i have been looking at 12v cummins for a while and it seems that everyone who makes big power with their trucks has a 215 pump or an aftermarkit one. my question is that is the difference between the stock 180 pumps against the 215 pump.

 

180 and 215 are the best pumps to make power out of.

 

The 180 is a little better if you are after max power but both of them with big injectors will make a bunch of power. The 160 and 175 will also make a lot of power if set up right with the right injectors. The 180 and 215 have a better cam for better fill time. Smaller pumps need to keep the fuel pressure high to make good power.

 

215 pumps have notchs in the plunger which in turn retards the timing.

 

My understanding is they won't travel enough to go into retard unless you put the mack plug in. I was told this by a pump guy, said when he has them on the stand he will sometimes shim a mm of travel to get them right on the edge but not everytime.

 

You lose 4* of timing with stock rack travel on 215s.

 

Still having a hard time understanding how the pump retards itself through the plunger. The plunger style means that BOI is never variable. Respectfully if the rack travels far enough to uncover the relief and affects the beginning of injection event. as stated before, some careful pump work (shimming of the barrels and rotation) should be able to minimize the retardation. Correct me if I'm thinking wrong.


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You only loose timing if the pump goes full rack travel. Without the mack plug to gain the extra travel my understanding is they are right on the edge. Some will travel enough to start retard some won't. I don't have a mack plug in mine but will probably try one once I get the truck tuned in for twins.

The 215 pump has notches that retard timing somehow for emission purposes. This is the very end of the rack travel. I really don't fully understand how it works and my thought is if you are running quite a bit of timing it may not hurt all.

What I did on mine was bump the timing to around 20 degrees maxed out the afc and maxed out the barrels by turning them. Runs real decent, am I into retard wide open? Don't know like said above when I get it running again I will try a mack plug to see what it does.

If a person wants max fuel without retard on one send it to a pump shop and have it set. I was to cheap to do this so I maxed it out myself.

 

The 215HP has a retarding notch at the top of the plunger. The spill port (just a hole where fuel comes in) is in front of the diagonal cutout. If it is turned enough to be in front of the vertical slot, the engine simply recycles the fuel. That is where the shutoff solenoid puts the plunger to kill the engine. As you turn the plunger, the spill port is blocked off momentarily from the top of the plunger until it is reopened by the vertical slot. While it is blocked off, it is compressing fuel and making power. The more it is turned, the longer it is blocked off therefore more fuel gets compressed. If you are still interested I made a long boring video of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3S65hqFaUo

I don't know if I explained it in the video but I am not watching that long thing againnn. Anyhow, the 215's notch keeps the spill port exposed longer, meaning start of injection is postponed (timing retards) until the spill port finally gets blocked at the bottom of the notch.

Here are 2 pics I took. You can see the polygon notch looking thing at the top of the 215 plunger. The other is a 160 pump, though it looks the same on all pumps that aren't a 215, it is completely flat, no retarding.

 

I know basic pump operation, just wasn't sure how the plunger was designed for retardation, lower helical plungers BOI is constant. Wasn't quite grasping the concept, as it's literally fuel retardation and not mechanical resulting in delayed injection.


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