Mechanos

I just picked up my "new" truck Monday night


The oil slick under it was left there by my old truck I traded in on this one. Anyway, I put a "subject to mechanic's approval" clause on the deal, so tonight I ran the truck by Mid America Cummins so they could have a look see. I am comfortable inspecting everything on the truck except the engine... this is my first diesel. The Service Dept. at Cummins sent one of their people out with to look the truck over.... he eyeballed real good and then had me start it up for some more eyeballin'.

This leads me to a couple questions: 1) What color is your stock VP44? Mine is silver (unpainted) and the tech said that indicated to him that it was probably a replacement pump. He said if it was the original pump, it would most likely be painted black. He also said that by the way the breather bottle looked, he would doubt that it was ever taken off and cleaned. 2) There is a high pitch, tinny, metallic vibration sound that is most noticable when kneeling down behind the right front tire. It sounds like a heat shield on a cat. vibrating but of course there isn't a cat. or a heat sheild on the exhaust pipe. Any idea what this could be? He recommended that I check the turbo bearings just to rule that out.

Overall, he said, "I wouldn't be afraid of it".

He went on to recommend Rotella T 15W-40 dino juice over Delo and also recommended NOT using full synthetics... synthetic blend, OK, but not full synthetic. Fleetgaurd Stratopore oil filter were also his choice. He even recommended loosing the muffler and going straight pipe ("if you can handle the noise"). Dodge's spec for exhaust pressure is 7" Hg where Cummins spec is 4" Hg. Also recomended a Bank exhaust elbow and vairous different turbo upgrades, but he said that was all he could say.... "once you start overfueling it, the warranty is over."

He spent 45 minutes looking at it and talking with me... all this as a complementary service.... no charge.

EDIT: Also, I forgot to mention.... I asked him about the high idle/3 cylinder thing... He said, yes, the high idle mod is a good thing but he did NOT like the idea of turning off 3 cylinders and recommended against having that option enabled.

phox_mulder

I'll have to remember to take a look at my VP44, as it is a replacement.

Interesting that they recommend straight piping it, I though we just did it for the sound

The sound you describe could possibly be something loose in the resonator, it's what replaced the cat that used to be on the 12valve trucks, it's the "little" muffler in front of the big one.
Straight piping it would remove it as a possible source.

That's nice to know they provide that service.


phox

Barney

What was the lift pump discharge pressure that the Cummins tech observed?

6cylinders

Nice truck! Congratulations.
I agree with the Fleetguard Stratopore. My pump is silver,unpainted, but I bought it with 40K on it, assuming it hasn't been changed, but who knows. There are a couple modifications for the breather bottle, I'd suggest doing a little research and pick one that you are comfortable with. Got rid of my bottle and
extended the hose, but that might not be everybodys choice.

Tartarus

At the risk of sounding dumb or starting another oil war, why would the mechanic not recommend full synthetic oil, when Cummins recommends Valvoline Premium Blue Extreme? Or was he recommending against a group IV PAO oil, and for a group III -- like the Blue Extreme?

jthorpe

I personally think that full synthetics are kind of worthless. Not that they're a bad product, but I know of so many folks who have run hundreds of thousands of hard miles on Rotella, and other similar brands. I guess my question would by, why waste the money? Don't take that as an insult, it's not meant to be at all, but that's my view.

Dr. Evil

No doubt - while the conventional oil is sufficient...I tend to believe that the synthetic is much better - better cold weather performance/pumpability (important for some people more than others), greater shear resistance, and is overall much cleaner for your engine. If you dont mind spending the extra $$ I dont think synthetic could ever hurt any engine...

phox_mulder

He was probably just thinking like Jack.
(and myself, IMHO)

Yes, synthetics are great, but not really worth the cost.
You can get pretty much the same benefit from running blends.


phox

Mechanos

Ummm.... don't know... I was happy to be getting the "look-see" for free, so I tried to stay out of his way and not crawl up his butt. I took his word that it was fine.

Another thing I noticed was a yellow sticker on the top rear of the VP44 right where the harness plugs into it that reads "VOID". Is that so the dealer can see if the harness has been unplugged from the VP44 possibly indicating that a fueling box was used?

The tech guy said that it was almost scary how much of a difference opening up the exhaust makes. Also mentioned that the BHAF type mods aren't really necessary unless you start playing with the fueling. That makes sense to me.... you don't need anymore air in the engine unless you're putting more fuel into it.

I did pull the intake hose and check the turbo... the impeller wiggles a little bit but it does not contact the housing. There was a little bit of oil around the housing right by the impeller.

While I was in there, I popped the silencer ring out, but to be honest, I could not tell an audible difference from the drivers seat with the windows up or down.

I'm not agreeing with or disagreeing with most of the info I posted here.... just passing along what the guy at Cummins told me.

patriot pearl blue

Howdy-

i really dont get to view this board alot, but i live in overland park and will be able to help you out if you need it-

i work on heavy machinery, know alot of people who sell parts cheaper, and might be able to help you with getting a new lift pump on order if yours is showing low PSI as Barney asked what the pressure was.

wanner@kc.rr.com
BW

patriot pearl blue

oh yeah, what HP box do you want

Mechanos

Cool.. thanks for the offer.

As for HP boxes...I thought I'd start out with a 4" exhaust... possibly straight piped, then add a BHAF. Then I'd have to save up some money for a aftermarket TC, controller and valve body (considering the ATS stuff). Then add some 275's or Stage2's and an Edge Comp box.

Can you get any goodies to beef up the 47RE?

patriot pearl blue

since i dont have a auto, no i dont have any contacts on that, but know where you need to go.
there is a super nice guy in lawrence that can help out a bunch, since he knows alot about these trucks, and probably has a contact to help you out.


seems like you know alot about the parts and what you want, but dont get bit by the HP bug too much and drain your wallet this week-

i would build the truck up with a exhaust, good box but dont hook up the wire, and air filter for awhile, once you hook up that t-tap wire, then you need to get the trans done... thats fairly expensive!

IMO might as well enjoy the truck now at its full potential before adding too much power where you abuse the trans..

we need to meet up sometime..

if the weather is good sunday, i will be here taking a car apart

BW

Mechanos

My "goal" is to get to about 325-350 hp. I use my truck for commuting and towing my crawler around. I'd like to have the hp for towing but I don't need to go with more hp than I can effectively use. I won't be pulling sleds and I don't drag race.... just want a good strong tow rig. Oh yeah, I'm taking the truck on a trip to Indiana this weekend.