VE pump Dynamometer

[BillyWillicker]

Hi there! 

I have been having some ponderings.  I have a bunch of tools/equipment and some knowledge on these VE pumps that our VW's use.  I have been contemplating building a VE pump dynamic test stand. 

My plans are to make a setup to test/measure/adjust a VE injection system so that I may build pumps that can be tuned for specific engine setups and desired running behavior.  It will consist of a fixture to hold the pump/lines/injectors with graduated cylinders for each injector, a flow gauge on the inlet/outlet, a tachometer/reference on the drive motor and pump sprocket, an inductive pickup on the #1 injector pipe, a pressure gauge tapped advance piston cover, a pressure gauge tapped outlet pedestal, a graduated throttle control, a measured and regulated charge-air input and a multichannel oscilliscope to determine real advance at measured RPM. 

With this setup I believe I can design/tailor VE pumps for any use desired.  I am currently rebuilding a 1.6TD to drive and test on so I will be able to verify driveability/performance on a sound engine.  Once the setup is verified I will most likely offer custom pump tuning and rebuilding.  Each pump will be tested/tuned and delivered with an Advance curve, LDA curve, Fueling rate, Pressure/Flow rates, etc.  Basically a new blueprinted pump delivered with ACTUAL performance figures in a REAL, understandable and no-secrets style. 

Big question is will ANYONE be interested in this service?  I have no idea what pricing could be at this time, just gauging interest.  I have most of the equipment to build the test stand already and would be willing to put the labor in if even a few people are interested.  This is something I will be doing in my spare time, as a hobby and pricing will reflect that if and when it comes about.  I imagine alot of people would be more interested in pump service if they had input into how THEY wanted their pump to perform and got REAL specifics on how their pump works with REAL fueling/advance/pressure/flow charts when they receive it rather than sending it to "the pump guys" and getting it back with a description of "its got loads of dynamic advance and fueling up to 30psi boost, it's a 'pretty hot' pump." 

Sorry for the long post but it is something I'm interested in doing.  Let me know what you guys think. 

[burn_your_money]

Do it! Not because I would ever likely buy one (sorry) but because advancements in the fuel injection field are always exciting.

Are you going to buy a "professionally" calibrated pump so you have something to reference your settings to? The Bosch spec sheets will be just about completely useless to you based on how you have described your bench working.

[Mark(The Miser)UK]

Sounds  interesting, but why would anyone buy off you rather than  with those existing vendors? I guess it will be a pricing thing.
I love plenty of data, but how does anyone know what they want? For example is a faster rate of advance beneficial for all vehicles? light vehicles? vehicle independant, but lifestyle dependant? Someone must have a set of those Bosch data sheets tucked safely under their pillow 

Does anyone have the actual dynamic gain of the yellow dot pump? Two figures will be sufficient

[jbg]

My plans are to make a setup to test/measure/adjust a VE injection system so that I may build pumps that can be tuned for specific engine setups and desired running behavior.  It will consist of a fixture to hold the pump/lines/injectors with graduated cylinders for each injector, a flow gauge on the inlet/outlet, a tachometer/reference on the drive motor and pump sprocket, an inductive pickup on the #1 injector pipe, a pressure gauge tapped advance piston cover, a pressure gauge tapped outlet pedestal, a graduated throttle control, a measured and regulated charge-air input and a multichannel oscilloscope to determine real advance at measured RPM. 

Billy,

This sounds similar to a project over at the Pelican Parts Porsche forum. In 2009 Mark "356RS" built a C/M/A pump dyno for the Bosch gasoline pumps. Sounds like you might be able to get some helpful hints from this thread:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/460169-mfi-pump-dyno-build-my-newest-project.html

I think people would be interested provided you share your experiences and naturally supply a quality service for a modest price. 

[BillyWillicker]

Thanks for the link!  Very similar project.  Measuring a mechanical gasoline pump is simple, WAY simpler.  

The system in the link, while nice and having a few correction systems added on is far simpler than even the "basic" VE diesel pump.  The MFI system is basically an Alpha-N system, as it takes into consideration 2 main scale inputs, Throttle position and RPM.  After those 2 inputs are calculated, the warmup compensation and the barometric compensation are trimmed into the main metering calculation. 

For Diesel fuel injection there are many more variables than a basic fuel injection system.  Whereas warmup and barometric compenstions are not as critical in diesel applications, Engine Load and Injection timing and duration are FAR more critical than added trim compensations.