What happens when a VE pump dies? The reason I am wondering is 60 miles after my first round of small pump mods my truck went down on power for about 3 seconds coming of a freeway off ramp then died. I check the shutdown solenoid, it clicks with 12 volts, put 5 gallons of fuel in the tank and still no start. I was figuring lift pump failure sience I have no history on my engine more than 5000 miles ago, and the fuel filter on the head was empty. So I towed the truck off the highway, went 30+ miles to the nearest Cummins dealer, bought a new lift pump drove back to the truck , put in the pump, primed it until fuel came out of the bleader in the head and still no go? I attempted to start it three times 15 seconds each. It ran it out of fuel 2 times before it was pulled from the donor vehicle, and it restarted on the first try. I know I am getting fuel in the filter and the injectors seep when I loosen the lines. The engine is a 1993 4BTA 3.9 ve pump H1C/16cm nwg all stock. The only things that are not from the factory breadvan are 3 inch open exhaust, cone filter, large intercooler with 3 inch plumbing, fuel pin at its deepest setting, max power screw 2 turns, smoke screw 2 turns. I have driven this truck for 5000 trouble free miles, put my egt and boost guages sunday and turned the pump tuesday with GREAT results. After reading all the pump mod articles in this forum, I was pretty confident that I was not in the danger zone for reliability concerns, was I wrong? IF my pump was weak before the mods, would they kill it? If it was weak, would there be any indicators beforehand? I though it ran good before, but I wanted a little more power, you all know how it starts, just a little here and there, and before you know it your plumbing twins on it. This is my first Cummins and was happy with it until the pump mods, then I absolutly LOVED IT!!! It made my 4000lb truck run like an animal, that is until it died. I know there has to be someone here who has had expereinced this before. I realize this is a very long winded question but this is enough to make a grown man cry. I am trying to get this sorted out before it ruins my holiday of a broken heart. I have been planning a wheeling trip next weekend for three months with a few other Jeeps to show them what a Cummins can do, the last thing I want to do is cancel. If no one has any suggestions, I am pulling the pump for a teardown friday am Nov 22. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Don Bankston

 

Sounds like a down VE Mine just died all at once in a parking lot. While cranking on the fuel screw does put more stress on the pump, it was likely just time. Are you getting any air from the injector lines when loosened and cranking the starter, or is it just fuel? Any while smoke while cranking?

 

Injector lines bubble while cranking, no smoke from the tail pipe.....sound like Im screwed dosent it?

 

Well, not necessarily. If you got bubbles, then you're not bled yet. My system was airtight with a bad pump, so when I cracked a line, I'd get a steady stream of fuel, but the pump wasn't putting out enough pressure to pop the injectors. Since you've got bubbles, you may only have an air leak on the low pressure side that you've overlooked. Try cranking it with 2 injector lines cracked untill you get steady fuel, then repeat on the other 2 injectors. Any air in the high pressure lines can stop the injector from popping.

 

I just turned up the pump for a buddy last week. We made it about 50 ft. from the shop when it all of the sudden died and wouldn't start. What happend was, there is a litte black wire that is connected to some sort of solenoid in just the right spot to get knocked off while I was turing the Full power screw on the back of the pump. Check that connection. Good luck!

 

That wire could have been loosly connected and then vibrated off as you drove. Hope this helps

 

The fact that it keeps draining the filter makes me think you have an air leak on the suction side. Don't panic yet. Pressurize the fuel tank, that should show up any air leaks as fuel leaks.

What sort of pickup are you using in the tank? A crack in the pickup tube will cause all kinds of trouble.

 

Schaef, the shut down solenoid is working, I too have had it disconnect while priming the lift pump. Dave, the sending unit I am using is a modified gas sender, with no leaks between the lift pump and the fuel strainer, I pulled the sender out to air test. So, at this point I figured the VE died. But in one last effort, I reeallly blead the injectors till no bubbles, and it fires rite up! G1625S you called this one. I guess I just did not crank it long enough. With all the horror stories of failing lift pumps killing newer VP44s, and since the VEs are fuel lubed, I thought the worst. But boy does it run now! Id like to dyno it to see what kind of numbers Id "lay down" with a 4 cylinder! Id like to make it a few diesel events as soon as possible, anyone know af any around north/western pa? Thanks for your quick replies, I value all of the knowledge in this 1st Gen forum, and am glad to have access to it. I will definetly consult you for the next round of mods, because you all know enough is never enough! Thanks again. Don Bankston

 

The Mason-Dixon Turbo Diesel Club does their dyno days at Kauffman Motorsports in Dillsburg (near Carlisle). Our big event was about a month ago, but we will have a dyno day out there again this spring.

 

Glad you got 'er running, Don