Having my VP44 Rebuilt versus reman/exchange

[VMac822]

I was wondering if anyone has sent their VP44 out to be refreshed/rebuilt versus doing the typical purchase of a rebuilt unit and sending the old one in as a core.  The pump on my truck has basically been running fine for 130K miles even though it was a reman of unknown origin installed by the previous owner in 2011.  I thought it would be interesting to have whatever shop rebuild mine and send it back and let me know what it looked like at teardown. . .is my filtration working effectively, does it show signs of low quality fuel, was the timing piston scored, etc.

 

I have been having an odd starting issue intermittently for about 4 yrs/50k miles where sometimes it won't fire when cranking. The solution is to turn the key off and try again, it usually fires instantly. It doesn't matter if it's cold or hot start, if it's sat for days or 10 seconds.  I believe my fuel system is sound with Fuelab 100 lift pump and spinon 7 micron filter and consistent 13-18 psi pressure, fed from a Beans under-tank pickup.  Other than that the truck runs good and gets good fuel economy.

 

Has anyone done business directly with any of the Bosch certified shops Michael listed in this post? 

 

 

[VMac822]

In looking a little further some rebuilt VP44s are upgraded to steel housings and come with 2 year or 1 year "wire tap" warranty  It sounds like most off the shelf rebuilt pumps don't come with the steel housing, I would think it would be worth going for if you want durability and plan to keep the truck for a while.  What is a steel housing?

[Mopar1973Man]

Revision 027 pumps if built at a Certified Bosch should come with...

 

Timing piston sleeve is steel.

New PSG 

All moving parts replaced.

Ran on a Bosch 815 test stand for 3 hours 

PSG will be flash after passing all test.

 

 

[VMac822]

That helps, thank you Michael. I found a couple of older threads discussing it on this forum as well, and the VP44 teardown thread is a good read.

[Mopar1973Man]

For example Blue Chip is not a certified rebuilder.

 

PSG is used 

Moving parts are replaced

Not ran on a test stand and calibrated

[LorenS]

7 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

PSG is used

This is true for their 1 year warranty, $1300 model, but the computer is listed as "upgraded", just used; my assumption would be that the newer pump computers don't fail as often so if they get back a pump that ate some debris and failed, the computer would still be fine.  The more expensive models with longer warranty apparently have a NEW computer.

That said, why someone wouldn't buy a DAP unit sourced from a Bosch certified rebuilder I don't really know.  If I broke down near a Seidel Diesel Group (Midwest Fuel Injection) facility I would use theirs; for all I know they are the supplier to DAP.

Edited March 28, 2023 by LorenS

[VMac822]

So I ended up getting a cheap core VP44 and bought an off the shelf rebuilt from Advanced Diesel in Spokane.  They said they have the Bosch 815 test stand and they run them in and have a 3 year warranty.  I got a 027 pump and they always do the steel liming sleeve, but as far as new computer goes Caroline at Advanced said you have to be careful when a vendor says "new PSG" because some rebuilders supposedly pull out unused but outdated/old generation PSGs.   But Advanced doesn't always use a new PSG if it's the latest version and they are reflashed and thoroughly tested.  Since they warranty it for 3 years I felt that was acceptable.

 

I got the pump on last week and it's running good.  Well to be honest the old pump was fine so it drives pretty much identical to the old but seems to have a bit more low end & midrange.  I've put about 200 miles on it so far.  It runs and idles smooth.

 

 

 

 

[Mopar1973Man]

I know DAP and Vulcan Performance are both selling Bosch Certified Pumps.