Pre/Post Fuel Pressure gauges...

[schu777]

As in my Sig, I'm going to be getting my truck (hopefully) in the next couple of weeks and have just been dreaming of what to add first to the truck. I want to add some gauges at some point to get a baseline in case I want to bomb. I've been reading a few threads here and there about Fuel Pressure gauges and got to wondering. I've seen a couple of recent threads about fuel smell in the cab and coming from the gauge. So I'm assuming that a line of fuel is coming into the cab up to the gauge to get a reading. Is this correct? Are there gauges out there that send it electronically?



I've also read about failures of lift pumps and having the pre/post fuel pressure gauges to determine there was a problem. My question is what happens if the lift pump goes out? What is the cost of a lift pump & anything else that would be affected by it?



Thanks, Michael

 

[Whitmore]

Michael

Glad to hear that gages are your first bomb, this is an excellent choice so you can monitor the vitals of your investment.

There are 2 types of fuel pressure gages out there ,one is mechanical and it does require bringing fuel into the back of the gage and yes there is also an electric gage that gets a signal from a sending unit that you mount either pre or post filter or do like I did and use one gage with two senders and a switch in-between. In order to get a tap for the sender to mount you can do what most do and installe some Rays banjo bolts with a provided 1/8 " tap .

Monitoring The performance of the lift pump is manditory and I think more pumps have proven faulty than not, the lift pump supplies fuel to the vp-44(high psi injection pump) and an aprox 80% of the total flow from the lift pump is unused by the allmighty CUMMINS simply circulates thru the vp-44 and provides lubricity and cooling for all the moving parts of the pump, then returning back to the fuel tank. Needless to say the failure of your lift pump will not neccessarily stall the truck but will starve the vp-44 of the extra fuel and will intime take it out to the tune of $1300-$1600 smackers for the pump alone.

You can buy a lift pump from CUMMINS for $142. 00 ( see part # in my sig) or get one from your steeler for $400 so I have heard??? but dont worry about that right now, get your gages in and monitor your vitals of your investment and keep reading the TDR and enjoying your ride .















Ram on ... ... ..... Kevin

 

[RustyJC]

Michael,



If you want to read pre-filter and post-filter fuel pressures simultaneously using only one gauge pod, Westach can supply a dual combo fuel pressure gauge (2 gauges in one housing) that matches their dual combo EGT/boost gauge. I'm going from memory, but I think my gauge was Westach P/N 2DC3-201 - please confirm that part number with Westach before ordering anything. You can order the gauge directly from Westach as it's a non-catalog item and (as far as I know) not available through Geno's, etc.



P. S. - This is an electric gauge that uses 2 sending units. No diesel is brought into the cab.



Rusty

 

[redneckdr]

gauges

i've got the mechanical Isspro EV, and yes, i've got fuel smell in the cab, but not from the gauge. i must have a tiny leak in the engine compartment, becuz the fuel smell is being sucked into the HVAC intake. i haven't yet, but plan to add a tank switching valve in the engine compartment to monitor pre and post filter pressures. can be done with one mechanical gauge.

 

[illflem]

IMHO I've always thought prefilter pressure gauges are a waste. Just check your post filter pressure with a clean filter and you'll know the reading prefilter also. When your post filter reading drops 5 psi from normal change the filter, if the pressure doesn't come back up you'll know you have another problem such as a bad lift pump or clogged prefilter.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Unless you got a bad load of fuel Illflem - then your filter can clog almost immediately. TRUST me! https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12655

 

[RustyJC]

Originally posted by illflem

IMHO I've always thought prefilter pressure gauges are a waste. Just check your post filter pressure with a clean filter and you'll know the reading prefilter also. When your post filter reading drops 5 psi from normal change the filter, if the pressure doesn't come back up you'll know you have another problem such as a bad lift pump or clogged prefilter.

Right or wrong, here's my thought process. If I suddenly have a low post-filter reading, a normal pre-filter gauge reading tells me I have a plugged filter. A low pre-filter gauge reading tells me the lift pump has probably cratered or I'm outta fuel (guess I have to check the fuel gauge [if it's working] next).



Besides, with the Westach, I can read both and only take up one gauge mounting space, so what the heck?



Rusty

 

[schu777]

Thanks for everyone's reply. I'm pretty sure that I still want pre/post gauges... is there a web site for the Westach gauges? I'm still waiting for the truck and will be for a while...



It's going to be interesting to see where I purchase fuel too. I live about 16 miles from Flying J and could drive down and fill up there, but that is qutie a bit of distance to fill up. I'm planning on adding a Transfer flow 50 gallon sometime, but don't know how the money situation is and if that would be worth doing.



Oh well, eventually I'll be bombing it assuming that I can get help from other members that live in Omaha (Kat & HelicopterDan & Jakebud are the ones I know about... )



Michael

 

[Thomas]

Westberg Manufacturing Co. (Westach)