FlatTwin

Ok guys, just found this thread and have a question. I just replaced my VP-44 and it was not that hard, but had new injectors in hand at the same time and after looking at what it would take to get to the injector lines for the back two cylinders, I put it back together without doing the injectors.How in the world do you guys get to the stuff on the back two cylinders??? Thx, FT

Ted, What concerned me enough to get a new one (its here right now) was the smell that the current VP was making after I got the truck home and shut it down. Strong electrical smell along with "I am hot and not happy with what you are doing to me" smell. If you have ever had any electronics really hot you know the smell and thats what I had, so lost confidence in the unit on the engine right now and went ahead and ordered a new one to swap out. Have talked with several injector pump people and the biggest thing that they stress is that the VP44 does not like heat cycles, and heating them up does wonders to the circuit board on the pump. Evidently thats one of the biggest things that cause the pump to stop working, not a problem with the internal guts of the pump.I would rather spend the $1000 and get a good overhauled unit and swap it out right now than get stuck by the side of the road somewhere in the near future. If I am wrong then at least I did the best I could to get a reliable situation. Part of the problem is that I am a aircraft mechanic and we do not have the option of re-doing things most of the time, it simply has to be correct the first time it goes out, and that thinking extends to my cars even though they never take off! :)Thx, Joe

An "Edge w/Attitude" system is what I am using for fuel pressure along with other readings.Had it a couple of years and always worked fine and was accurate as far as I know.

Tried and it went to voice mail. Guessing they are at lunch so waiting an hour... Joe --- Update to the previous post... Well, three hours later and still no return call from Pure Flow. Took the truck on some errands and it drove just fine. This is with the original VP on it and with 40 psi pressure. While driving the pressure varies but usually around 37 to 39 or so, and WOT goes down to 32 but otherwise runs fine. Anyone know if its ok to keep driving like this? Am going to replace the VP anyway but not today. Its 112 degrees today and just too damm hot to be out there in the sun... Thx, Joe

Dave,Thanks and yep, ran the adjuster screw all the way to the left (counterclockwise, which should be lowest pressure) and to the right (clockwise, high pressure) and no change what-so ever...

Well I thought things were improving...Installed the new replacement Raptor 100 this morning and it went pretty quickly.Hooked everything up and started the truck. Took a second for pressure to build up but finally stopped at 26 psi. Just a bit too much for my liking so got back under the truck and unscrewed the pressure adjustment screw and tested it again.Whoa... went up to 20 then right on up to 38-40. Did not matter what I did with the adjustment screw, it sits on this figure which I assume is the max the pump will put out. It does not move a bit even when I blip the throttle. Have not driven it. Then took the old adjustment screw out of the old pump and tried it. Same thing but the "O" rings on the old pump are showing some age... Suggestions? Ideas? Am guessing that 40 psi is a bit too much to be driving the truck with... Thx, Joe

Everyone has their own opinion. From the private messages and emails I have received the last 10 days, my system is doing just fine in the "fuel delivery area." Please, do not want to get difficult but I can do without any more of your suggestions on what I need to do to make the fuel delivery system on MY truck the way YOU would like to see it. I simply do not have the funds to buy the best of everything as it seems you want me to do. Have a great Memorial Day weekend! Joe US Army 1972/3

Nope, have bigger problems crop up before I could take it back to stock. Now its a "raptor/VP" replacement situation. http://forum.mopar1973man.com/threads/5927-Well-things-just-went-from-interesting-to-much-worse-Raptor-died-VP-as-well

Hey Mike, Got a phone number I can give you a quick ring on? Or give me a ring on 602 four one eight 5642. Thx, Joe --- Update to the previous post... Well you guys talked me into it... just ordered a set of RV275's from Sterling at DAP. As long as I am changing out the VP, might as well put a new set of injectors in! Joe

