Mopar1973Man

Sorry... I haven't had TV in about 2 years now... No cable or satellite...

Well... Hmmm... I'm at 165K miles still running the stock brake pads from the Factory... I never done a brake job yet since the day I bought the truck brand new with only 20 miles on the odometer... I've got enough brake pad left to go all the way to 200K miles. But i know by the time I get there I'll need new rotors too. My solution is Exhaust brake. I do 90% of all my slowing and stopping with it. The only time I put my foot on the service brake is to stop or for a panic stop. Other than that I just use the exhaust brake and my throttle foot for slowing down. I've been knowing to load up with about 3 cords of firewood and come down from 7,500-8,000 feet elevation and never touch my brakes for over 30 miles of forestry roads at grades of 6-10%... Do it every year... Yes that's a 8x8x3 trailer... http://forum.mopar1973man.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=199 Here is what my pads and rotors look like at 120K miles... (rears) My fronts loked just the same... http://forum.mopar1973man.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=893 http://forum.mopar1973man.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=892 There reason at this point I had debris built up inside the calper and jammed the piston causing shoe drag. So I disassembled the calipers and clean them out and never looked back. Still going with stock parts... ---------- Post added at 08:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:59 AM ---------- Actually the only thing I done is rebuilt my calipers back at 120K miles thats about it... The calipers were failing from the debris built up under the weather seal and inside the black sludge wasn't helping. So after giving them a bath and replacing a few wore parts (Cost all of $40 bucks from the dealer) like a few new seals and 1 piston I blew up! give me a bit I need t ofix a link issues I have my brake page back up...

Gasoline might be too rough for the seal and O-ring in the injection pump and injectors... Not to mention the big change in the burn characteristics...

NAPA stores... You find them typicall on the shelf with 35W bulbs... If you got a good guy behind the counter he'll swap out the bulbs for 100W and charge you the proper price for them... You might call my Napa Store and talk to Kevin (208)253-4234... He'll at least be able to tell you the part numbers and the prices so you can get them at your local store. Tell him that Mopar sent you!

I would go back a few years and look at the older Power Wagons and see if you find one of your liking... My old 72 had a chrome spoke (aftermarket) wheel very simple but classy... But the problem you got is the base of the steering shaft (I think)

Don't feel bad JL... I'm in the same boat too... Computer repairs are down not much going on... As for doing diesel work and repair that even slow too most people just don't have the money... I should get out the video camera and show you my backyard and the amount of work I completed to...

No kidding this is worth taking the tidbits of information here and re-writing my fuel pressure page... Of course i gave proper thanks to these people! Even voted on the thread! (Excellent!)

Here is a 3rd Gen write up by on of the members here on the forum... http://mopar.mopar1973man.com/cummins/3rdgen/ps-flush/ps-flush.htm

Yeah... I got a adjustable boost elbow but it needs some work... It doesn't go over 25 PSI... Like my current elbow it varies between 30-32 PSI... I figured if I could reach the 35 mark constantly it would cut just that little bit of pyro heat at WOT... I relize 35 PSI and above its just hot air...

Wow!

When did you flush the power steering system last? (Required every 30K miles) Over a period of time the fluid breaks down and doesn't function as well. If the fluid is dark color (tan to brown) its time for a flush. New fluid is nearly clear to a honey color. Also take note of the smell of it you can tell when P/S fluid is burnt or has been over heated.

Yeah I know this once great county is falling apart... I feel the same way you do Flman but as I found out in a short order that the unrest is so great out there that it does upset certain people... I'm not say your worng or right but to keep things under control I'm sorry to say it but I will have to close this topic... Sorry...

Well for your 12V a BHAF is just fine...

Yeah... I might stuff a extra shim washer in my AirDog this weekend... Seriously... It might not be a bad idea to be above 14 PSI all the time... It might be worth kicking up towards the 18-20 PSI mark more so... But as for exceeding 20 PSI I got no long term information on it... I heard of several going above this but as for life of the VP44 I don't know.. My current standing is 17-17.5 @ idle and 15 @ WOT... I seen a few cold morning and having to jump on throttle hard and seeing 13-14 PSI with thick fuel. (yeah I know better... )

Yeah Mopar Mom showed me this and I think I can knock that out rather easy... I just got to make a trip to the metal shop in Grangeville, ID to get the steel... Got the welder and torch... Just need the steel!

+1 for W&F...

The other factor is how is the pump measured for volume isn't that done at full flow open line.

Hmmm... Valid thoughts... What did I stir up here??? Well still in all the VP44 does have issues with either the electronics getting overheat and burning out or the mechanical part of it failing. I think the idea of the return line also plays a role in this too being that its stock old 6mm ID line and can only flow so much volume per time. So at some point or another you show hit a plateau where pressure increase doesn't cool any more because of the simple fact you can only get some much volume down that line. You got to remember the return rail for the injectors have got a small amount of fuel returning too. Maybe its a good debate happening and maybe we can figure out a better way to make these pumps last longer...

