Of course, had the wife and kids with me. And of course, I was 80+ miles from home. Luckily, a buddy came and rescued me and trailered it home for me (with a Chevy Duramax no less!). Pulled 2 codes; a P0254 and P1688. Talk about ruining your day!
The truck has 126K on it. It was bone stock till about 115K, then I installed 100hp BullyDog injectors, a TST PM3 Comp box, a Holley blue pump for a pusher, a 4" exhaust (sans muffler), and a BHAF. The stock clutch wouldn't handle the TST being turned on, even on the #1 setting, so I removed the box and left the wiring. I was going to re-install the TST after I upgraded the clutch later on, but it didn't make it.
I do have a question, the truck never gave me a minutes trouble until Christmas Eve. I had filled up with fuel at a local Mobil "On the Run" on Wed. of last week. I was driving home Sat. night and the "water in fuel" light came on, stayed on for a minute or two, then went off. It was running just fine, so I figured that I'd put some PowerService additive in it the next morning. Of course, I forgot to do that. Then yesterday, I give it some pedal to make it through a changing stop-light and it kind of jerked when I let off of it. Just like you'd shut the key off, it was dead. Coast into a parking lot. Oh oh, crank, crank, crank, no start. The blue pump is running (noisily as usual). I get out and crack open the drain on the filter and fuel floods out of it. (Sighs heavily)
Do you think possibly that the fuel I got led to the VP's demise? I know, I know, the VP's are junk anyway. Just had to vent and figured many of you could relate.... And of course, I'm broke since it was just Christmas.
I just about have the pump off the truck. I don't suppose anyone has ever done surgery on a VP and been lucky enough to fix it..???? I think I'll take it apart to see if I can see anything anyway. It's not like I can screw it up any more than it already is!

 

Well crap Jason sorry to hear that.
Be carefull if you decide to pull it apart could posably destroy it as a core.
There are seveal vendors that can provide you with a good replacment. If you do end up replacing it I would recomend the Hot Rod VP from Industrial Injection if yo ucan afford the extra hun or two.

Keep us informed.

dan

 

I second the hot rod pump! I picked up 60-80 hp. Runs excellent!!!

 

Just got my "hot rod" pump from Doug at http://www.performancedieselwarehouse.com/
The low end power on this pump is awesome! As much of a gain if not more then my injectors. Awesome price and service from PDW

 

Well, I got the pump off. I made a half-hearted attempt at dis-assembling the pump. Most of the components are really "stuck", so I only removed the parts that came off easily. The top cover with the electronics module came off pretty easy. Peering down into the pump from there, you could see what appeared to me to be a tone wheel and sensor. Everything looks okay there and turns pretty freely. I was afraid to damage anything else during the process that might affect the value of my core, so I was pretty much done. Without knowing how to check them, I have no way of verifying the condition or operation of any of the electronic components. I have a gut feeling that it is some sort of electronics failure, just from the way that it quit. One second it was running, the next it was dead, very typical of any electronics failure that I've ever experienced. Now I just have to make a decision on what to do to fix it. There is a Bosch authorized repair center located a little over an hour away from me. They have a very good reputation locally, so I guess I'll give them a call. I would love to have a HR pump, but unless someone has a price any better than $1600, I'll probably just do a stock pump.
If only someone made a retrofit pump that did away with the electronics of the VP44....

 

Check out this page for VP-44 electronics info:

http://www.bluechipdiesel.com/VP44INFO.html

 

I empathize with your plight.
My VP44 was declared DOA at 1722 hrs last night.
Only Wifey and I in the truck and 3 miles from the house.
3 hour wait for the tow and 81 buck later, it's back out front of the house.

VP should be here Monday or Tuesday, I hope.
Not many novice serviceable parts, and from what I've heard, it takes a special high $$$ test stand to set them up.

 

Quote from the blue chip site above
Did either of you experience the loss in mileage? I know I'm running on borrowed time, great power one minute or day and doggy the next poor mileage just over 14 empty going easy on the skinny peddle.

bill.

 

I don't believe so. I bought the truck with 60k on it and actually the mileage has improved slightly since. It averages around 18 mpg but on ocassion will get as high as 20. As a matter of fact, I got 20 on a trip that I took to K.C. this past summer. Ironically, I couldn't even tell a difference in the mileage after I installed the 100hp injectors. I even tried to drive it to improve the mileage for a couple of tanks. I ran 60-62 mph instead of 70-75 and never ran it over 2000 rpm while shifting. I saw zero improvements in mileage doing this. Coincidentally, the couple of times that it got 20, I drove it pretty hard.

 

Fuel milage is iffy at best when the comp wire is attached.....
Easy driving I get 17 around town.
Normal driving, ........maybe 14-15.

WAAAAAAY too much fun to spank scoccer moms in SUVs and ricers off of stoplights.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

Scary stuff.

Out of curiosity, why do people use the term "core"? I don't see anything core about an original part that is being removed to make room for an aftermarket part.

 

Think of "Core" as in apple core, the main part, center. Like they strip away the old stuff, add some new seals paint it up and sell it again.

Thats the thing, they aren't "aftermarket", they are very much like OEM stuff. It used to be worse, (all brake pads/shoes, calipers, etc.) now that we buy 97% of our goods from China and Indonesia, we don't have to worry so much about rebuilding cores.

 

Think of Core as C.O.R. "Cash On Return"

That's the original acronym.

 

And now I know....the rest of the story.