Sweet I know who to call in the future and it aint the ghostbusters.

 

Interesting this worked for you. Maybe Bosch has been pulling the wool over everyone's eyes all this time.

Bosch has had a couple of updates on the case which are supposed to stop the timing piston siezure problem, which was a problem on earlier pumps prior to the fixes. Fuel comtamination is usually a major cause of this problem.

A siezed piston is also a cause of the 0216 code, as well as a failed high pressure chamber pressure relief valve. The biggest mechanical reason for the 0216 code, however, is the failure of the diaphram o-rings which seal off the high pressure chamber, and on earlier pumps sometimes the diaphram, itself fails. This chamber is presurized by the rotary vane pump, and the pressure rises and falls according to engine rpm. The pressure affects the position of the timing piston, which is also controled by an electrical solenoid. As rpm increase, the high pressure chamber fuel pressure also increases and advances the timing accordingly. When the o-rings fail, the high pressure chamber doesn't have enough pressure, due to the leakage, to move the timing piston, and the 0216 code appears. If you can figure out what causes the o-ring failures, you've solved a great many 0216 code problems.

A severe restriction on the intake side of the rotary vane pump can also cause a 0216 code because the high pressure chamber cannot get pressurized due to the intake restriction. The VP44 was designed to be run without a lift pump. The vane pump was designed to bring fuel in straight from the tank. A stopped lift pump is a severe restriction. Electrically unplug the lift pump and you will get a 0216 code, but if a failed internal bypass in the lift pump causes fuel pressure to drop it is not a big enough restriction to cause the code. Basically, all that is needed are just a couple of psi fuel pressure to ensure the vane pump has enough fuel to feed the high pressure chamber properly, which means everyone who cries out for increased lift pump pressures has got it all wrong.

The fuel lubricity really comes into play in the distributer head, which has very close tolerances. There were some machining problems early on in this area which caused siezures and initially started much of the paranoia reguarding fuel lubricity and the VP44.

Fueling boxes, especially the hotter ones, cause many VP44 failures because they over work the timing and distributer head solenoids causing them to eventually fail.

Finally, there are the electrical failures of the PCM, which is a whole other chapter itself.

I'm curious to know how your o-rings looked???

 

To phil_m: No Brad was just there for the parts. Brains came from me (somehow!)

Bart Timothy: You seem to be very knowledgeable regarding these pumps, may I ask where you gained this knowledge?

My o-rings did look good considering the age of the truck and 195k miles. It is a Texas truck so we get plenty of heat. I wonder sometimes why we have a fuel heater in the filter housing. The fuel cools the electronics in the IP so it would be better if we disconnected the heater especially in the summer months.

Bart, I have to disagree with one of your earlier posts. I think that if a guy is careful and follows some specific guidelines for tearing these pumps apart, he can in fact make it a shade tree repair - given that it is a mechanical problem. Heck, for $40 it is worth a try and you still have the core for a rebuilt if you fail in your efforts.

 

there is a bosch factory and warehouse in my city but they told me they build the units and assemble them but the testing and calibration is done at a different site.... so they outsource them for completion

 

WOW!!

That's awesome my3sonsracing!

I have search the net several times, and your are the first 'do it yourself' vp44 repair that I've seen! Where did you get your parts? And where did you get the special torx wrench?? I saw some chinese place a few time while searching the net that supposedly sold some of the vp44 parts. But I'm not sure how good their quality is.

While P.J. is right about automatics being kinda complicated, I once took one half apart to change a $24 shift solenoid that a shop told me would need a $1500 dollar overhaul. And I drove that thing years before I sold it & the tranny worked great!

I replaced my vp44 once already, and the second one has acted a little strange when starting with the engine hot a few times. If it gets worse (warranty is already gone on it) I plan to carefully take it apart and repair it myself now that I know it can be done!!!

Look out Bosch!!!

