LiveOak

I am down to my last bottle of Valvoline Semi-Synthetic power steering fluid. Can't seem to find anymore. I draw out the power steering fluid in the pump reservoir at each oil change and refill with new just to keep the PS fluid fairly fresh. What are you guys using? Thanks.

I installed a Farm Boy Performance 5 inch straight pipe (more like stove pipe) exhaust on my truck. I started to install it myself but ran into a similar problem. Decided to take it a reputable local muffler shop so it could be put up on a lift and done right. Here is my write up: http://forum.tractorfarmandfamily.com/showthread.php?t=12825 Not too loud if you drive normal and sounds goooooooooooooooooooooooooood when you pour the coal to it.

I'm about half way to 53.

WOW! Those kids are GOOD! Just can't see me doing something like that anymore.

Hi MoparMom, Unfortunately, much if not nearly ALL of America has become followers and enactors of "flat lander" mentality. Enjoy the forests you have while you can. In my neck of the woods, you NEVER go into the forest without being heavily armed for fear of stumbling across a meth lab or marajuana patch on my OWN LAND. Folks regularly trespass, steal firewood, poach game, vandalize, and set fires just to be hateful. Posted signs mean NOTHING and get torn down, gates get pulled off the gate post, occassionly threatening notes are left or the occasional annoymous phone call is received conveying the same. Be thankful you do not live among the "golden hoard"........the off spring of the "ME or entitlement generation". I agree with you about how God looks after his forest. I just wish the rest of the world would get that message. INDEED I have faith HE will look after me and our family's forest........God also blessed me with the income to afford a nice Benellin M3 Super 90 and a number of rather interesting side arms to help along the law of the forest on those rare occasions. Its a shame more folks don't value and understand Mother Nature the God created not to mention have respect for their neighbors. One of my favorite things to do while out in the forest is to set very still and watch over a few of my favorite food plots and enjoy the wild turkey, deer, and even saw a family of otters frolicing in the creek.

In flight school, it is taught that as your airspeed doubles, the drag is squared. These trucks have a max. optimum speed of about 45 mph. Frome there the fuel economy and coefficient of drag drops like a Simmonized piano. My fuel economy drops from around 23 to 24 mpg at 45 mph to about 13 to 14 mpg at 75 to 80 mph. You mileage may vary......just sayin'.

I run the Amalgamated TDR-WDA formula in Winter: http://www.amalgamatedinc.com/tdr-wda.aspx and TDR-S during late spring through early Fall: http://www.amalgamatedinc.com/tdr-s.aspx It is probably overkill but I still add te Walmart Tech 2000 2 stroke oil if for nothing else, peace of mind. I noticed right off the bat that my engine ran noticably quieter. (much less combustion noise) Just to make sure it was not my bias'd and wishful thinking, I treated the fuel in the wife's truck WITHOUT telling her about it. After about a 2 or 3 days of driving it, she commented to me that the truck ran a lot quieter for some reason but after she filled it up again the normal combustion noise returned. Not scientific, peer reviewed research evidence by a long stretch, but noticable positive feedback from someone who not aware of the fuel additive being in the fuel.

One of the things that makes this country great is that it offers some much freedom of choice. Sorry......but there will be NO Sea Foam going into my diesel engine in anyway shape form or fashion.

Not familiar with how the PAC brake performs but on the Cummins/Jacobs exhaust brake, they are pretty much fairly effective above 1,500 rpm and really get into their effectivness range at 2,000 on up. I like being able to deploy the ebrake on hills to keep from riding the brakes especially on long down hill runs with a load. Makes a big improvement in my opinion.

Mark, The lift pumps (and I use the term EVER so loosely with Carter pumps) DO indeed damage the VP-44. Aside from supplying fuel to the VP, the lift pump's secondary but just as important mission is to cool the VP with adequate fuel flow. The VP can fail is various fashions, the rotor seizes (engine failure), timing failure (rupture of the diaphram for the timing piston), and VP-44 computer failure (typically due to overheating) http://www.bluechipdiesel.com/fassinfo.html http://www.bluechipdiesel.com/vp44diagnostichelp.html http://www.dieselpumprepairs.com/#/vp44-failures/4533030669 The VP-44 even in the best of operational conditions is not immune from failure but ensuring an adequate (read inexhaustable supply of clean, good quality fuel, at a minimum of 12 psi or higher) will help to keep the pump cool as well as properly lubricated and thereby provide the best chances for long life. Yes, some of these articles say 5 psi is really all you need. In my opinion, you need much more than that. Enough fuel pressure and volume to not only feed the pump, lubricate, and cool it, but to have enough to open up the excess fuel return back to the tank. This in my opinion will provide the maximum amount of protection. Marginal or bad lift pumps don't damage or take out the VP-44 all at once or in any one failure event but DO so over a period of time and number of events not supplying the proper amount of volume or pressure. Originally I balked at the idea of spending $500 and the work to install my Air Dog but finally did so after I replaced my 3 lift pump and my VP-44 failed with a P0216 in the LAST month of warranty. Now my fuel pressure stays NAILED to 18 psi once the engine has warmed up and the heater grids stop cycling. With all of the money I spent on lift pumps, pump relocation kits, larger fuel lines, etc. I could have just bought my Air Dog and installed it being money ahead of the game and very likely might still have my original OEM VP-44 installed. I agree that it shouldn't be this way and the Dodge should have stepped up to the plate, recalled ALL of these trucks and installed either the Air Dog or FASS or similar pump as soon as this problem appeared......but welcome to the "New" America built on "Crowney Capitalis", "screw the customer or the next guy just as long as it gets you ahead", and "the ends justifies the means" business model and general thinking process.

