Did you know that the biggest fuel system weakness on the 2011-2021 6.7L Powerstroke is the fact that if the CP4 high pressure fuel pump has a roller lifter failure, the pump will explode and send metal shrapnel all throughout your entire fuel system before you can even react?

This is actually a commonly known problem with these pumps, and at this point I’m sure most owners of Super Dutys have heard of the infamous Bosch CP4 high pressure injection pump failure.

Of course, this absolutely decimates everything in the path, killing your expensive injectors and clogging every single passage, also ruining the high pressure rails and the fuel lines all in one shot. This get very pricey (to the tune of several thousands) and quick. The worst part? It can happen at any time, which means that it will most definitely happen at absolutely the most terrible time possible.

Is there a solution for 6.7L Powerstroke CP4 Failure?

Fortunately, there is actually a preventative step that you can take to keep a potential CP4 failure from being so expensive and destructive. The answer is a CP4 fuel bypass (aka disaster prevention) kit, and it is just about the perfect solution for this massive problem.

If you’ve already had the misfortune of experiencing a CP4 failure, well you have most certainly found out that it gets very expensive, really quickly. This is such a a common occurrence that Ford actually has a part number for all of the parts needed for a complete fuel system replacement. This tells me that they have run into contaminated fuel system often enough to make a special part number just for a kit to replace it. This fuel system replacement kit is Ford Part #EC3Z-9B246-A.

The Ford parts kit runs about 3k on a good day (core charges extra) and the labor time to perform the complete fuel system overhaul is 17 hours (as per the Ford factory service manual.) At dealer labor rates, that translates to about 5.5K, and that’s not even including the parts kit listed above.

This is what you’ll need to replace in a contaminated fuel system scenario if your pump lets go:

• New CP4 High Pressure Fuel Pump
• All the high pressure fuel lines mounted on the engine
• Both the primary and secondary fuel filters
• Both of the high pressure fuel rails
• All eight fuel injectors
• Low pressure fuel injector return hose assembly
• The fuel delivery pressure switch

Ouch. Makes the disaster prevention kit a very inexpensive value in comparison.

What is a 6.7L Disaster CP4 Prevention and Bypass Kit?

The kit is nothing short of a (power) stroke of genius. In essence, it takes the fuel pumping out of the bottom of the pump, and instead of sending it back through the entire system, it simply sends it right back into the fuel tank and filters, out of harms way. This keeps any potential metal debris from a high pressure fuel pump failure out of the rest of the system entirely.

Fun Fact: this CP4 failure is such a common occurrence that usually happens right around the 100,000 mile mark, that there is actually a class action lawsuit over the very issue of Bosch CP4 pumps failing.

Which is the best CP4 disaster prevention kit?

When it comes to a specialty product built to solve a specific problem, we usually would recommend the original developers of that product, especially if they pay as much attention to the design and ongoing development as the original disaster prevention kit makers at S&S Diesel do.

Hats off to their engineering department for the much appreciated features that they have evolved into this kit. We especially like that the fuel lines that with the kit are the factory Ford style quick-connect push lock fittings, It makes the install a total breeze, not having to worry about cutting and fitting custom lines, with the potential to introduce debris to the system from that process alone.

We are currently looking at the Gen2 Version of the bypass kit, which they have improved from the first version by a considerable amount, with one of the biggest new features being that they have extended the supply lines by an extra 25 inches away from the pump. This has the benefit of preventing the possibility that the CP4 pump failure clogs the fuel system with enough debris to back feed the resulting contaminated fuel back into the supply. The Gen1 (and the knockoff kits) were made in such a way that (in some cases) it is possible for the clogged system to overrun the fuel return and still send the metal debris back into the supply.

They’ve also thought of what happens when contaminated fuel is sent through their reroute kit, and have made a crucial upgrade to make dealing with a failure much, much easier. Normally, when a failure happens the fuel is bypassed as designed, keeping it from killing your expensive fuel system. The problem with the older kit and the knockoff is that this would still require a tank drop and a fuel system clean out, because the debris would be sent to the back. Still a much preferred option than replacing the entire fuel system, but also still somewhat of a pain.

They found that they could mount a filter in the return flow before it goes all the way back into the tank, preventing the contaminated fuel from ever making it’s way back to through the fuel lines to the tank and out through the lift pump. This makes cleaning up after a pump failure a much easier job. They incorporated a 2-micron filter into the design, that even has a clear bowl that can be checked instantly if you suspect a pump failure. If you need to replace the extra filter, they even sell that separately #6130120.

They make the new S&S Gen2 CP4.2 Bypass Kit for the 2011-2019 6.7L Powerstroke, and for those years you’ll want to make sure to buy part #7031190.

