Anyone have any experience with the SOL-D PMD/FSDs? I know that somewhere along the line I'll need to remote my FSD. Just wondering if the SOL-D might be another alternative. My understanding is that these are in service on the HUMVs.

http://www.remarqtech.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1

Pricey for a driver at $500. Every PMD that stalled a truck that I've retorqued the transistor nuts has brought it back to full function.

Every PMD that stalled a truck that I've retorqued the transistor nuts has brought it back to full function.

I'll second that:exactly:

Tim

$500 is a perfectly reasonable price IF it lives and works as promised. My only concern is thatshould it fail, a replacement will not be easy to find when on the road though a Stanadyne PMD would. Then you cannot just hange the Stanadyne unit in free air though unless you plan to bake it...

I'm a little confused here. If the SOL-D PMD fails, and it is a pin-for-pin replacement for the GMC PMD, then why can't you just purchase a GMC PMD with a cooler as a replacement if it fails?

-Rob :)

The Sol-D does not mount in the factory location. If you're stranded with Sol-D and you had a spare PMD the spare would either have to be mounted back on the IP (which would not be a quick roadside repair) or it would have to be mounted on a heatsink with an extended wire harness. So you could have a spare PMD on a heatsink with a wire harness in the glove box and run a Sol-D, but that sounds like a really expensive option to me.

Givin the track record of the PMD I think they're over priced, but I'll probably continue to use them because the Sol-D is way over priced for what it does.

From a performance standpoint the Sol-D doesn't do any thing more than the PMD, it's supposed to last longer, but their warranty is shy of Heath's by a couple of years.

In fact they are designed to function like a PMD w/#5 calibration resistor, so you could still get more power out of the old PMD w/#9 resistor.

Sol-D is a potentially bright star in PMD problematic world, if they get all the bugs worked out of it, on the page several are running it, at 1st outing was almost 50% fail, but vendor stood by them and made it right,

Disappointing though as MDT pointed out, is only 5yr warranty vs 7 yr on a Heath one. Since I had a glovebox spare, I mounted it when the FSD cooler mounted one failed after 3 retorquing salvages QM was referring to, 4th salvage it gave up, I went with a Heath as main one and finned cooler as back up to the Heath.

In my points to ponder post http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10778&highlight=points+ponder I listed my tale of PMD/FSD. IMO until SOL-D matches warranty & price I lean toward Heath's solution.

Well, ya can't fault me for asking the question . . . not that anybody did.:)

The next question I has to do with removing the PMD from the pump. Went out earlier and surveyed the situation with the idea that a relocating it needs to be on the 'to-do' list. I can see where 3 of the 4 screws can be removed without too much difficulty. The 4th, top, backside, closest to the intake looks to be a Censored. Any advise on how to remove this screw? Given the number of PMDs that have been relocated, someone has to have a 'quick and dirty' method of removing this screw.

$500 is a perfectly reasonable price IF it lives and works as promised. My only concern is thatshould it fail, a replacement will not be easy to find when on the road though a Stanadyne PMD would. Then you cannot just hange the Stanadyne unit in free air though unless you plan to bake it...

If it's cool you can drive for a limited time hanging in the air, when my cooler mounted one failed, I did not have the proper allen wrench with me to do a road side swap, out of necessity I had to drive with it hanging in the air, made it all the way home 40 miles that way, fortunately it was 60F outside, I would not recommend any one driving that way continously, but I was in a bind.

Well, ya can't fault me for asking the question . . . not that anybody did.:)

The next question I has to do with removing the PMD from the pump. Went out earlier and surveyed the situation with the idea that a relocating it needs to be on the 'to-do' list. I can see where 3 of the 4 screws can be removed without too much difficulty. The 4th, top, backside, closest to the intake looks to be a Censored. Any advise on how to remove this screw? Given the number of PMDs that have been relocated, someone has to have a 'quick and dirty' method of removing this screw.

Cuss, swear, spit, torx bit on ratcheting box wrench is how some have done it, others have fabbed special wrenches,

On 97+ with dual themostat I gave up and went with Heath, and have the "used but working one" on the IP as a 2nd spare., in addition to fender cooler mounted one.

One of you guys that has successfully done it please detail how in a separate thread I'll turn into a FAQ

Cuss, swear, spit, torx bit on ratcheting box wrench is how some have done it, others have fabbed special wrenches,

<snip>

One of you guys that has successfully done it please detail how in a separate thread I'll turn into a FAQ

I'll second that ! :ro) My luck I'd end up with a dozen torx bits floating around in the valley before all was said and done !

Let's see . . . let's apply GM's way of thinking. . . PMD, about 1/2 the price yet fails. SOL-Q, twice the price, and ain't supposed to, but maybe . . . ya, lets go with the cheaper one, we'll just take our chances and warranty the percentage that fails, and pocket the rest.

Cuss, swear, spit, torx bit on ratcheting box wrench is how some have done it, others have fabbed special wrenches,

On 97+ with dual themostat I gave up and went with Heath, and have the "used but working one" on the IP as a 2nd spare., in addition to fender cooler mounted one.

One of you guys that has successfully done it please detail how in a separate thread I'll turn into a FAQ

How many have just left the old PMD on the pump, pulled the connector and attached it to the relocated PMD? Seems feasible to me, but 'wastes' a possible 'glove box' spare.

Common guys, fess up . . . . .

Someone here posted that they took a hacksaw blade and by hand cut the last screw off, i don't remember who but they said it only took 15 mins IIRC.

Let's see . . . let's apply GM's way of thinking. . . PMD, about 1/2 the price yet fails. SOL-Q, twice the price, and ain't supposed to, but maybe . . . ya, lets go with the cheaper one, we'll just take our chances and warranty the percentage that fails, and pocket the rest.

Unless I'm misunderstanding your post on PMD 3 you are upside down, PMD #1 went on mine in 2000 at 37K mi, PMD #2 sort of went 3 times over next 4 years after that, with knowledge gained here and on Page I kept that one alive for a while but really should have gone to GM for warranty just did not want to deal with the BS I went through on the 1st one, where they tried to claim it was my fault, last year 2004 I bought the Heath one, if I had known about the Heath on 1st go round I doubt I have bought another, it's a gamble, but for those past GM warranty Heath IMO is still the better bet for long game.

How many have just left the old PMD on the pump, pulled the connector and attached it to the relocated PMD? Seems feasible to me, but 'wastes' a possible 'glove box' spare.

Common guys, fess up . . . . .

Thats my plan exactly if it is still working when I get around to doing the remote PMD. That way I always know where my spare is and it's ready to plug and play.

I had to remove the upper and lower intake manifold to get my factory PMD off. the only bolt that gave me any grief was the lower back one. I clamped my torx bit in mini vice grips (this prevented lossing the bit) it was tedious but only took a couple of minutes. I only recomend removing your PMD if it is known good and you want to save some bucks relocating it (this is what I did), as opposed to buying a new one. Other wise if it is known good and you want to keep it as a spare or if it's known bad, leave it on the pump and forget about it.