Hi all, I am looking for advice on fuel pump mods, specifically the Airdog 4G system.
A little update, I have now imported parts into twice in Peru, once in Bolivia and Argentina, I am becoming an expert in South American parts importation, HA!
Here is what is happening-
I developed a fuel leak in my van a few months ago (1999.5 PSD in a E-350 4x4 conversion to camper van) and started digging and found the leak was somewhere on the fuel bowl. Since I am in Argentina and only wanted to import parts once this time, I did a bunch of research and found a system that I liked and that got decent reviews. I bought and installed the Airdog 4G fuel system and the CNC fab fuel bowl delete with hard lines.
What In learned on the "excavation" of the motor-
Working on E-series vans sucks.
After getting down to the fuel bowl and removing it again (last time I had it out was in Bolivia when I replaced the plenums and rebuilt the fuel bowl) I found that fuel was leaking out of one of the mounting holes. You can see the cracks in the casting below.

Crack kills!

On the inside you can see that the crack knocked a hole in the bolt chamber and fuel could flow out and air could flow in, amazing it was running at all!



New exhaust outlet. You can see the plug weld repair after I removed the flapper valve.
I thought that since I was importing parts I might as well fix a few other issues that were "hacked" in the past to make it to the next town. The plug weld held for a while but started leaking again so out it comes!

The one.
Of course no repair would be complete without one or 2 hard bits. This was my problem issue this time, after removing the exhaust and then the down pipes I managed to round it over with the tiils I had on hand. Luckily a friend had a set of Irwin extractors!

The best tool EVER!


Location of the new fuel system
I managed to tuck it in the inside of the frame rail same spot I had a CAT water separator so the lines from the tank and the return were already in place.

Shiny and new!
Again replacing the old hacked job with a new part.

You can see about 42psi at low rpm and load
So here is the issue, after installing I have been test driving it all day and the fuel psi (on my newly installed Glowshift gauge) sits between 42-45psi. Anyone have experience with this system or advice on ways to fix/ test? Only thing I can think is to get a mechanical gauge and install it somewhere to see if the 2 match?
A few other symptoms-
HPOP numbers look good
It smokes a little on hard acceleration but nothing to abnormal for the fuel in South America
All temps look ok
Idle is normal

One last photo!



One last image. The reason I did all this in 2 days was because my van was broke down with a wild fire racing towards us! It was an exciting few days but I think they have it under control and the van is running again so we could evac if need be.

 

Starting with a mechanical gauge would be a good start in my opinion

 

Sweet van!

Is the air dog regulator adjustable?

 

The cnc fab hard lines should go into a regulator mounted behind the hpop usually. As mentioned, check the pressure and bump it up if you can. You want to he arpund 65-70 psi from what ive read.

 

Granted, 65 psi is an ideal pressure but the stock pressure is about 40-45 psi. You won’t hurt anything running 42-45 psi.

 

I have read all sort of opinions on this and the pump is supposed to come from Airdog set between 50 and 55psi. I'm going to run it at 50psi for a while and see how it goes.

 

If it is adjustable, I would definitely up the pressure. If you can get it close to 60 I would. As you have seen, there are a wide array of opinions on the optimum pressure. I set mine right at 62 which is where my truck seems to be the happiest

 

The biggest issue is consistency. If you can run it wide open and if the pressure remains steady then you can feel confident that the system can feed your truck without the risk of losing pressure.

 

Mine is set to 62 as well. I see no need to bump it higher.

 

Crazy times but I am getting back to this issue here is an update.
I turned the pressure up to about 56psi and drove for a few days, it is still stumbling intermittently and a few days ago wile driving on the highway at about 55mph under throttle the motor shut dawn and all the lights on the dash came on, I took my foot off the throttle and it re-started and ran but shuttered a few times. When I came to a stop it stalled but re-started. As I was driving through town at slow speeds up hills I would put my foot into it and the same thing happened, motor shuts off and all lights come on on the dash but as soon as I take my foot off the throttle it starts and runs.
When I got home I plugged in and pulled codes and had a P1280 and a P0340. ??
The battery voltage seems to be low, when I start it drops to about 11V when the plugs are on, jumps to about11.7 after crank and comes back up to 14.2 for about 15 min then comes down to about 13.6V after driving. The batteries are about 3 years old so could be worn out but I don't hear any slow crank while starting?