You’ll need a different kit for the 2020 and 2021 6.7L Super Duty trucks, as the layout of the lines have evolved somewhat on the newer models. You’ll want part #7032020 for these years.

How does this kit work?

The CP4 pump is internally lubricated by diesel fuel from the tank. After lubricating the crankcase area of the CP4 pump, fuel enters the high pressure pumping chambers and exits under pressure to the fuel rails and fuel injectors. The weakness of the CP4 pump lies in the crankcase area where a set of roller lifters ride on a camshaft. When the failure event occurs the lubricating fuel becomes contaminated immediately. Our bypass kit mounts to the CP4 pump and changes the routing of the fuel flow so that lubricating fuel from the crankcase is directed back to the fuel tank to be filtered before going through the fuel system again. Thus all fuel entering the pumping elements of the CP4 pump and leaving for the injectors is always routed through both of the vehicle’s fuel filters to eliminate any change of contamination from a high pressure pump failure.

Will this kit keep my high pressure fuel pump from failing?

No, the disaster prevention kit does not keep the pump itself from failing, it only protects the rest of your truck’s fuel system from the disaster waiting to happen. There are plenty of options to upgrade your Powerstroke’s pump and fuel system to less failure prone pumps, however that gets to be a pricier and much more involved option.

Aside from adding this bypass kit, the best thing you can do to prevent a CP4 pump failure in your truck is to use a fuel treatment additive to keep water and other contaminates from harming your pump and sending it down the road to imminent failure.

Does anything else need to be modified?

Nope, the bypass kit has been fully tested and certified. It doesn’t modify any fueling characteristics, and there is no performance benefit (other than keeping your wallet intact) so you wont have any trouble using it on a road legal truck. It can be added just fine to a fully stock truck with no other mods needed.

Conclusion

Has your Super Duty had a massive fuel system failure, or does the potential of a roller lifter pump failure stranding you (and your wallet) keep you up at night? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and as always, thanks for reading!

From the factory, the 2.8L LWN Duramax is a remarkably stout and impressive power plant for the 2015-2017 Colorado and Canyon trucks. Straight out of the box people have been praising the power and performance of this compact 4 cyl. diesel motor. It’s so good most people don’t need to do a thing to it besides drive it (and change the oil, frequently.)

Of course, nothing can ever be perfect, and every engine has it’s weaknesses. We wouldn’t have to keep buying new parts or new trucks if they lasted forever. In the case of the LWN, well it wouldn’t be a modern diesel without complicated modern emissions equipment. That complicated modern emission equipment has some…. tradeoffs.

In fact, one of the main complaints so far has been that some of these trucks have already been throwing emissions codes because of a non-functioning, clogged up EGR system and related sensors going off for the DPF and SCR efficiency, in chain reaction to the EGR malfunction.

Most of the time, a thorough cleaning of the EGR system can make the codes go away, but it’s just gonna be one of those procedures that will have to be added into your maintenance schedule as you rack up the miles. The DPF filter is also going to need to be replaced in the higher mileage trucks at some point, the clogging happens there as well. Even more so when the EGR isn’t working properly.

And of course, the DEF isn’t going to fill itself.

Properly maintained and working correctly however, these systems do work really well together to make the LWN one of the “cleanest” diesels available.

What are the EGR, the DPF and the SCR/DEF injection systems?

These are the series of parts works together in order for the LWN to meet emissions output regulations. In order to better understand them, let’s do a quick overview of how each of these individual components function:

The DEF system is what uses the urea fluid (aka blue def or adblue) injection into the SCR, vaporizing the fluid mixture into ammonia and carbon dioxide that can be filtered by this catalyst into nitrogen and water. In theory, this a great addition to the overall reduction of emissions output. In reality though, the urea mixture is a little too volatile for long-term reliability, especially in cold climates. Urea likes to crystallize and evaporate when exposed to cold temps or air, which can wreak havoc on the injection system. These systems have numerous sensors and a heating element contained in the holding tank, which get attacked by the corrosive fluid and will almost always fail over time in one way or the other. Overhauling these injections systems can get quite costly.

In the DPF portion of the exhaust you have the filter that takes the remainder of NOx and filters out as much as possible by grabbing the carbon as it flows through the tiny passageways of the filter. As you can imagine, these passageways don’t take a lot to get clogged up, this is why you have what is called the “regen mode” which works by super-heating the filter to burn away carbon deposits. The burn is created by over-fueling the engine to make the exhaust gas temperature rise very high in order to vaporize deposits. Over-fueling does have the negative effect of also dumping some of the fuel into the oil, thereby reducing it’s longevity and lubrication effectiveness. For this reason, it is VERY important to follow the oil change intervals as closely as possible to combat the diluted oil. The DPF filter itself will also clog after some time, and require replacement of that entire section of the exhaust.

