What does Giles do that I can't?

[zooky]

got my truck running with a Giles pump, runs good. Does he send the pump back fully tuned or at a 'base' setting? Can I make adjustments for more power or is it already tuned up? I dont want to mess with anything if he already tuned it on the bench.

[ricosuave]

have you actually seen the inside of all those bosch repair manuals?

they are about as thick as a phone book and chock full of info.

if giles (or anyone else) knows all that, then they are worth the price.

[subsonic]

got my truck running with a Giles pump, runs good. Does he send the pump back fully tuned or at a 'base' setting? Can I make adjustments for more power or is it already tuned up? I dont want to mess with anything if he already tuned it on the bench.

Thats part of the service man!  Give him a call.  He will work all that out with you.

[lyeinyoureye]

DVST8R, you bring up some very good points. If I had your mindset regarding these pumps, I probably wouldn't have dug into my fan when it broke, and found out the damn thing busted because of cheap grease and a 10 cent thermal fuse. I also may not have bothered dropping a diesel engine in a non-running gasser w/ no wrenching experience to speak because I could just pay for someone else to do it and it would be much quicker and cleaner. Instead of spending time doing my alignment, I could take it to a shop and they would be five times more accurate than I could be.

But will it drive just as well w/ me doing the alignment? Sure. If I'm at -20' versus the -15' Bentley has, that's not gonna be much. Hell, the darn things deflects a degree with an 500lbs in it anyway, so the alignment shop being right on at 15' and me at 20' probably won't make much of a difference in ride. However, by paying someone else to do it, not only do I loose out on my cash, but I also loose out on something more important imo, the experience I get doing it. And learning this stuff is way more valuable than paying someone else to do it.

$rant
It really bugs me when I see people discouraging others from doing stuff where they could learn a lot, just because that person doesn't think it's worth it for whatever reason. Be it to protect their buddy, because they have plenty of money, because they just don't like doing things themselves up to some point, or because of some other reason. I suppose this is just a pet peeve of mine so don't mind the rant. But, I said it before and I'll say it again, I don't like discouragement. Sure, maybe I can't put together the 100% pump that Giles can, but if I can do 75% of that pump for 10% of the money, and more importantly learn some stuff, I'll be in hogs heaven.
$endrant

[hillfolk'r]

exactly
id rather diy too,and get 75% for 10% cost any day
and learning "everything" at a good tech school doesnt hurt either
but even i know when im beat(pump calibration)
you totally need it(pump) to be set up on a test stand
i may be "backwoods" appearing on the surface,but look deeper,theres alot of "engineering" and time in my projects to brainstorm out any situation that may arise ,and its never "good enough"
put that extra 50% of time into it  in order to get that last 5%more out of it
chances are itll be the 5%you need to beat the next guy
you could "assemble" your own hot rod pump,but you better send it out for calibration
and even then,you may need to know the guy because he may not wanna mess with an unknown  frankenpump

[BellCityDubber]

$rant
It really bugs me when I see people discouraging others from doing stuff where they could learn a lot, just because that person doesn't think it's worth it for whatever reason. Be it to protect their buddy, because they have plenty of money, because they just don't like doing things themselves up to some point, or because of some other reason. I suppose this is just a pet peeve of mine so don't mind the rant. But, I said it before and I'll say it again, I don't like discouragement. Sure, maybe I can't put together the 100% pump that Giles can, but if I can do 75% of that pump for 10% of the money, and more importantly learn some stuff, I'll be in hogs heaven.
$endrant

well.... I can agree with this to a point....

wouuld you want some doctor who does brain surgery to get "80% of the operation"?  regardless if your vehicle is 200 bucks or 2000 bucks. you don't want to blow up your engine because you got curious with a wrench and a screwdriver.

Pumps, like alignment; are things that should be left to pro's with the proper calibration equipment.  I don't like having to pay for tires because of uneven wear, so I take it in for an alignment. I may get is CLOSE, but that only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.  Same goes with a pump rebuild.

Protect your investment and get it done by a professional.

I'm not screaming "giles" I'm just saying. if they've taken the years to train. they know best.   But when reputation precedes that person... I let the reputation speak for them.

[Kudagra]

I encourage everyone to learn. But I know I like doing things right the 1st time. With a Giles pump I have no worries. I had to have mine rebuilt so I sent it to him so I can have peice of mind.