The latest SCOTUS gun case decision is and embarassing truck load of horse manure. It does nothing for the most part other than over turn an outright gun ban and returns the case back to the appelate courts for Chicago Dailey anti-gun machine to yet again tinker and tamper with our Natural Born Right to keep and bear arms with more ridiculous and pathetic gun classes, beaureacratic paper drills, and range requirments.

That is your frequently poster emblem.

I'll bet that was fun when the hose crimp let loose! Did you loose a set of draws or did that pants and socks get taken out too? I bought a set of the Harbor Freight cheepees too. I compared them to an old set of Robin Aire, MAC guages I bought when I was working at the John Deere dealership. I couldn't tell the difference in the guages for the most part. The hoses may be a different story. Maybe a better set of hoses would be in order. I agree, I would get on the horn to Harbor Freight raising hell about the hose crimp. Make them pony up for a new set or refund. ---------- Post added at 04:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 AM ---------- Well, I had about 40 gallons of waste oil to haul to the recyle center and some other junk around the house so I made a 50 mile round trip with the A/C running. It would cool but not real well. When I got home I got the gauges out and hooked them up on the truck. The it was 89 degrees and the high side pressure was about 215 with a thermometer reading in the center dash vent of about 62 degrees. I was kinda bummed thinking my leak was much worse than I thought but if figured I would at least try to purge some the excess oil out. The condenser was so so warm. With my calibrated fingers, I vented the A/C system is 2.377 2 second bursts by opening the high side valve into the fill hose. To my surprise the A/C high side pressure IMMEDIATELY did the opposite of what I was expecting.......it actually INCREASED. The pressure went gradually from 215 psi to about max of 250 psi. At that point the high side pressure would subtley fluctuate between 240 and 250 psi with the compressor as the compressor cycled on and off. The compressor did not cycle much. Upon checking my center dash vent thermometer, I noticed it was now reading a NICE "meatlockerish" 46 degrees. I turned the A/C off for a few minutes to let everything settle and turned it back on and NO grumbling sound. I also noticed that the condenser was not MUCH MUCH warmer....almost hot to the touch. I think I may still have a slow leak but at least this should hopefully last me the rest of the summer. Thanks for all the tips, comments, and suggestions!

Yeah, I read a story about something like that. It seems that Utah by default is in the gun permit business now. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2512638620100628 http://www.cbs7kosa.com/news/details.asp?ID=20256 http://www.kvue.com/home/Gun-permit-loophole-97271659.html Gun permits are a bunch of BS. Neo-statist progressives think gun permits give you the right to carry a firearm. I gotta news flash for that mind set. The right to self defense is a natural born right that existed PRIOR to the Constitution and 2nd Amendment. The Second Amendment was added because of statist bozo's who don't comprehend Natural Born Rights. Do I jump through the hoops to get a gun permit.......yeah, but I still think they are BS.

I was venting that there SHOULD be. It would save a lot of money for a lot of folks in various circumstances such as that.

Unfortuanately, my wife as does many women......continually function in the "getRdone" mode. This mode is not restricted to all women and many men use it as well. Hence why the ONLY guage she has in the cab is the fuel pressure gauge that is mounted on the top of the steering column. My wife would use data logs for compost in the garden.

I try to be careful about that but that was another consideration I was worried about. Which reminds me, these engines should be equipped with a low oil pressure shut down switch......but that is another subject.

I was thinking the oil is not going to come out by evacuating the system is it?

Any chance you or Joe can post a pic of the set of wrenches? Sounds like something I might be interested in at some point.

Wow! Way too much fuel and not enough turbo or both.

If and when you get the Blue Chip pump, I would be interested in your impressions of the Blue Chip compared to the pump you remove as well as the difference in operation and performance. Are you going to get the standard Blue Chip or Special X?

Did you get the clutch problem worked out? If so, what was the problem?

So, if there is too much oil in the system.......what would be the preferred method of purging or removing the oil short of evacuation of the system and starting over? I am thinking draining off some from the high side port. I guess my question would be......would I get the most oil with the system static (shut down) or in full operation? I am thinking that with the A/C system running, I would get the most oil when I purge a little bit off. Is this correct or am I thinking bassackwards?

When a friend and I did my Cummins eBrake, I think the most difficult part was de-pinning and re-pinning the plug to the ECM and locating, cutting the insulation, and drilling the firewall for the vaccum valve. We ran into a bit of head scratching on just how to wire the on/off switch function on the dash as we added the Cummin "stalk switch" to the shifter and had to run the wiring to the stalk switch from the master on/off switch on the dash. I just leave the eBrake master switch on and use the shifter stalk switch. I LOVE this exhaust brake and have come to use it as much if not more than the truck service brakes.

How does this drain plug work out as far as any leaks? I have thought about one of those but was kinda remotely concerned about some yahoo draining your oil out in the middle of nowhere. I like the idea of these plugs.