The EGR system works to lower emissions by re-introducing some of the unburnt fuel in the exhaust back into the intake tract, thereby re-burning some of the inherit emissions that would need to be filtered by the SCR and DPF. Some form of EGR systems have been used on just about every modern engine to reduce the amount of emissions they produce and they have been proven to do just that, which is a great thing for the environment. However, they do come with a huge reliability drawback, especially on diesels, and that is the amount of gunk that clogs up not only the EGR system but also the intake manifold, valves and etc. Basically by allowing the EGR to do its job, you’ll also have to accept the fact that all that dirty exhaust is going to be recycled back into the intake of your engine, gumming up everything in its path. This is terrible for engine longevity.

Should you delete and tune your 2.8L Duramax?

Let’s weigh some pros and cons:

Delete Pros:

• Tuning can increase the power to around 212hp and 412 ft. pounds of torque.
• By removing the clog-prone EGR and DPF, you will increase the reliability and longevity of your truck.
• On average, you will stand to gain an extra 5 MPG after the deletes.
• No more limp mode because of a clogged DPF or the frequent DEF system failures. This translates into much lower maintenance costs.
• Your engine will run cleaner by not having recycled carbon and fuel dumped back into the engine, which frees you up from low-ash type oil and allows you to run my favorite oil: Rotella T6.
• This is purely my own preference, but if you run without a muffler you’ll have much more pronounced turbo and engine sound with the exhaust restrictions gone.

Delete Cons:

• Legality is the biggest con of removing emissions equipment, at least in the US. You need to be aware that these modifications are only to be used in vehicles that aren’t to be driven on public roads, as the US regulations have made modifications to these systems to be for off-road use only. Other countries sometimes do not have the same requirements, check with your local authorities.

• Another con to deleting your mini max is that the warranty can be voided by the dealership if they detect a tune (and they can, even with it returned to factory conditions.) Normally these systems are covered under the emissions warranty for 8 years/ 80K miles, which is actually quite generous, although I have noticed that a lot of times people are having clogged DPF filter and EGR issues right after the emissions warranty runs out.

Tell me how to remove it!

So after careful consideration of the remaining value of your warranty and acknowledgement of your local laws, you’ve decided to delete your truck.  Well, that in itself can be a little tricky; because of the newness of the LWN trucks some aftermarket manufacturers are still in development for this platform. That said, there’s some really good options already.

Keep reading to see the breakdown of everything that you’ll find in a typical delete kit.

Best Option for a 2.8L Duramax Delete Tuner

• HPTuners Performance Delete Tune

HPTuners Custom Tune 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 GM Colorado Canyon 2.8L Duramax

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Each custom calibration is built off of a basic good running calibration, and is then tailored specifically for your needs and applications.

Best DPF/SCR/CAT Delete Exhaust

• Wehrli Race Downpipe for 16-17 2.8L Duramax

If you’re going to be running a delete tune, you’ll need to exhaust to support it. This exhaust replaces all the factory exhaust emissions components with a much less restrictive straight pipe and optional muffler.

DPF filters and DEF injection systems are a big source of issues on these trucks, they are a part that IS going to need replacement at some point in the usable life of the truck. The funny thing is that they seem to be conveniently engineered to last until just after the warranty expires. Get ahead of the imminent failure and remove the factory exhaust to replace with this one.

Flo-Pro Turbo Back Exhaust for 16-17 2.8L Duramax

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This Flo-Pro exhaust replaces your full exhaust from the turbo to the back of the truck.

EGR Delete Kit for the 2.8L Duramax

• OZ Tuner LWN EGR Delete Kit
  

Removing the EGR system is vital to longevity on the mini duramax engine, as many drivers have noted excessive carbon buildup in the intake even before the first oil change interval. This extra carbon is a pretty much a universal issue on emissions controlled diesel engines, and it always results in the soot gumming up your intake and valves and contributes to an overall shorter engine life.

As far as available options to remove the EGR on the Canyon and Colorados, OZ Tuning is pretty much the only choice for a well-built and complete kit. The actual installation process to remove the EGR on the 2.8L takes some mechanical ability to perform, but the end results are more than worth it.

This kit includes all the block off plates and rerouting hoses that you’ll need to do a full EGR delete.

OZ Tuning EGR Delete Kit for GM Duramax Colorado/Canyon 2.8L Diesel 2015-2016

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Conclusion

Hopefully this guide has been helpful with your search to improve the reliability and performance of your Colorado or Canyon. As always, if you have comments or questions, feel free to ask away in the comment section below!

Thanks for reading!