 

I don't work for an injection shop and I don't work for Bosch. What I know about these pumps comes from 7 years of being in the diesel scene, listening, watching, and trying to figure out things myself. I don't buy into much of the ignorance and pure speculation which abounds on these forums when it comes to VP44s and lift pumps. A few talks with pump rebuilders and Cummins engineers has helped out quite a bit, and spending several hours in Industrial Injection's VP44 room hasn't hurt.

If all you did was go in and clean things up inside the pump, and change out gaskets and seals, put it all back together again, there appearently must not be a problem in rebuilding it yourself. What part the PCU plays in pump calibration when it comes to, say, changing out the distributer assembly, as an example, is an answer which isn't known. The rebuilders may not even know the answer to how dumb the PCU is, and how much programing is needed to tell it about the small variations of the hardware which it controlls. A new PCU may not know anything, and may have to be programmed from the ground up when installed. The rebuilder is usually going to go through a rebuild proceedure taught to him by Bosch.

There are different numbered pump gear keyways which are spacific to individual pumps. The 3 digit keyway number must match the 3 digit number stamped on the pump. When the pump is rebuilt, the test stand software tells the rebuilder which keyway number to use, and that number is stamped on the pump also. Knowing this information says that there are some calibrations which will be out of the hands of a backyard rebuilder.

Another interesting tidbit is the PCU has memory registers which can tell Bosch and its rebuilders all sorts of things about pump operation. For example, the test stand software can tell the rebuilder if a fueling box has been used, even if the the Blue Chip cover was involved.

Thanks for posting your information, because I've learned something from you.

 

Family Diesel:
The parts information can be found in my previous post i think it was #14.

Tools can be had from any specialty tool shop. I got a set from Harbor Freight but they were cheap and broke . Got a good set of socket type and they worked fine. They are Torx tamper resistant size 25 and 27.

Good luck!

 

It finally died --- The elctronics went bad and it finally quit working.
I got $20k miles out of it so it was worth the time an effort in my opinion. I got a rebuilt from the diesel store for $1046 and it runs great again.
Mike

 

Thanks for the posting and all of the effort that you put into this project. At least we know that the mechanical side of the pump can be a home project with a little patience. I doubt that the two failures were related with all of the milage difference between them.

Reminds me of a story that my dad told me.... he had worked for a Mercedes dealership when Mercedes had just started to import cars to Canada in the early 60's. (Manuals were all still in German). They had a diesel with a bum injector pump... couldn't get a spare. Finally he took it apart & cleaned it up - probably similar to the above descriptions. I know there is a world of difference between an early 60's pump and a vp44.... but then who knows... maybe that pump was a Bosch too.

Rebuilding automatics isn't all that scary.... my brother & I did it several times in our teens (he was really hard on cars). First time was a Ford C-4 (famously weak) with a shop manual. Later did a Mopar Torqueflite 727 with a really wicked B&M shift kit (how about chirping 1-2 with foot of throttle?).

I don't do heavy repairs like that anymore just because I don't feel like it and I have way more money than when I was a kid..... do have to admit though that the electronics have killed off the ability to do some vehicle repairs ourselves.

 

 

Jason, how does one become a certified VP44 mechanic?
Mike

 

In your opinion, could you have replaced the electronics, and had the rebuilt pump back in operation?

 

more than likely yes. a complete rebuild. which is exactly what you get when you hafta buy a rebuilt one. when you remove the top psg, it has the sensor that goes into the head and then the sensor right below the head, the biggest thing is the angle position sensor which is what is soldered to the psg and it screws into the shaft. when that sensor is removed from the shaft it has to be remeasured and re calibrated

 

So, No it can't, since it needs to be recalibrated.

 

well i mean it just depends on which angle you look at. but i can see your angle in which it still need all the parts and calibration and such. so the answer would be no the electronics can not be fixed just themselves. it requires remeasure and recalibration. so you would still be going the same route in which you did by buying a new one or rebuilt one