[lyeinyoureye]

Pumps, like alignment; are things that should be left to pro's with the proper calibration equipment.  I don't like having to pay for tires because of uneven wear, so I take it in for an alignment. I may get is CLOSE, but that only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.  Same goes with a pump rebuild.

Didya read my second paragraph?
As long as it's gud enuff, I don't mind. If I'm too brain dead to figure out it's not gud enuff then that's my problem. However, I've found that when trying to figure stuff out myself, I generally need to get into to the point where I'll know what's good enough, and what isn't. Like when I was referring to alignment in my second paragraph.  

[jtanguay]

i'm all for the DIY stuff.  pay a high price and know that you will get something working 100%, or DIY and don't know what to expect.  there is also the fact that you will be plunging head first into what might be a pretty shallow waters...  if you have time/money to burn and like to learn, then yea tinkering with pumps is all for you!  

i may choose to tear into a pump someday and learn what makes it tick, but for now i'll just stick with what works.  as mentioned, without calibration equipment, it will be near impossible to achieve what diesel shops achieve.  it could mean the difference of 5 mpg!!!  and pay for itself after a year or two.

good luck to those of you who choose to take the plunge!

[dubCanuck1]

You make some good points. I think why everyone is pump "shy" is that getting it 5% wrong can cause 100% of a very expensive problem. Believe me, I'm definitely in the Do-it-yourself class, but I have also realized that as a DIY'er, the motto you tend to follow is:

1st try....absolute destruction...but you learn a lot in the process.
2nd try.....marginal failure or success. It's a coin toss usually (luckily for me, it's generally in the success category)
3rd try....not bad. Close to stock in quality
4th try and above...now you can talk fairly knowledgeably about what you're doing. Even try a few things.

So, buy the Bosch manuals, read them like gospel, grab some pump tuning tools, and 4 pumps. Mangle the first two, get the third one marginally right and knock the 4th one right out of the park. Easy Peasy.

DIY isn't cheap for certain things......knowledge hurts the wallet more often than not. Don't mistake my comments above for cyniscism, that's just how I would approach acquiring this specific skill. I imagine given enough time, money, and motivation, we could all become good pump tuners. I'm putting this in my "prohibitively expensive" category.

Oh, writing custom ECU maps is also on my list of things to learn. I've started hiding all sharp objects from myself in preparation.......

Pumps, like alignment; are things that should be left to pro's with the proper calibration equipment.  I don't like having to pay for tires because of uneven wear, so I take it in for an alignment. I may get is CLOSE, but that only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.  Same goes with a pump rebuild.

Didya read my second paragraph?
As long as it's gud enuff, I don't mind. If I'm too brain dead to figure out it's not gud enuff then that's my problem. However, I've found that when trying to figure stuff out myself, I generally need to get into to the point where I'll know what's good enough, and what isn't. Like when I was referring to alignment in my second paragraph.  

[lyeinyoureye]

Oh, writing custom ECU maps is also on my list of things to learn. I've started hiding all sharp objects from myself in preparation.......

Jeje, sounds like me when I was taking analysis.  :shock:  

[dubCanuck1]

Try some of the Microsoft Windows Resource Kits....It was like 5000 pages of unsalted crackers........great for insomnia.

[stewardc]

Quality costs. You may get a pump to flow as much as Giles does, but his is the complete package. It runs right and It's set up for my specific engine and car.
Giles is "The Man" and everyone else is just a wannabe.
The name says it all;

[nokivasara]

I´m pretty sure there´s a IP-wizard in most countries that have a lot of diesel cars.
I´ve never heard of Giles pumps before I found this forum, instead I´ve heard of some pretty good pump-maestros in Sweden and Finland. It´s a big world and enough dieselheads out there to make some people want to learn everything about the pumps and make a living of it.

In my 12years of wrenching cars I´ve taken a car to a mechanic once! What I mean is: Try to fix things by yourself first, if it doesn´t work out, call the professionals!
An IP is not easy to tune, I guess it would take a LOT of testing to come anywhere near the performance of a professionally tuned pump, but it sure would feel nice if it did!
One would also need to have access to a testbench, and other magic stuff that a DIY:er probably doesn´t have at home..

[Darth Garry]

All I can say is that the wonderful thing with VW engines is that it is possible for the shadetree mechanic to do their own tinkering.  With that said, when it's time for me to get another pump, I will be hiring Giles to build it for me, I don't have the time or money to blow up my engine and don't want to kill my fuel mileage attempting to do it myself.

I guess it just boiles down to the fact that we all have a choice, and it's great that there is a resource like Giles out there.

Garry