rancherman

Getting close to rolling out the door! Got the calipers assembled, need to get em bolted on and bled. Toe is set. Got just under 1/8th inch. Checked to see where castor was at, already at 'max'. Got the Vacuum capped off the 'no longer needed' vacuum CAD system. Took forever to get the power steering system primed.. BTW, during the toe setting, I seen that the link that's immediately in front of the diff cover can rotate up and down ( as much as the tie rods will allow) and when the bar is all the way down, it's pretty dang close to the diff cover. I made sure the rod ends were 'centered' or 'flat', perpendicular to the studs.. then tightened the connecting sleeves down.. But ya know? what keeps that link AWAY from the diff cover when running down the road? I'd think just jouncing along would cause that link to work down.. and start rubbing on the cover! Maybe when the truck is on the ground, and the rolling resistance is transmitted back through the steering.. it keeps that link 'where it needs to be'?? ............... Is the steering stabilizer a gas shock??........... and should keep tension on this link..... causing it to 'stay away' from the differential? ummm, maybe I just answered my question about that link!! My 'shock' is toast!

very true, But European Diesel fuels are like caviar compared to our slop..

I lucked out, I had some threaded rod from a engine sleeve pulling set, and used an adapter from my ball joint press, and a couple of large washers. I pulled it a little, backed off to see if it was started straight. It wasn't. So I tapped the 'high side' in a little to even it out, and pulled some more. Tfaoro recommended grinding a very slight bevel on the leading edge of the seal.. I only buffed off the green paint with a wire wheel. Pull it in until it bottoms out in the bore. OH! btw, when you run the threaded rod in to pull the new seal, wrap some electrical tape on the threads so they don't chew up the seal as you pass the rod through!!

Right axle isn't too bad.. not easy, but not too bad! figure 3-4 hours start to finish.. Don't have to drop the carrier out of the housing,.. to replace the seal. I slid the inner shaft out too, give a little more room to install the new seal. You will want to replace the plastic bushing in the end of the shaft when you pull it apart! (or make dang sure it in there when you do!)

Look, The vp44 was a total embarrassment to the Robert Bosch corp. They didn't have nearly enough time to get a prototype put together, let alone do any longevity studies. They were putting all research into the new CR development. They are supplying a LOT of engine manufacturers with this system. The only reason for the '44's existence was to fill the gap in the tier system, and buy the automotive use diesels some time. There was never an off road cummins that used the '44, they went from the p7100's straight to the Cp3 CR system. Why? Off road use didn't need to pass heavy emissions until '06. Before then, most materials used in the pumps and injectors were quite adept at handling the fuel of that day.. then came along the weaning of the sulphur It wasn't a one time stab.. .it was gone in about 3 waves. Every day, there are less and less '44's out there to worry about. We'll never see a 'fix' other than what WE can come up with by trial and error. Cummins had no problem with pulling oil straight from the pan for re-use as a fuel. They had a really slick setup for this purpose. They did it for ease of maintenance, Not so much for lubing up the fuel.. You youngsters have no idea what kind of bear-grease diesel fuel was, back in the 70's! Along came the 90's, we all heard of guys dumping in everything from used engine oil, trans fluid.. Howes was a hoot; It's namesake is LUBRICATOR. shoot, It did VERY LITTLE for helping the HRFF. It's OK as a 'winterizer'.. but don't let the namesake fool ya. One of the pump shops near me is a Stanadyne authorized shop. They sell their products too, and even THEY say it's not enough. 5 years ago, I asked them "well, what are we supposed to do??" They said, 'get ready to bring your pumps in more often'. I use 2 stroke in my pickups for these reasons. 1. I carry it along with me for refilling.. If I spill a little, no big deal, it smells like normal oil. Spill a stanadyne type product, and your eyes are blistered over... (yeah, I know, don't spill it in the first place) 2. It's ashless. and it's blue green dye matches the color of ON ROAD fuel. 2b. It doesn't cause a problem when I get fuel checked by the DOT. (I have been chewed out when I used to run WEO, 'black diesel' I still run all my waste oil through the tractors however. 3. It's everywhere you look.. wally world, tractor supply houses, I've even see it in a larger grocery store in the oil dept. Is there better products out there? probably. I CAN'T speak for the whole community, but I can claim 2 stroke has not caused me any grief as in fuel gelling. Or a waste gate growing shut. in fact, all the trouble I have had in my posts about gelled fuel is when I have been lax at keeping it in the tank. (not because of the lack of 2 stroke, but because I got caught with my pants down!) I was a member for about a week here when I gave it whirl. I quit using my waste engine oil, and keep jugs of 2 stroke on hand. Mighty handy compared to juggling nasty dirty oil, filtering it, and getting it into the tanks.. Mike is just one guy with real world results on this 'experiment'.. Now if there was a way to put a couple thousand guys in the same room with 2 stroke'd 44's, with a combined miles of say, half a billion... then we could rack up some statistics! All I'm saying here is, with the diminished number of these trucks everyday, we can expect zero help from industry. Can we expect to find a miracle cure that Bosch overlooked? nope. Geez, there isn't a definitive answer to WHY the solder in the pump's board suddenly 'lets go', or what temperature the pump itself becomes 'too hot'. and eats itself up.. how can we expect to come up with a 'perfect lube' ??? We should be able to extend the service life of the '44 with better lubed fuel, but don't expect any product that can keep the pump running as long as the engine itself. Normally, I used to expect a diesel engine to have a service life of 12-15k hours, and the pump would be tired too.. but certainly not rebuilt 3-4 times a 44 would need to be for the same hours. with that said, Mikes 44 shouldn't be a 'miracle' pump just because it has 200+K miles! It shouldn't even be a blip on the radar! But he seems to be an exception to the norm... and we learn from others' good luck!

