plugged and full of fluid). Holding the tubing above the level of the gauge, I cut it to length, attached it to the isolator, then topped off the isolator with coolant before installing the diaphragm and re-assembling.



The end result was (as far as I can tell), no air at all in the tubing. I spent a lot of time previously with the 1/8" tubing, trying to get it filled, and had a lot of trouble. The 1/4" made life a lot easier. I left the fuel side at 1/8", because I didn't want to compromise the pre-made 'T' fitting, and the bleed screw on the isolator made it a non-issue anyway.



-Tom

 

[Blakers]

Originally posted by Joseph Donnelly

Another tip: it's hard to bleed all the air from the antifreeze/water side.

Would glycerin work good in the tube?

 

[KLockliear]

It's much easier on a lift.

 

[DaveMorris]

Thomas,

Thanks for the fender liner advise, sounds like a lesson well learned



Give us some feed back on the pump, is it noisy, did it help? Where is the filter now? Could you take your system back to original if needed, or is it a perminant change?



thanks,

Dave

 

[ThomasLawrence]

Dave,



In the brief amount of time I ran it yesterday, I'd say it's no louder than the stock pump. FP was 15psi at idle. I'll see what it's like under driving conditions today.



Yes, it's possible to go back to stock. You'd just have to shorten the steel supply line that was removed a few inches and splice the two pieces together with a rubber hose. The filter is in the same place it always was - the fuel filter housing remains, you just remove the lift pump from the back of it. Note that the fuel supply line is permanently attached to the lift pump - you disconnect the line about 20" away, where there's a quick-connect between the steel and rubber lines.



Keith - yeah, it is... but still. You must have skinnier arms than me



-Tom

 

[KLockliear]

I'm sure Lewis does (he does most of the back shop work).