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Paxton, IL | Finally got my MX255 back friday afternoon. A couple people have asked me a few questions about the pump conversion from the old CAPS system to a bosch P series pump so I figured I'd give a little detail. The kit is made by Area Diesel Solutions (ADS) out of Carlinville IL. I can't quote the exact cost right now since I havn't gotten the bill and it's wrapped up with an engine swap and other work as well. If I remember right the kit was around $13,500. Pretty expensive for a pump but since we plan on keeping this 1250 hour tractor a long time we figured it was best to go ahead and convert it now. The kit includes the pump, new injector lines, a brain box, a new throttle actuator, and misc hardware for installation. The kit also came with very detailed instructions with pictures of every step. Since I didn't install the pump myself I can't verify the instructions were spot on or not. The pump is a mechanical bosch P series pump but is run by an electronic actuator so there is no need for a throttle cable or any other mechanical connections. The ADS website claims the kit will keep the "same in-cab operation" as the original system. I seem to have two issues that I'd like to resolve if possible. #1 is the "constant engine speed" control doesn't work anymore. I'm not sure if it should or not, but I was under the impression that it would still work since the throttle is electronic and hooked into the original system. #2 is that my "end of row" function doesn't work either. I believe that is a problem with the programming at the moment because it won't go into record mode at all and when I hit the "step" button it just shifts up a gear. This tractor had all it's computers re-flashed while in the shop and I'm guessing it thinks the tractor has the automatic shift button rather than the end of row button. Still not sure if that is resolved if the end of row will control engine speed. Given the current status of problem #1 I would guess not. My Case IH dealer had to leave a bunch of sensors hooked up but hanging loose on the side of the block so the tractor wouldn't throw error codes all the time. Right now I can start it up and recieve no error messages or any other stored codes other than the problems from the original CAPS failure. (found caps pump was bad after reflashing computer....dealer obviously didn't clear codes while it was in the shop) Bottom line is that the tractor starts and runs properly (as far as I can tell right now) It still seems to have a little delay from the point of moving the throttle lever to the point of the engine changing RPM. It seems to be better than with the CAPS pump but it's still a slight annoyance that I'll get used to again. All in all you could say I'm a happy customer with the conversion kit. At least I don't have to worry about the CAPS pump failing again in the future. I'll post any updates I can if I find any answers to my small problems mentioned above. 
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Mount Vernon, WA | I can see how with an actuator like that, throttle response will lag a little.
For that kind of money, I'd look into converting it into a true common rail system. |
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Brazilton KS | Depending on the design of the tractor....for that kind of money you could put in a C9! There's a bunch of 'em brand new on one of the auction sites out in CO that are just begging for someone to buy them. I haven't been able to figure out what I need one for....spare? lol, I sure hope we don't need a spare! |
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Southern Illinois | I would say the constant engine speed will not work as it was part of the Cummins ECU system. If they had just amde their controller able to give engine rpms to the dash and trans controller and had the basic engine functions wired through it then you wouldn't need the Cummins controller on there at all.
NH CR920 and CR940 combines had an P series pump with Bosche's electric actuator built in it. It worked very fast on throttle response. I can see with a normal liniar actuator why throttle lever response would be a bit slow. |
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Paxton, IL | The ADS system has a "brain" box that I figured probably interfaces with or replaces the ECU. I'm not sure what it really does but I was hoping it would allow little things like that to work. |
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Great Southern, Western Australia | What was the issue with the CAPS pump? We have one on a QSL9 in a combine and it seems fine? |
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Paxton, IL | CAPS pump has a history of failing prematurely. Normally associated with dirty fuel and/or running it dry, but many times they just fail for no reason. Some have very little or no trouble with them and others have replaced the pump 2 or 3 times.
Mine failed with 1250 hours on the tractor. was never run out of fuel, our fuel quality is about as good as it gets with filters on the tank so dirty fuel shouldn't have been a problem plus we only put 40 hours on the tractor since we had it. guy who had it before us uses fuel from the same supplier and even though I didn't watch everything he did with the tractor, he has a reputation for taking very good care of equipment and following maintenance directions from the operators manual exactly. when my pump failed the service guy from the dealership said he had 2 others fail that same week and one of those guys put a new one on last year. Said in our area they tend to average about 1500-2000 hours before they fail. some have lasted for the life of the tractor so far and others have failed within 50 hours on a new tractor. A new pump is $6500 or so from Case IH. I've heard you can get them cheaper from Cummins.