LOL, remember the product called 'gunk'?? I bought a can 30 years ago, and as soon as I sprayed it, my Dad walked by and said... Hmmpf. " nuttin but kerosene" ( works like a charm as an engine cleaner... but be very careful where it runs off to, or into!!!) ie; Mom's rose garden...

why don't I use a better treatment? good question! I am 'unaware' of a product that does both. Seriously, I just don't know of one.. If you have any suggestions, I am all ears Sometimes I'll fill with straight #2.. cause the weatherman promised a certain forecast.. and a week later, BOOM! 20 BELOW! So, I become the 'dump artist'... little this, little that..

I like to fill a garden sprayer with almost undiluted product such as simple green, purple power.. Even really good luck with Dawn dish soap and half water. Hose it down and let it sit! you'd be surprised at how far a gallon will go when not squirted @ 2000 psi! I'd say 'go to the car wash' but then you'll have a hot engine, something you shouldn't be spraying with water.. even hot water from their nozzle. I suppose if you washed the outside of the truck first, the engine may cool down some by then. My pressure washer @ home is packed away for the winter! I got a 3000 psi job that'll cut a fan belt, or radiator hose into shreds.

X2 ^^^ Been doing it with several brands.. howes, PS to name a couple. The only thing that makes me 'frown' is the cost of putting it in!! LOL Never seen any 'ill effects'... such as the fuel turning into manure..

jlwelding; so what did yours end up being.. piston? and where was this crack at? ring land?

I goop up EVERYTHING. Even put a thin layer between the rotor and hub. Hub to knuckle, even some on the splash shield so it won't rust to the knuckle.. EVERYTHING. Thin layer is key.. you don't want to 'hydraulic lock' a large flat surface. I've never had a fastener back off, Probably because when a fastener says it needs 'x' amount of ft. lbs, I'll take it to that spec.. and when there is this 'lube' in there, it's probably even tighter... (so be careful on smaller fasteners when torqueing... It may be easier to bust one!) Then in a couple years when it's time to do it again, you be smiling!

geez. could be! take it off and look closely for kinks Blow through it with compressed air both ways.. But I'd think a bad line would be bad no matter what the crossover tube is in there!! edit.. you SURE that was the ONLY cylinder that was missing?? You may have only fixed 'half' of the miss... What you are hearing now may be coming from another cylinder! Did the exhaust manifold heat up faster with the different tube?

LOL, I ordered them yesterday. Only because when I get around to building my trans, I'll never find the page again! This site'll be long gone when I get started, so keep an eye out on Tom's!

my 2000 has dual pistons. Awaiting arrival of new ones as-we-speak. Pistons were 5 bucks and change each, seal kit was 3 bucks per caliper, guide pins, bushings, and rubber boots was another 6, and I'm going to try the 'speedy bleed' bleeder screws from Dorman. going to do a little searching to see if there is any 'trick' to popping in the new boots.. Man, I'd agree with you on some of this re manned stuff, (price versus our 'time') But after my debacle of a CARDONE steering gear lasting 8 months.. Plus I am 'teaching' my kid how to get his hands dirty too..

Gotcha too! I was 'off' on my parallelisms. I think my Junior High shop teacher used a river as his example.. but that was 40 years ago! I screwed the pooch trying to remember something taught in a room full of juvenile delinquents.

That's a heck of a groove for only 2 days! just how hard is that ball.. would a fingernail leave a dent? or does it bounce back (LOL< don't destroy it finding out!) That flat portion sure could act like a cork especially when the aluminum chills down for the night.. which would shrink down on the ball.. I'd bet that is what is making the groove in the first place.. The growing and shrinking of the aluminum acting on a static ball. Like cbrew noted, the ball "should be off the seat" during operation. There might be some rattling around of the ball when fluid if flowing past too. Plus any impulses felt from IP. If that ball is really light weight, it'd flutter a lot more than steel.. but would need a stainless seat for it to work against. Sounds like another potential part to offer in a kit for these pumps! Seals, bearings, ball and spring.