Dave,My issue with Kyle is that even if a new owner sends the warranty card in, there is no way to guarantee that it arrives in their hands or is processed correctly once there. Its totally out of our hands. Then you get a jerk like Kyle who could care less about taking care of an existing customer or future sales, and see's things in only "black and white".... kinda like the "soup Nazi." Does not matter to him if you sent the card in or not, you do not get any soup or a warranty on a defective product, even though as customers you deserve both. He has no understanding that customers vote with their feet and their $$ and after treatment like this, we go elsewhere when its time to buy new equipment and parts.With this new/replacement pump that Diane is sending me I am going to again return the warranty card by mail, but also scan and email her a copy of the card, so that there is no question that it was filled out and returned. As for Kyle, he can go screw himself and take his product with him. I do not spend money with jerks... Joe

Thanks for the info and will see how things sound tomorrow. I have been running two cycle oil in my fuel for years now and very happy with what it does. Mike, I bought the Raptor from Eric at Vulcan along with the drawstraw and big line kit. Did all of it, just ran out of time on the last two feet from the filter assy housing but will do that when I replace the VP.

Link to their old webpage is in my first post. Their facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vulcan-Diesel-Performance/174382648726 You will see a post on the upper right that I made earlier today that still has not been replied to. Thats IMHO not good news... GOOD NEWS!!!! I just looked at their old website (http://www.VulcanPerformance.com) and they are back up again! Must have had some people calling about their website and paid the webpage bill! Joe

Dave, Thanks and know what you mean. Problem is, in the area where I live, we lose loads of trucks to Mexico every day. You leave a Cummins or F250 out in the boonies or in a back country road and when you come back... well its not there anymore, stolen and run across the border and gone forever. Even vehicles with blown engine and so on, they put them on tow trucks and they are gone. Getting it back to civilization or better yet my house was my goal and made it. I have already pretty much given up on the VP in the truck so will get the Raptor back on the truck, see if it runs but am shopping around for VP's right now anyway. Feel that the VP in the truck was really overheated in this drive, so IMHO its toast. I did go out and start it after it sat for 3 hours and it started right up and as well the Raptor came up with normal pressure, but soon started dying down again, so its gone. Would love to have a VP from Blue Chip, but just cannot afford it right now. Looking like "The diesel store" or "DAP" are both in the running right now. Thx, Joe EDIT, I have the big line kit and drawstraw kit on the truck right now but did not run the hose all the way. It goes to the stock filter assy from the tank to the Raptor, but not from the filter assy to the VP. Changing out the VP I will then run the last little bit of hose and that should cure my fuel pressure situation. It really does not drop that much, usually 3-4 psi, but could be better.

Thanks for the recommendation. When you are ready to help with the cost, please let me know, otherwise I cannot afford something like to run on a pretty much stock truck. --- Update to the previous post... Thanks and this is exactly what everyone told me before I bought this 2.5 years ago. At that time the FASS system was having pumps die right and left and their warranty returns were out of sight, and I had two dealers tell me to get the Raptor 100 if you could not afford the model with the filters. As you mention, they are over-kill for what I am doing, a stock engine, stock injectors and stock VP44 pump. I do not race, rarely tow and will never get near 500+ hp, so why spend the extra $$ that I do not have? This pump worked fine for 2.5 years but the thing that has me perturbed now is I had little warning of its total failure, and had I been in the back country or out on the road, I would now be stranded, still sitting there waiting for help.

I sent my warranty card in as well, and had factory invoices and such to prove it that they sent it to me directly from the factory and yet he could care less. He even admitted that he did not have all of the customers info or warranty cards on his computer, but if you are not on his computer, it does not matter if the customer has sent the warranty card in or not, you have no warranty from him. Diane found my info immediately and bent over backwards to help. Why is it that she can find my info on her computer (and they are the headquarters of PF) and Kyle cannot? Do not know but he sure did not help PF's customer service one bit this morning.I am much like you, a novice at diesel but am an aircraft mechanic so understand things like direct injection and so on. We do not have the fuel pressure issues that the VP does. That said, I had no gauges and the stock pump when I got the truck. Got on this board and they impressed upon me the value of at least a fuel pressure gauge and found an Edge that had everything. Then and only then did I find out that I had been driving around with 4-5 psi fuel pressure, so was living on borrowed time in the VP world. The raptor brought the pressure and volumne up where it was needed, especially when I put the drawstraw and big lines all the way to the VP. I do not race and its a stock engine, so not worried about flowing 300 gph on the puppy, just want it to run reliably. You mention that I need an AD100 (at the least)... thats the unit I have on the truck right now and for the last 2.5 years that died this morning. This is the AirDog Raptor 100.

