Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Justify VP44 price...

[dpallas]

How can anybody justify the price of a rebuilt VP pump? what sort of magical powers are out there that only a select few have that would cost $200-$300 per hour, I mean our we saving lives, dodging bullets, entering burning buildings to save someone? I just don't get it, I see rebuild kits on ebay for $50 bucks what's the story ?, someone enlighten me... . I'm fully aware of economics, supply and demand, capitalism etc. but rippoff = ripoff and not to insult anyone's particular talents either, just don't get it, mayby I'll just buy a complete rebuilt engine, seems like dollar for dollar that's a better investment, might as well drop 5k on a complete engine verse 1,500 on a rebuilt injection pump. or mayby i'm way off base and it takes 80 hrs to rebuild a pump... . ?

 

[Batphreak]

those 50-ish dollar rebuild kits look to be just seals and such. I believe a real rebuild of a VP-44 involves more than seals, plenty of internal hard parts and usually a new housing. Do a google Search for "VP44 rebuild kits" and there are a number of other Dodge Diesel forums that have discussed these kits over the past couple years. Once the pump is torn down it also needs to be calibrated on a Bosch supplied test stand, sounds like those cost a bit and shops have to amortize that equipment price into their rebuilds.

 

[HBarlow]

I think I paid around $1400 for a Cummins reman VP-44 from a Cummins dealer years ago. It had a Cummins reman parts warranty.

I didn't feel like I was ripped off even when we realized that my mechanic friend and I had jointly misdiagnosed the problem and nothing was wrong with my original VP. Mistakes are made.

 

[FourBarR]

Many years ago I worked as a diesel mechanic . Time was spent rebuilding injectors ,for gm ,cat,international. Also injection pumps for IH , Cat, bosch, and Roosa Master. Rebuilding injection pumps is not for the untrained. Tolorances ,cleanness , proper test bench ,that is calibrated to the manufactures specs and a well trained tech. I have a spare vp-44 bought 2 years ago for 1000. 00 plus taxes. I consider it a good deal considering what has to be done to make it reliable.

 

[Ncostello]

If you have ever been around diesels, and spent any money repairing injection systems of any kind or type... consider $1000-$1500 for a professionally rebuilt VP44 injection pump an outstanding VALUE!!!!!



You cannot simply throw some seals and parts to it and call it good. You have to know how to do it, have the tools to do it, the knowledge to do it... and most importantly the equipment to TEST it once completed. It's not a Holley 4-barrel.



Fact is... many professional BOSCH shops around the nation used to NOT have the test run equipment necessary to rebuild a VP44 and could not begin to rebuild them with any kind of success. Reason... it cost as much as a nice house to get the equipment. Nowadays the equipment is finally in place at a cost shops can afford (with the prospect to make money from it) and independent shops can rebuild them at a more affordable cost. Used to be way more direct from Bosch.



Considerser yourself lucky you don't have to replace injectors in a Duramax, or the high pressure oil pump and head gaskets in a Powerstroke. You're talking $2000-$4000 assuming nothing else is wrong and all goes well. And thats only one of the many things that can go wrong with them. The VP44 is about the only major thing that can go wrong on an ISB... unlike common rail injection systems.



Many times over... Duramax and Powerstoke (and even newer Cummins owners) WISHED that the cost of a VP44 was all they had to spend to make their trucks run properly. They'd give anything to have this as their major problem.



The VP44 is a complicated little piece of machinery. It is electronic. It is mechanical. Its electro-mechanical! It was a way to meet emission regulations until 2003... without a total redesign like the commonrail design. It worked. And it does a decent job... even though its got a tough job.



I guess the same could be said for open heart surgery. Why so expensive? Its just a few tools and some guy standing there (with some training) with a bright light... a cut here, a cut there... a few stitches, little bit of numbing agent, a few hours time.

 

[fox]

I think I read some time ago the test equipment to do it is something like $60,000.



Put a guy in front of it every day and have him do 3-4 pumps a day and even $2,000 is a good deal.



It is a precision piece and it takes skill to do it right so there are a minimum comebacks.

 

[Ncostello]

Back in the early days of reman VP44's... the figure for the equipment from one particular Bosch dealer I got was around $120,000. Either way... its very expensive.



It's kinda like the home garage common-rail injector "rebuilders". They claim they are rebuilt... and they claim new parts go in them just like factory. But they never work, and never last. On those injectors, Bosch testing equipment actually doesn't measure the fuel delivered... but rather the amount of air displaced by the fuel in the test cell. The fly-by-night rebuilders never mention this equipment.