I'm not really trying to bad mouth the CAPS pump (even though I'm never going to buy another tractor with one) since some have been trouble free, but when this one failed and the dealer told me the life expectancy of a new one, I decided I'd be much better off in the long run converting it over. |
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Greene Cnty, SW-IL | We've got an 06 (nearly the last one off the assembly line) MX255 with 2200 hrs. Love the tractor but the pump scares me. I already have the info from Area Diesel about the conversion but would want everything to work afterward like before, especially the engine speed control, percent of horsepower, etc. May check back with you via email to see if everthing got corrected. |
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Paxton, IL | sounds similar to mine. It is an 06 as well. As of right now nothing has been resolved but I will be at the dealership thursday morning and intend to talk to them about it right now. I may and probably will contact ADS directly about it as well if the dealership doesn't think it will work. I took the tractor out for a test drive this morning and right now the percent of horsepower, fuel consumption, and any other engine related sensors and calculations seem to work properly. the auto shift road mode seems to work as well but I think that works off of the transmission input rather than anything to due with the engine controller. right now it's just the end of row and constant engine speed where the computer is controlling the speed that doesn't seem to work. |
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| when did they switch the pumps when they went to the different style hood? |
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Paxton, IL | they switched to the common rail system in 06 with the 215 and up tractors. I believe that's also when the different style hood was introduced as well. |
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Paxton, IL | *update*
I got my end of row function working today. Had case mechanic out twice and he basically gave up saying there was a problem with the arm rest circuit board.....I wasn't convinced. It worked perfectly fine before the tractor broke down and no one had the arm console apart during this whole procedure. I finally found that there was a setting wrong in programming through the A post. When I corrected this, the end of row function worked just like it should and controlled the throttle just like with the CAPS pump.
I still have issues with the constant engine speed not working, and the engine throwing some error codes since it doesn't see the pump. I've contacted ADS directly and they were not aware that a constant engine speed function even existed. They're going to see if they can come up with a solution locally but they may end up coming and testing things with my tractor in order to get it working. All in all I'm very happy so far with Area diesel's customer service. They didn't realize there was an issue with their kit but when I notified them they were very willing to help and quick to get on it and try to find a solution to make the kit right. |
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Brazilton KS | That sounds like how this customer service thing is supposed to work! |
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Great Southern, Western Australia | Is any change in performance or fuel consumption expected with this pump change? Obviously it is intended to be similar but I doubt it would be exactly the same? Is this an 8.3 or 9L engine? |
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Paxton, IL | This is on an 8.3L. I haven't seen any figures on power or fuel consumption, but my guess would be that it is going to be slightly less fuel efficient but might have a bit more power or lugging ability. Given the fact that this new pump is the same style bosch pump that's been around on tractors for years, you could obviously turn it up for more power if you needed it. I personally think the bosch pumps might have a little better low end grunt when you really get to pulling something. I was, quite frankly, a little disappointed when I first got this tractor as I didn't think it had enough power as it should. Maybe that was also part of a problem with the fuel pump failing and we didn't know it. who knows? I'm pretty anxious to get it out and run it but it will probably be next spring before I know how it's really going to compare. This tractor won't do too much grunt work this fall.
As far as fuel consumption goes, someone else might have to chime in on how it compares in the real world. I only ran the tractor about 40 hours this spring and I wasn't really looking at the fuel economy so I don't really have a base line to compare it to in the future. |
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Paxton, IL | *update number 2*
Area diesel was out and looked at the tractor in person a while back and recorded a whole bunch of data to take back home with them. I talked to them again at the farm progress show and they were still working on it. got an email a couple weeks ago saying they figured out how the Constant Engine Speed is supposed to work but their kit would be unable to control it as it stands right now. All in all I'm still very pleased with the service I received from them and would not hesitate for a moment to recommend them to anyone else even though they weren't able to solve the one issue I was still having with the conversion. |
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CAPS to P-pump conversion