Well, finally got the truck running back normal again and was going to take it out in the countryside to some property I have with a friend about 75 miles away from everything. Got the truck loaded up and ready to go and as the fuel pressure was just a few pounds low recently thought I would adjust it up a bit and did so in the driveway before leaving. It always runs a good 16-17 psi at idle, and down to a low of 12-13 at WOT. Steady running at 14-15 psi which is fine with me. Got on the road and headed out in the boonies early this morning. About 15 miles out noticed that the fuel pressure was down again, sometimes even hitting 10 or less, which then triggered the alarm on the Edge. Stopped on the side of the road and adjusted the fuel pressure on the Raptor back up to 18-20. Drove another 3-4 miles and it started doing it again. Now I am not one to do silly things like pee on electric fences and the like, so when something like this happens three times in a row, its time to take a hard look at whats going on and make a decision. Yep, I headed back into town because where I was is in the middle of absolute no-where and tow trucks are a long ways away. Good choice as within 5 miles the fuel pressure was not only below 10, it was down to 3-4 psi at times. Another couple of miles and it was at ZERO... was on the hiway by then going 50 in the slow lane with my flashers on. Made it to the turn-off and truck was then bucking from time to time. Idle speed and sound was fine but sure was down on power. You could tell that the engine was not happy. Last turn onto the main road to my house and I was down to 2-3 cylinders and not sure I would make it, but Mr. Cummins builds a strong engine and we chugged to the house like this. Smelled some difficult smells coming from the engine compartment and guessing that the VP was not happy with no cooling fuel and has signaled that its time that I learn how to change a VP. Anyone ever had anything like this happen? The Raptor 100 is less than two years old and until this time been very reliable. I have a call into PF/Raptor support but no return call yet... Any suggestions on which VP to get and sources? I am looking for a good price but would rather have one with a new or upgraded circuit board on the pump if possible. Thx, Joe --- Update to the previous post... Well, its been a difficult and wasted morning for the most part. Called Pure Flow to get raptor support and they told me that I had to call their Indiana facility. Called there and was shuttled to someone's number and it went direct to voice mail. Left my number and 2.5 hours Kyle finally calls me back. What a JERK! I had bought this Raptor 100 in October of 2009 from Vulcan Performance. First pump I received was dead out of the box so I called Vulcan and they shuttled me to PF who was at that time still producing product in Missouri. They took a week to get me a new replacement pump as they did not any gears left to make new pumps... Finally when they got a new one made they shipped it overnight on their nickle and its been running fine since that time. Evidently now production has shifted to Indiana and if you have a newer model product you have to go there. Older stuff are still supported by the Missouri office... thank God. Well, Kyle could care less about customer service but sure wanted to know the pump number and if I had sent the warranty card in, which I had done. Well he could not find the warranty info in his computer then told me "you must have bought this before Nov/Dec of 2009" so while I have 98% of all listings from this time frame, if you are not in my computer you get NO warranty!" I guess customers from anytime before fall of 2009 are worthless to him, or he sure treats them like this! Hmm, thats a good way to ____ a customer off! Now we are responsible for the Post Office getting the warranty cards to them as well I guess! That 2% of the PF customers that he mentions is not in his computer just gets to pound sand from the way he acts. I called the Pure Flow office in Missouri back and talked with Diane, who found my info in her computer right away. No questions asked, she was wonderful to work with and I have either a 6 year or unlimited warranty, depending on something. I could care less what it is, I bought the pump about 2.5 years ago so its well within both time periods and covered. She has a replacement pump coming out to me this afternoon and will change it next week once it arrives. Now for the next bit of good news. The system threw a Po216 code on the way home, but considering that the Edge was showing ZERO fuel pressure thats not surprising. Anyone feel that after I put a new raptor in the system that the VP is going to be worth a damm or reliable enough to trust on the road?

