Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Torque plate rumor??

[GDMRTN]

Wow. Finally some guys that know somethin about the pump. My brother been runnin a '96 for many a year w/o a plate or afc. Never an issue.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

I remember when I ground my plate 4-5yrs ago, everyone said you couldn't grind your own because the TST plates were specially heat treated, and you would destroy your pump, etc. etc.



based on the amount of tension on the throttle arm and the fact that there's lube oil present, I said f-it, I'll check for wear.



what do you know? zero wear... now every 12v forum you see everyone's all "grind your plate!"



and no, I'm not saying I came up with the idea... heard rumors of people doing it, etc. and thought to myself "self, do you think TST just started making these specialty profiles without any testing? or do you think someone broke out the grinder and started playing w/ the stock plate?"

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

My Bosch guy has seen some of the rack pins shear off, mostly on returning the rack to idle position, when there is no torque plate. Some of the other plugs like the Mack would allow too much rack travel (over 21 mm) and could cause binding. The stock plug actually allows a bit more than ideal travel for horsepower, at least on the 215 HP pump. I found by dyno testing that about . 050” less travel than it allowed gave best power. Using double washers on the stock plug is probably the safest way to try more rack travel without going too far. Yes, the AFC link is right next to the torque plate and it also stops the rack travel. You can re-contour the foot of the link, and grind the end of it at the shaft so it will allow more rack travel. You will have to replace the cup on the rubber diaphragm in the AFC with a flat plate to get full travel. With a 13 mm set of plungers and barrels, I found that 15 mm rack travel was good for 800 HP, diesel fuel only, single turbo. By the way, these tests date back 5-10 years from now.

 

[edgeman]

Wow... I am going to school for this stuff and that is where i heard about taking the plate out... This is the other brother... I am 20 and have done it to quite a few of our 8. 3L here in our shop over seas... same pump the P7100 and no problems... if I thought that it would leave my guys stranded on a side of a road in Iraq then I wouldn't have done it... . is it the right way to make power... no but is it an alternative if you don't have the means and the resources to pull the power that you need to run with a Detroit Series 60 at 70 to 80 mph... yes... and that is what I was planning on doing to my 97 when I go home from this place... oh yeah by the way it is an automatic with an ATS Billet transmission... Billet Aluminum 5 Star tourque converter... Billet Flex plate. So no need to worry about making that old Cummins come alive... I have taken the fuels class at the University of Northwestern Ohio and they say that there is no problem with the rack coming out... So if I kill my fuel pump that is fine by me... my mess up... but thanks for the great info that I can pass on to people...