Just wanted to drop a line about the Viair compressor that Pac Brake used to use! I have an 05 Dodge 3500 that I have had the Pac Brake in since 2006. The system has worked pretty much flawlessly minus some freezing up issues where I had to move the activation switch right off the pump until recently when the pump quit on me.

The pump would run and hum but no air. After taking the pump off and calling Pac Brake they told me that the Viair pump was obsolete and could not be rebuilt that I needed the upgrade kit at at cost of $260! I took them at there word and bought the upgrade kit! This is where it gets good. Like anyone who forks out good money for such a product I took the old pump apart to find that the crank and piston assembly was broken. [U]I contacted Viair and the pump is rebuildable![U] For $30 I bought a replacement piston and took the time to install it and the pump works like new. I contacted Pac Brake about this and explained that the pump was rebuildable and wanted some kind of price drop for the new setup I was told I needed and they went on about how I got the new pump setup for well under list price. Wow, a company who stands behind there product. Oh and Pac Brake went to a Puma pump! I told the manager at Pac Brake that I would be spreading the word on there lack of knowledge on the products they sell and how they are gouging money out of the users out there!

[B]So the moral of this post is that if you have a Pac Brake with the Viair 275 pump it can be rebuilt and you don't have to spend the money like I did[B] I hope that this saves someone else some money!!

 

Thank you for the heads up.

 

we run pac and bd. where the pac is mounted is the problem. i have never heard of a bd failure. we moved our pac pumps to the frame and stoped all failures

 

I need up replacing mine with a large pump rated for continuous use and sold for air bagged cars.

 

My first compressor failed as well,but Pac Brake installed a new one which is now further forward on the engine,it actually rubs on the fan shroud.I took apart the old compressor which had stopped running and found that the motor brushes were still only at half wear,but that one of them was stuck due to brush dust and so didnt make contact with the commutator any longer,they also moved the high pressure cutout switch up to where the compressor now sits to help avoid freeze ups.I metioned a couple of things in previous threads,first put a drain valve on the bottom of the tank and drain out the moisture every week or two in winter,second if the air valve ever sticks open,thus energizing the air to the main exhaust cylinder then you will be unable to drive your truck,even if you pull the fuse as long as you have air pressure in the system the exhaust will be blocked off and you arent going anywhwere,this happened once to me in the summer due to dirt in the air valve solenoid,which I now clean once a year hopefully to prevent this,if you ever have a malfunction and have to leave the drain valve open,remember to remove the compressor fuse so the compressor wont overheat trying to fill the open tank or just disconnect the pressure switch if its up top,the compressor is not rated to run continuously,this is where that optional compressor switch is good to have.The whole system will require maintenance at some point just like the rest of your truck,understanding how it operates and what kind of failures might happen can save you a few headaches.

 

Yeh, they play dumb especially when they can reap from it! I put my prxb on about 3 yrs ago and I didn't like pacs engine mounting so I bought just the brake and control pkg. and found a viair 350 for $165 on the net and mounted it on the frame. I also used an unloading pressure switch/tank check so the compressor always starts unloaded. Craig

 

That compressor is pretty much like a toy one when it comes to pumping up your tires,it will work but will take awhile.

 

If you guys have a Viair compressor that needs some work, please let me know and I'll put you in touch with the rep I know from Horn Blasters. He's on their forums all the time and provides help really quickly since those guys rebuild pumps all the time from blowing their train horns.




-Kris

 

I bought the new kit as well. Still have not installed it yet as I got the Viair working again. It would run so long that iit would blow the fuse. After many fuse changes ( I wanted to see where this would go) I simply ran the compressor and sprayed WD-40 into the intake side, it made some clanging noises, and now works flawlessly. Seems like we need to get some lube misted into the system from time to time to keep the check valve lubed and keep things rust free in general. I willl be changing the pump soon though but just wanted to see if I could get it going and how long it would go for.