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Well said Dripley...

i came to this forum with hardly any knowledge of these trucks specificly, but i did have a genral mechanical knowledge about vehicles in general. i spent the first year here asking questions and learning. now i can answer questions aboth 24v for people that appear to know less about them than i do. thats all because of the folks here who share their with expertise and experience of all version of the ctd. The bottom line for me is taking what every one offers and doing it the way i want to without anyone calling me a total dumb ___ just because i dont see it their way. though i have had few moments because i did not listen. in the end i take what i get here and apply it how it suits me. thats something i never found until i came here. so p pump it i thats what you want after all it is your truck and you can do any thing to it you like. we just want to know how it goes for you and wish you well with it.

The pump is calibrated so that it is ONLY able to be pinned when the engine is at TDC. This is where the pump is actually at the timing specified on the cummins data plate. Your's might say 12.5-13.5*, which means when you get the engine to TDC, you should be able to lock the pump, if you can't lock the pump, the pump is out of time. There is a little flat bladed screwdriver looking thing that comes into the locking window on the pump ONLY when it is at the predetermined factory timing. Meaning if the engine is at TDC and the pump is stock, that thing should be perfectly centered in that window. If it is not, then the timing is not stock. If they locked the pump at that spot and then turn the engine 15* backwards, then you actually just added that to the stock timing, meaning 12.5(or 13.5*)+15=27.5*. This means you are at that 27.5*(or 28.5*) and is why it starts like crap. If you want to do it that way (which is crude at best), you would turn the engine until that window shows the locking flat bladed thing, then lock the pump, then loosen the nut, then rotate the engine to TDC compression/power #1. Then rotate the engine backwards the difference of the degree you want because you are already at the stock timing (12.5 or 13.5), so if you wanted 15*, turn the engine backwards another 2.5-1.5 damper degrees and then you will be at 15* timing. Basically the start of injection happens at 12.5 or 13.5* BTDC. That bladed thing in the pump I guess called the timing pin is set so it will align when the engine is rotated another 12.5-13.5* so that you can easily time the engine based on TDC which is easy to find. The hard though maybe more correct way would be to get to the start of injection then rotate the engine to the desired timing BTDC. Technically you could rotate the engine backwards 12.5-.13.5* from TDC , and you should be at the start of injection if the timing pin lined up at TDC of the engine, so then you could loosen the nut on the pump and rotate the engine to wherever you wanted timing to be in relation to TDC, so 15* BTDC, then tighten that nut and it should be timed to 15* TDC. Keep in mind this is extremely crude..ideally you should be using a dial indicator to adjust timing as shown here. http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1994/18-10-94a.htm This might help you, along with showing the flat bladed screwdriver thing (last pic). http://articles.mopar1973man.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19:p7100-injection-pump-confirming-stock-timing&catid=8&Itemid=106

Your statement is well informed and nobody should be offended by it. When you go to any 24V forum, you read about people changing out VP44's left and right, not exactly a good feeling about something you are wanting to buy. Now part of the problem probably stems from ignorance. A while back the knowledge was not very well distributed about the VP's need for constant good pressure. A lot of people still don't realize it though, and those are the ones who end up on the forum wondering why their VP is dead. It has created a sense of unreliability pertaining to the VP trucks. Knowing the information on how to maintain it is key. I realize with the Ppump you can get in and drive it and be fine with just knowing general maintenance techniques. It is a bit different with a VP since you have to watch a fuel pressure gauge your whole life. I don't think you could convince Mike to throw his fuel pressure gauge away along with all other fuel pressure monitoring devices. Most 12V guys know all about fuel pressure but could care less about a gauge, after all, if our lift pump goes out, the worst that could happen is the truck quits running.. There are instances where the plungers could stick but that seems a little rare. The biggest factor is the reliability of those aftermarket lift pumps (the air dog) that people run on the VP to "fix" the issue. They provide the fuel pressure needed to keep the VP happy. However, I have no idea how reliable those pumps are. It is an electric pump though, not mechanical like the 12V uses, this means there is questionable reliability in something electronic as with any electronic thing. There is a reason the oil pump is gear driven, not belt driven, not electric. Mike takes his airdog apart to keep it running strong, changing out o-rings in it and such. The biggest factor with all of this is that when the truck dies out in the middle of nowhere, you are much more apt to limp home with a 12V than a 24V. The mechanical lift pump will die on you slowly, you will be able to tell because power will decreases slowly (as in several thousand miles). It isn't the fact that either truck might have issues, it's the fact that the 12V gives you more time to let it know that it's about to break something. Lately it seems like a lot of 24V ECM's are going out, the 12V doesn't even have an ECM, you can drive a 5spd 12V home with no batteries or alternator whatsoever. But what ways are there to fix the ECM issue? Like I said earlier, it isn't the fact that the 24V has some issues, it's the fact that the solutions are still questionable. How do I know the airdog will last 100k miles? How do I know the ECM isn't going to die? If we say that those issues are resolved, we still get back to the fact that there are a lot of unknowns about the VP. Nobody has a clue what the timing is on a VP other than a chart which I can't read the numbers on. That chart doesn't show how the IAT or ECT effect it either. This actually isn't really an issue other than the fact that if you were in Antarctica with a screwdriver and pliers and it was -100F out and the truck died, you could probably rig up something to get the 12V to the south pole warehouse whereas you can only do so much to a 24V without needing very advanced tools. Personally, I see no advantage to owning a 24V over a 12V.....in Florida. If you live somewhere that gets under 32F regularly, it is definitely nicer having a truck that can easily be rigged to warm itself up (3 cyl high idle), maintain 800RPM idle automatically, and do all the other crap that it does in the winter. I do hate the knocking they make in the winter but apparently the IAT fooler smooths that out. You seem to be set on converting to a 12V and although I can see it both ways, I still have that thought that if I had a 24V, the VP would just die on me. But then again, what's to say Mike's truck's VP won't last forever now that he has modded it all to perfection? We only have doubts because we have personally seen all the posts on forums about people's VPs going out. Mike's hasn't gone out yet after I think 100k miles on the same VP, so if everyone's truck was set up exactly like Mike's, whats to say the failure rate wouldn't be the same as a Ppumped truck? If you do convert it, I'd like to see pics

I don't know...But I've seen this... http://youtu.be/PeoTlfnkNZQ

Here is info for the EGT gauge http://forum.mopar1973man.com/threads/3792-thermocouple-install There is a 1/8"NPT plug on the intake manifold that you take out and put your boost line in there. Here is a pic http://mopar.mopar1973man.com/personal/2002/gauges/boost-gauge-install.jpg You can see it is right behind the fuel filter.

Make sure you windows regulator arms are still lubed up and not jaming up...

I have an HX35w that I took off my truck when I installed my HX35/40 hybrid.I have no use for the assembly so I would let it go cheap. Maybe 50 plus the ride.But I live in Idaho and now that it's the Christmas season shipment by UPS might take a week or longer. That may not be of much value becuase your local guy maybe able to get your new exhaust housing in less time.If you are interested let me know. If not - no problem. Good luck on the repair.

Did you not have a f/w sep on it at all? Yeah a pump would not like sucking thru a fine media (not sure Wix makes a true "2um") filter with cold fuel!I know you work for NAPA and thus like Wix filters.. but their published data is never quite as good, nor is it really accurate reporting. Nominal doesn't mean anything and that filter is 14um nominal.. which could be anything less than 98.7%, usually around 50%.