Yeah, I've been staring at the abs light for about 4 years now. IIRC we had a abs motor going bat-crazy upon startup a year or so ago.. which was easily fixed with a fuse removal.. So, even with my new sensors in the new front hubs, I got a bad feeling it wont make any difference!

arrggg.. ya know, I'm going to Holyoke Co. next week.. I could hump over to Tfaoro's just for the sake of listening to it!

UPDATE! Installed: Steering gear, all new steering components are installed awaiting final toe adjustment. hubs, extensions are in, torqued down... Axles are in, and apparently the axle seals are holding oil back! Got the Posi-lok installed, no more vacuum worries about engaging the front axle. Now awaiting CALIPER REBUILD STUFF. My phenolic pistons had (read that again...HAD) a steel ring that goes up against the backing plate on the pad. All rusted out. Might as well do a quicky caliper rebuild while I'm at it. Besides the new pads, getting new pins, bushings, guide pin boots, pistons, seals, and something I've never seen before! Dorman's 'speed bleeder screw'. They cost about 3 bucks apiece, they are a little taller than the originals... but incorporate a one-way check ball. Loosen them normally to bleed, and just pump the brakes slowly. the check ball keeps air from going back into the caliper.

'shim adjustable'

Try to stay away from Caseys for your winter diesel needs. 'winterized' fuel is just plain ol #2 with a dribble of antigel product squirted in. Blended is a combination of #1 and #2.. typically a 50/50 blend in our area. (eastern Nebraska and Iowa) And it seems to be alright until it get to 5-10 below. That's when I'll throw in a little more Howes, or PS. The days that promise 20-25 below zero I'll make dang sure I have 50-50 #1 and #2, antigel, and 2 stroke. I've had pretty good luck with just 'winterized' fuel down to zero for a few days. When I go to more extreme cold, I'll start adding #1 so I can get close to 50/50 in tank THIS IS WHEN I like to make dang sure the 2 stroke is in for lubricity. If you've ever seen straight #1, and 'felt' it, you'd swear it's just like water. with about as much lubricity too!

This isn't a hard steel ball. Nitrile or Viton material. They better not try using it to 'form the seat'!!

You're right... something in the bypass circuit is not right. either the valve itself (are we looking at another plastic ball and spring scenario here??) the return line back to tank might be kinked or full of ice or just too dang small.. Apparently the pump is doing it's job! can't complain there. Now getting the ducks in a row downstream shouldn't be THAT impossible! Truthfully? any time I see a bypass valve on any hydraulic system that can't keep a lid on upper pressure, but keeps minimum ok means 1 of 2 things. Either the pump is just barely making enough pressure at the low speed, and the bypass valve is completely shut down... and when the rpm's go up is the only time the bypass starts to open.. This means the bypass is set too tight. OR the bypass itself is too dang small (or return circuit) to handle the volume going back to tank. Start by adjusting the upper limit at high rpm. Set the bypass to your desired pressure @ 2500 and see what it goes back down to @ idle. Keep track of psi at various rpms from 1000 up to 3000 and report back!! That'll tell us what's going on within your set up. If I was looking at this scenario in my truck. let say I got the upper limit set good, but at idle it drops to say, 8-10 lbs. I'd run it. after all, how many hours are spent idling?? Not very dang many. With all the talk of 'flow equals pump cooling' no one, has EVER proven when the pump is 'cooked'. NO ONE. ( either idle with less than 8 lbs, or going down the road @less than 12) RUN TIME data would suggest the later. Lets step back and look at an electrical pump system. We all have read where Idle is X psi, and WOT is about the same or just a tad less. Makes sense, the output of the electric pump is the same, and IT'S bypass is the variable. Here, we have a mechanical pump that is proportional to engine speed. If getting a minimum is impossible, even with bypass totally closed, then SPEED UP THE PUMP WITH THE SMALLER PULLEY. I think most guys would see the 2 options in the pulley dept offered by DTT as the smaller high speed as 'racing' or high engine rpm.... quite the opposite! If you are just a DD, where sub 3000 rpm is the norm.. this is where I'd use the high speed set up! So in YOUR situation, check your return circuit first, make sure it's unrestricted. check and double check the routing!!! make sure you have the hoses on the correct nipples! bypass has 3 nipples, fuel in, fuel out to vp, and fuel returned to tank. Then take your bypass apart and see if it's not jammed with debris. One blob of thread sealer would ball up the whole show.. Set your bypass to your preferred pressure @ 2000-2500 engine speed. Tell us what it drops down to when idling.

well, in homemade diesel (using restaurant grease) LYE is used to break down the fatty chains.. which keeps them homogenized. Perhaps it's this process that adds the caustic effect to some materials? also known to readily absorb water..

Just curious.. Now that I know the ball isn't steel!! we see claims today that 'this or that' is bio diesel compatible.. What exactly is IN biodiesel that is detrimental??? and what materials are getting affected by it? Viton and Nitrile been around a long time, with great results in 'normal' diesel.. Is this one of the materials talked about?