Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) No Plate Facts?

[JMcFerrin]

Has anyone actually seen a pump that was trashed because of not running a plate? I'm to broke to do so, but i have friends who haven't run with them for years and no problems. Just wondering.

 

[JGK]

I spoke with a long time Bosch tech one day late last summer and asked him about running without a plate. He said the rack will bang against a stop that it is not designed to do on a regular basis. Eventually that will fail and really screw up the pump. Sounds like some can go quite a while - are they on borrowed time?



So, first of all, what's the point of running with no plate? Yeah, you can get all kinds of fuel. Generally far more than you can efficiently burn. So you get gobs of smoke and piston-melting temps. OK, you can control that with your foot. Hope your good at that. In the mean time you're wasting a lot of fuel and putting undue stress on the engine. Just cuz some fuel is good, and more is bettter, a river is not necessarily ideal!



On the other hand, you can put in a plate, even if it's a 0 plate, and avoid (or at least reduce) the chances of killing the pump. When you consider that replacing the pump can cost easily $1000... $2000... more? One has to ask, is it worth it?



Just my useless opinion, but I woudn't risk it. Not when I can set up the pump to put out more fuel than I care to use and not have to worry about killing it.



-Jay

 

[Smokin Dodge]

I know of three guys from my town that dont run any plate and have done so for quite a while and they keep trying to get me to take mine out but I just keep telling them mine runs just fine with it in there, but I did run without one on my 97 and didnt really notice a big or any difference. Unless you are running massive CCs of fuel I dont think there will be much gain than a good plate or a 0 plate.

 

[JMcFerrin]

My friends try to get me to run with no plate but i just cant chance it. I am just going to grind my stock plate like my 10 on the bottom and flat the rest of the way

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

On my 97 I tried all different amounts of rack travel and dynoed all of them. I designed the 0 plate and got TST to make them for me, such that even at full forward it still stops the rack like Bosch designed it to do. I also found that full forward gave less power than moving it back "some. " Since so many think they are copying the zero with their home-ground plates, where their plates need to be will have little bearing on what I found to work with my design. The point is that you will get to an amount of rack travel where you add smoke and egt but power actually drops.

 

[Cooker]

I'd be willing to bet that a properly setup pump will make more HP with a plate than without.