They still have a Facebook page and its pretty active. Left a msg there and no reply as of yet...Talked to PF in Missouri and they said that they are now operating under a new name but were not sure what it was yet... This was a big surprise to me as well...

Just tried to look at Vulcan Performance's website and its been replaced with a generic one that usually pops up when either the bill for the website has not been paid or a company has gone out of business. Then tried to call their 800 number and "please hold while we try to connect you" followed by "no one is available, please leave a message" ... Anyone know whats going on? 800 991 7996 http://www.VulcanPerformance.com Trying to price new VP44's and looks like they are not going to be on the list...

Truthfully have no idea how old the Edge is, as I bought it used. It has been sent back to the factory once and would assume that if there were any mods or upgrades needed that they would do them there then. Their customer service was excellent BTW. Am now fighting a bigger battle as the Raptor just died and guessing that it took the VP with it. Happened this morning... http://forum.mopar1973man.com/threads/5927-Well-things-just-went-from-interesting-to-much-worse-Raptor-died-VP-as-well

I was thinking the same thing but the question is... which relay? Which one would cause all of this?

Boy I hope not... What all needs to be done to remove it from the system? Just unhook the two wiring plugs and take it back to the stock wiring loom? I have to say that the Edge people have been fantastic on support in the past, so will be contacting them on Monday to get their ideas... Thx, Joe

Well, the good news is that after I got back to the airport last night, re-connected the batteries and it was like nothing happened. No lights on with the dash and the truck started up and ran like the old days.Am thinking that I have two problems. First is a wiring/ignition switch issue and second is every filter on the truck will be changed today. Will end any question about "are the fuel filter and air filter" causing any problem by changing them and seeing how they look when I pull them. Then will take the cover off of the steering column and investigate further under there. A new switch is not that expensive (under $40 from what I can see) so may just change it anyways... Thanks for the ideas, keep them coming!Joe

Thanks Mike.I have the Edge w/Attitude so may be different but will check. As for "tapping the brakes" when I could not shut the truck down I had to "stand on the brakes" while letting the clutch out, so guessing that this is not the issue. Could be a setting so will check that.Thx,Joe

Thanks for the ideas. No codes showing at all but will re-check once I get home again.I have a spare new air filter in the truck, may try to change it just to make sure. I cannot figure out how all of these could be related but sure feel that something is screwy in the ign switch as well... Thx,Joe

I have a really different one here. Truck has been running fine recently then while driving to work yesterday the problems just began.Had to stop and pick up some things and when I turned the ignition switch off, the engine kept on running. This had happened one time before but about 2 years ago. We re-cycled the ign switch and the engine then stopped.Ok so I had no choice but to put it into 4th gear and let the clutch out. Engine then stopped and I then played with the key and ignition switch and no luck, even in the "off" position the truck had several red lights still on in the instrument panel. Went in, took care of my errands and returned in 10 minutes and the truck started right up. It had been driving fine going to this stop but now it started acting funny. Engine did not feel right and felt down on power. Got it on the road and once again down on power and noticed that it was now down on boost, with the max boost around 2-3 psi. Before this it would hit 10 psi anytime I put the throttle down so something is not right. Got the truck out on the road and finally got it up to speed but the engine was not happy. All gauges and lights were fine, just no or little boost showing on the Edge controller. Fuel pressure, water temp and volts all just fine. Got to my destination and off loaded my bags then returned to the parking lot and parked the truck. Again the engine would not shut off so I went inside to get some tools. Returned and shut it down by letting the clutch out in gear, then removed both negative battery cables to kill the power to the vehicle. At least that way I hopefully will have some power to start it and get home. I do not know if I have a bad ignition switch, bad VP, bad turbo or what in the world is going on. May even have multiple issues here but why did they occur at the same time? Will try to get the truck (and myself) back home tomorrow evening but sure could use some ideas.Thx, Joe