I have since checked the IPR wire harness and found a worn wire, repaired it and the same thing happens.
I did the CPS tests from a past post and all wires have the appropriate resistance and voltage and the CPS is new and shows no oil in the plug.
I replaced the IPR about 18 months ago but it was on the beach in Peru so is suspect and I have another.
I unplugged the suction side of the fuel pump and put a piece of clear hose into a clean tank of diesel and it still surges at idle, no change from being connected to the tank.
I will unplug the CPS and start it and see what happens to the RPM and ICP psi tomorrow

Any other ideas out there? I have been taking data on 20 min drives for the past few weeks trying to see any sign but nothing seems out of the ordinary.
IPR duty cycle sits at 14.8 KOEO, comes up to about 58psi while cranking and then drops to 8.2psi-8.5psi at idle (660- 690 rpm)
ICP sits at 0.11V KOEO, gets as high as 3.06V while cranking and then settles in at about 0.71-0.83V at idle
ICP psi is 0 KOEO, then gets up to 2443psi while cranking and settles in at about 480-511psi at idle

 

Since you can monitor the truck, can you do a buzz test or a cylinder contribution test? I don’t necessarily think the injectors are suspect. I wonder about either the IDM or the wiring itself. Will it do it while in park or only under load?

 

Thanks for the reply, I have been beating my head against this with no outside input for a few months now and it is driving me mad.
Yes it stumbles and stalls in park as well as in Drive, when cold and warm, while pulling a hill under heavy throttle (this was new, first time was just a few weeks ago and this is when all the lights on the dash came on as noted in the first post) and while idling down a hill using the breaks, it seems to be random. I have been watching the fuel pressure and battery voltage during the episodes and they do not jump about, the rpm and IPR (ICP duty cycle) do jump about but thats to be expected I think?
Hmm, I can do a CCT and a Buzz test but I have 8 new injectors and a new IDM that have been in and running for about 18 months. I do not see any white smoke in the exhaust at any time during the start up and driving cycle and there is no fuel in the degas bottle. But the more data the better!

I have read about similar issue on this forum that ended up with a bad IPR, ICP, CPS, PCM or short in 42 pin connector. I have a spare IPR so will change that out and see if it changes anything, the ICP passes all the resistance tests from sensor to 42 pin connector and the 42 pin connector it self also passes the tests. (I ran these about 3 weeks ago and will do it again but I do not expect a different outcome as the symptoms have not changed). I have replaced the CPS about 6 months ago with a Motorcraft part. Also the UVCHs are both new but I guess I should check them for burnt pins as well. It just seems like it is electrical from the symptoms.
Next I was planning to look at the PCM and the 42 pin connector, trying to see if this is the culprit. I read a thread where the outside of the connector was shorting and causing intermittent issues and codes similar to my problem.
Also, I am not sure if old batteries could cause any of these symptoms?? I am noticing the voltage drop during the start up cycle and first 15 minutes of driving as not normal to the past three years (replaced the batteries about 3 years ago). I am also planning to drop the battery trays and inspect all the cable to and from the cells to see if I have an intermittent short between the batteries and the alt/starter.

 

This morning I did a little ICP testing-
With ICP unplugged KOEO through start cycle and return to idle here is what I am getting from AE



I thought that the IPR % was supposed to stay at 14.8% if the ICP was unplugged and you crank the motor? Is this a sign that the IPR may be bad?
Also there was very little change in the rpm when the motor is started while the ICP is unplugged, I thought the rpm was supposed to stay higher?
Anyone have input on these numbers??

 

I would replace the IPR. I have seen more than a few trucks doing this and a new IPR does the trick. It could be sticking internally and causing issues. If you have one with you it is a pretty easy check to do, although in a van it is no easy task!

 

My truck did this. Ipr was the issue