lift pump #3

[MikeR]

Well, the truck just sucked lift pump #3 last week(60k mi). I'm averaging 20k per pump. This test gauge says my injection pump is actually pulling vacuum! Time to get serious for pump #4... Mallory 4140M here I come!



-Mike

 

[DEZLPWR]

Mike...

Did any of your lift pumps last less than 6mos? The reason I ask is that when I bought my lift pump from Cummins, they said that it was warrantied for 6 mos and I believe, unlimited miles.

Just curious... .



Steve

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Major bummer Mike. At the rate you're going you'll be getting as fast as Evan when it comes to swappin' em out



If you don't want to spend the bucks for the Mallory, go for the Carter 140gph unit from Summit. It is basically the same pump but with a larger pump head and larger fittings. You'll have to do some fuel line BOMBing. I think Evan went with the Carter and mounted it near his tank.



Hope you get it BOMBed and Bulletproofed this time. . .



Vaughn

 

[Un-Hemi]

..... And a pre-filter/water separator before the pump is a good idea, even though there is a filter of some kind in the fuel tank.

 

[Jim Fulmer]

Tommy your right there is a screen at the pickup point in the tank. Has dodge ever had a recall in the lift pumps for you guys, it just seems sad that you have to carry a spare lift pump with the spare fuel filter, I'm felling your pain.



Jim(your half brother)

 

[Bob Wagner]

Hey -Mike, what symptoms did your truck show?



Thanks,

 

[B. Gill]

good to see you post again TT,how is your set up working so far ?

thanks

bob

 

[John]

Carter lift pump

Mike, the only place the OE Carter lift pumps belong is in a landfill! Sixty thousand miles? Man, you've almost caught up to me.



I'm extremely pleased with my Mallory 4140M electric fuel pump.



A pre-filter (40 micron or smaller filtering media) upstream of the Mallory fuel pump is a requirement by Mallory.



Vaughn: yes, Evan has a Carter HP (15 psi) electric fuel pump he mounted along the inside of the frame rail ahead of the fuel tank (purchased through a local performance warehouse). He has been very pleased with its operation thus far. BTW, he does not use the OE lift pump at the OE location.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

John, speaking of prefilters, here is a reasonably priced Edelbrock filter from Summit that should do the trick. Flows almost 1000ghp and filters to 10 microns. Spec it out:



http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=15895



Vaughn

 

[MikeR]

Bob,



As you saw, my truck has been running flawlessly. It ran good on the dyno a couple of weeks ago, and when I swapped my stage 2 injectors back in, the truck reprimed without bleeding and started up in a heartbeat.

Last monday I drove around and the truck ran just as good as always. I even refilled at Flying J and calculated an 18mpg tank.

On tuesday I went to Puyallup and as soon as I got on I-5 the truck surged and struggled to zip onto the freeway. Flooring the throttle the truck was slow to respond above 2k rpm and the slow boost gauge indicated the truck wasn't making the power it's capable of. I knew it was the lift pump, been there done that. I hooked up my test gauge and saw 3psi at idle and 0psi while city cruising. On the highway the gauge registered 2 inches of vacuum! The injection pump was trying to suck more fuel than the dead lift pump could let flow! Doh!



I re-installed one of my old bad pumps that still works enough to flow some fuel so I could drive around while I order the marine pump.



I just bought this pump back in April... 7 months ago. I went by Cummins and asked about any warranty and the warranty guy said they only have 6 mo warranties on lift pumps. Yeah my life story! I stuck out my lips and gave the sad puppydog eyes, and the guy agreed to fanagle the paperwork to show I had it for 6 months. He swapped me pumps, but I'm not going to install this new one. I'm proceeding with my Mallory plan, and I'm going to leave this new pump at Rob's as a stocking program incase we get someone at our NW BOMBer gatherings with a dead pump.



-Mike

 

[TxDieselKid]

is this the right one????

I would like to add a pusher pump but dont know if I should get the Mallory Marine, or the Carter.



Is the CRT-P4601HP the right Carter pump? Isn't there a Carter that can replace the stock one, is this it?



Mallory or Carter, which one??? I am betting this is like the old K&N v/s BHAF v/s Stock Air Box debate right? If so, sorry to open a new bag of worms.



AJB

 

[NVR FNSH]

MikeR,

What are you using for a test guage? I've only checked Kragen/Pepboys and the stuff they sell says 'gasoline only'. Haven't gotten motivated enough to really figure it yet.....



Brian

 

[Un-Hemi]

TDK, Both Mallory and Carter pumps have their proponents! if you are going to install a pusher only and replace the original pump with a block of aluminum or somesuch, then you would use a high-pressure pump.



If you are going to run the engine-mounted lift pump as well as a pusher, then a low-pressure pump is the one to use back at the tank. It only has to supply the original engine-mounted lift pump with some positive inlet pressure at maximum demand. (assuming the engine-mounted lift pump is functioning normally).



P4601HP: 14-16psi/100gph

P4600HP: 6-8psi/100gph

P4594: 6-8psi/72gph



MikeR, have you checked for a plugged filter? Perhaps you got a bad load of fuel. If not, it would be interesting to know if your last pump was the 'latest and greatest', or if it was old stock.



Vaughn, that's a cute little filter, but a Racor 645R30 filter/water separator like Big Bob installed would be my preference. I wonder if water in suspension in the fuel has any bearing on lift pump failures?



Bob Gill, Hello! Testing is postponed! I was unable to get the pressure gauge installed before the insurance ran out on the truck for winter; the plan is to record pressures starting from stock, through a new fuel pump (installed presently), then with Ray's banjos, then a modified system. As soon as the roads dry out in the spring, I'll be back at it. Unfortunately, my truck doesn't rack up many miles per year, so even the stock pump isn't going to wear out in a reasonable length of time. During the winter I'm freshening up the transmission as well as installing the gauges. Good to hear from you!



Has anyone ever seen a specification for Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) on ANY of these various pumps?? I don't recall ever seeing the specification anywhere. Maybe it's time we started asking the pump manufacturers to supply this information! I'll bet I know what they'll say when they find out that we're pumping diesel through them... ... ... ... ... ... ...



What's required is a central facility that is able to closely inspect and test defective fuel pumps and report back to the TDR members with their findings. Perhaps the TDR could take this on as a service to its members.