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jdemaris
11-01-2006 06:48:38
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Magic injection pumps? in reply to msb, 10-31-2006 21:14:02
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I can't say I disagree with what you say in spirit - but by your reasoning - the same can be applied to anything mechanical. Nobody should try rebuilding an engine, a cylinder head, a starter, and alternator, a magneto, a carburetor, etc. - unless they have some expertise, some smarts, the correct service information, and the correct tools. The way modern society has been going - fewer and fewer people are doing things for themselves anymore. No wonder so many people are broke and repair costs are so high. I like to think - that many who use this forum - are doing so out of an interest in learning to do more for themselves, not learn how to pay other's to do it for them. Most materials used in the pumps are pretty rugged and can take more abuse then some people claim. And, a test stand is not necessary if you have the access to the complete machine since all needed adjustments can be done on-site. But, without a running engine - a stand is absolutely necesssary. Parts are cheaper today than they were 30 years ago. That because Stanadyne/Roosamaster no longer has a monopoly on them - and there are several aftermarket companies selling the parts. I've been using Spaco parts from Italyk and been very satisfied with them. When I first worked for a Deere dealer - we had our own pump test-stand, our own piston pin fitting machine, piston regroover and skirt knurler, valve refacing equipment, flwyeel and cylinder head refacing equipment, engine dyno, cylinder boring machine, etc. etc. We rarely ever sent anything out - and our history of screwups was less than when - in later dealerships - we started sending stuff out to "specialized" repair shops. In fact, I recently sent out four connecting rods to an "automotive machine shop" for routine big-end resizing,and they ruined all four. They blamed it on a bad micrometer. In my opinion, that is an unforgiveable mistake for what is supposed to be - a professional machine shop. In regard - again - to injection pumps. They are no more complicated than many carburetors, closed-center hydraulic pumps, etc. In fact - in some ways - a Roosamaster injection pump is simpler -than let's say a Rochester Quadrajet carburetor. At least with the injection pump - I can see every part, port, and fuel channel. And in regard to the necessity of a "clean room" - it's all BS to me. Nice to have- yes. Absolutey necessary? No. Common sense is what is needed. I've repaired many injection pumps, out in the woods, on the tailgate of my service truck and - in forty years of working on this stuff - never had a single return or failure due to dirt-intrusion. Yes, there were many times I'd be out in woods - and some logger would be anxious to get his 440 skidder or 350 crawler going. I'd pull his pump apart - and see worn parts that ought to be replaced - and not have them with me. But - I'd tell the guy - and give him the choice of patching the thing up to get him going right away - or lay the machine up and do it right. The choice was up to the customer. To the converse, since the CB, DB an JDB pumps had a high failure rate due to certain parts of little cost - many could be repaired correctly with a few hour's work and $50 in parts. Same still holds true today(except CB parts are scarce). Paying someone over $300 - sometimes well over that amount - for a pump that needs $50 in parts does not hold well with me. I would not have the nerve to charge someone for an exchange pump if that was all that was needed.
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