My thought exactly...

Yeah... i agree so far with you... But if your flow rate through the pump is too much wouldn't you think it would be like taking a thermostat out of the block. The fuel might race through so quick that it doesn't pull heat away from the pump and electronics. Your right about the valve not being binary... So true... When I was playing with the one I got here I was playing with the air gun and regulated air. But what I saw was a check ball that vibrated even at pressures as low as 15 PSI. Now the overflow valve I got is used so the characteristics could be a weak spring. Being that air isn't very dense it could be the cause of the vibration. But now put diesel thorugh it it should be steady (for the most part). But with compressed air it appeared that the overflow valve is complete open by 20 PSI... But now if your idle pressure is like mine its at 17-17.5 PSI. So that valve should be open and flowing fuel through the pump. But at WOT now the fuel is flowing out towards the injectors at a high rate (>15 GPH) so WOT isn't a really big issues with cooling and lubing that I can see. I would assume somewhere below 10 PSI is where the diaphragm damage comes in. So operating a VP44 down to 10 PSI isn't bad that I can see but the pump has to be flowing a good rate all the time to kepp the fuel moving for cooling lubing. So if you idle/coasting pressure is above 14 I can't see how the VP44 can get damaged in theory... Because after watching several thread on numerous forums you always see "Common Joe" stock fuel system and it idles at 12-14 PSI and WOT dips below 10 rather easy... Typically this person would be looking at a VP44 replacement in under 100K miles. But now you look at even the home brew setups where the owner threw a Holley Blue (stretched the spring) and added a Big Line Kit... No problems. The idle pressure is typically in the 15-18 bracket and the WOT will fall to as low as 8 PSI... But I've seen several of these guys go 100-200K miles and no problems... Might change pumps frequently but VP44 lives on...

Ok Gang... You all have seen the Dodge FSM book minimum pressure of 10 PSI. Well I started to do some thinging and relized even that is too low. Here lets take a look at a pic here... http://forum.mopar1973man.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=878 So now let assume your fuel pressure average is about 12 PSI which is above the 10 PSI minimum pressure. Driving down the highway at 55-65 MPH your going to be flowing at least 2-3 GPH through the pump. But now let add a twist to it. New situation... Going up to Seven Devils Campground its a 17 mile drive up a 1 lane dirt road that is steep. I'm dragging a utility trailer with 2 ATV's. Ok for the sake of the post we'll say the fuel pressure is still 12 PSI. Climbing that grade I'm going to be flowing 7-10 GPH through that pump which is a good thing because the high flow keeps the pump lubed and cooled. But now the weekend is over time to drive home. So on the way down I set the exhaust brake and put it into 2nd gear and let it limp down the rough old trail it take about 45 minutes to 1 hour to return to the highway. So now the whole way down the mountain there is 12 PSI heading into the VP44 and but now your not throttling much if at all coming down the steep grade. So this means there is no flow to the injectors... And the Overflow valve is closed because you need 14 PSI to open it. So basically there is no fuel flow. So now the electronics and the mechanical part start to heat up the stale fuel and break it down. Remember diesel fuel is a very poor lubricant anyways. So now you see this is really easy to burn up or damage a injection pump. Now I'm starting to suggest 14-15 PSI as a minimum pressure and 20 PSI as a maximum pressure. This now keeps the overflow valve open and the fuel flowing through the pump while its spining and keeping the VP44 electronics cooled... Any thought on this???

Make sure you get gagues installed first before you got adventureous... You'll be surprised how fast pyrometer can change when making adjustments to the plate. Here is a simple kit I found for just a little more than $100... http://www.shop.eatsoot.com/product.sc?productId=21

Man I wish I lived closer... That looks like you had a blast!

Sounds like there is a reed switch that had debris caught in between the contacts... This sound like you need to open the radio up and look at it closely... You should be able yo remove the cover plate and hook back up and watch the action and see whats going on... There should be a reed switch or simular that detects the position of the CD.

Well gang... My Kenwood MP3 player is actiung up and giving me fits. It was good ol' Mom that got me thinking... Well I grabed a old CD and flipped it up-side down and got a good grab on it and notice that when the disc was inserted you could feel it grab a bit strong on the label face. Hmmm... It also scratch the label face pretty bad... (Dirty) But I never let it go in... So this evening I start thinking and grab the scratched CD now and rapped a old tee shirt over it and dampen it with alcohol and inserted this shirt cover disc part way. The alcohol acts like a mold lubricant and allowed the roller to spin and against the tee shirt covered disc and clean the rollers. I start push and tug slightly as the roller pull and pushed. Now I got a MP3 deck that ejects the disc everytime now... No more fighting the player...