So I pulled the pump off the truck today cause I am waiting for my new one to get here and I want to just be able to put it on when I get it. So I pulled it off with no problems (at this point I am getting pretty fast at it). When i got it off I noticed that the key on the pump shaft has been sheared off or something. It is not all the way out and the shaft has some gashes in it so I'm not sure what happened. Any ideas? Also since I pulled the pump off the piece of the key that was sheared off probably fell into the gear case. So I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but do I need to pull my gear case off to get that piece out before I do anything?

 

Did the dow pin come out ?? Sounds like it could have! Have u done the killer dow pin fix? Or is your injection pump free turning ?

 

Well I took it to a very reputable shop around here to get the crank seal replaced when I bought it. I told them to kill the dowel pin while they were in there and they said they do it no matter what while they are in there even if the customer asks to or not. So I'm pretty sure that it has been killed. The pump is free turning. I can grab the shaft and spin it all the way around.

 

If you can turn it by hand and not with plires or some thing hten it has some probs there are springs and a cam plate that rides on rollers that make it very hard to turn and it should have 6 destinkt positions that it pops to.


you many have had probs in the pump and sheered the shaft off. That would mess up the key like you said.

 

So I'm probably gonna have to go retrieve that piece of key that was sheered off? This is two pumps that have been on my truck that some internals have gone bad. One was pretty recently rebuilt by the PO and the rotor head shaft snapped and the came plate broke off. This one is one that my buddy had that ran good when it was on his truck about a year ago so I figured that I would try it before I bought a new one. Is there something to having these pump failures or is it just bad luck?

 

The piece of key is probably in the oil pan by now. Once you put a new pump on, roll the motor over a couple revolutions by hand. If it does not hang up, the piece of key has fallen all the way past the gear train. It will do no harm in the oil pan.

Since this is not the first pump it's eaten, I would put a fuel pressure gauge on the truck. VE pumps are cooled and lubricated by fuel, if you don't have fuel pressure they will not run for long. Also, the new ULSD does not have the lubricity of the older fuel. If biodiesel is conveniently available for a competitive price, 5-10% in your tank will bring the lubricity up, or run 2 stroke oil at 1 oz per gallon. If you go with the bio prepare to change the fuel filter a couple times, it will clean all the crud out of your tank.

 

Ok thanks I will do that. I don't have a fuel pressure gauge, I might have to invest in one. I did just buy a piston lift pump for it so I will put that on when I do the new pump. I put a additive in my fuel everytime I fill up. I will try the 2 stroke oil.

 

sounds like the return springs were broken or the shaft is broken, you should invest in a fuel guage its the first thing anybody should do, and if thats the second one then its 95% not enough fuel, if you do alot of wide open you probaly starved the pump expesialy with your mods, the key on my saft is 75% gone thats do to not instailing it right, as long as the key is lined up to the grove in the gear and the nut is titen good you will be fine, i dont think ppumps even have a key on the pump,

joel

 

You should also check how much fuel cycles through the return-lines.

You can have fuel-pressure like a fire-hose and still not have enough cooling/lubing fuel going through the pump if the return is choked.

 

Thanks for all the replies! I will check the return line too. I am putting a piston lift pump on when I install the new pump so that should give me enough fuel supply I think. What kind of fuel pressure should I be seeing?

 

8 to 14 psi with regular pump, i fyou go wide open for awhile then you might see 1psi or less, with piston maby 15psi all the time
Joel