AirDog Lift Pump

Since 1990, PureFlow Technologies and Pureflow Airdog have designed and manufactured their wildly popular diesel Fuel Preporator models for a wide swath of the most popular on-road diesel engine applications.  Originally two separate entities, PureFlow Technologies based out of Missouri and Pureflow AirDog based out of Indiana, combined the expertise of their two groups, and in 2002 came out with the AirDog lift pump as we now know it for light-duty pickup trucks.

With the growing commercial success and wild popularity of the 7.3L Ford Powerstroke Super Duty F-250 and F-350, the 5.9L Cummins diesel in Dodge Ram trucks, and the newly released 6.6L Duramax LB7, the need for an effective and reliable system to remove water dirt, particulates and entrained air and vapor from diesel fuel was high; AirDog met and continues 20 years later to meet that need for tens of thousands of diesel owners across the world with their Airdog lift pump product line.

Since the creation of the original AirDog lift pump, PureFlow has expanded and improved the product line consistently and regularly. The all-new redesigned AirDog 4G and AirDog II-5G are premium lift pumps that have been enthusiastically embraced by the diesel performance aftermarket. The lift pump replacement line of Raptor fuel pumps provides an economical way to get lots of consistently pressurized fuel flowing to your injection pump, and AirDog Class 8 lift pumps are the newest addition to the AirDog family.

In 2023 AirDog discontinued the Original AirDog Perperator and updated their entire filtered lift pump lineup to the Original AirDog 4G and AirDog II-5G lift pumps. 

- AirDog makes a wide variety of pumps for every budget and every need. These include the Original AirDog 4G, AirDog II-5G, Raptor 4G, and Factory Replacement Raptor pumps.

- Many different flow rates are available, covering diesel trucks with stock horsepower up to highly modified 1,000 horsepower plus trucks. From pulling a camper to pulling a sled, AirDog has a flow rate to meet your truck’s fueling needs.

- They offer a lifetime manufacturer’s warranty on all of their lift pumps with filtration and most of their non-filtering Raptor pumps.

- Every AirDog lift pump is CARB certified, meaning they are approved by the California Air Resources Board for sale and use in California.

- You can expect increases in horsepower and torque, along with an increase in fuel mileage when using an AirDog lift pump with filtration.

- AirDog lift pump kits come complete with pumps, filters, mounting brackets, fittings, harnesses, and fuel lines. Everything needed for installation comes in their kits.

Protect Your Engine Health By Removing Contaminants

Customers often ask us why they should get an AirDog lift pump. We love educating them on all the many benefits of the Fuel Preporator (the official name of the Airdog Lift Pump). Diesel fuel, especially in a tank on a moving vehicle, has many contaminants that cause issues. These contaminants include obvious things like particulates and water, and perhaps not so obviously air; entrained air to be precise. 

What is entrained air? Basically, it is dissolved air that has become trapped in the fuel. And no matter how dissolved it is, it remains a bubble. Your diesel fuel comes out of the pump at your gas station with a measurable amount of this dissolved air right in your diesel. As you drive and the fuel sloshes back and forth in your tank, more air can be introduced into the fuel. How does this entrained air affect your injection event? It causes what is called retarded injection timing. 

Because entrained air vapor can be compressed, the presence of that compressed air in your injector causes a short delay, or retardation, in the pressure build-up and injection. This retardation varies based on the amount of air present in the fuel, and that can vary from injection event to injection event. This random and varied delay in the pressure buildup of the injection event causes an uneven spray pattern. The delay means the fuel arrives in the combustion chamber too late, and a full burn of the fuel isn’t achieved. 

This retarded injection timing causes a myriad of undesirable effects.  These include lower fuel mileage, more exhaust emissions (soot and particulates), reduced power/torque, a laggy throttle response, and a rougher idle. Removing this entrained air via an AirDog lift pump will improve your fuel mileage and throttle responsiveness. You’ll make more power, and you’ll decrease your emissions.

Save Money That Would Be Spent on Expensive Repairs and Fuel Costs

From the standpoint of helping your wallet and your bottom-line dollar spend, an AirDog lift pump has no greater result than in the protection it gives your injectors. Put simply, an AirDog Fuel Preporator is great cheap insurance against expensive injector damage. 

Injectors on modern diesel trucks are subject to high pressure and flow rates. When air, dirt, and water are present in the fuel that is so highly pressurized, over time the orifices on the injector nozzles degrade and the spray pattern becomes less and less optimal for a good clean combustion sequence. Once the degradation of the nozzle orifices starts, the dirtier your diesel fuel will get, and the faster the deterioration of the injector nozzles, and subsequently the injection event will proceed. With a set of new injectors on today’s diesel engines costing many thousands of dollars, why wouldn’t you install an Airdog lift pump?

Another way in which in an AirDog lift pump is inexpensive insurance pertains specifically to those diesel trucks with complex emissions control systems. Starting in the middle of the model year 2007 for the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra with a 6.6L Duramax, the 2007.5 Dodge Ram 6.7L Cummins, and the 2008 Ford 6.4L Powerstroke, each of those popular trucks was equipped with a Diesel Particulate Filter, or DPF. As the name implies, a DPF filters particulates from your exhaust emissions. 

Like any filter, the DPF has to be cleaned, usually when the truck is running. This cleaning process uses extremely high heat to burn off the particulates that have accumulated in the DPF, in a process called “regeneration”. This heat is achieved by burning more diesel fuel. Thus, the more often the DPF gets clogged, the more fuel you have to burn to clean the filter. Every time the DPF goes into regeneration, it burns diesel and costs you money. 

So how does an AirDog lift pump help with the DPF? By filtering out particulates, air vapor, and water, you get a cleaner combustion event. This means far less soot ever goes into the DPF. It’s a double win! You get better fuel mileage during normal driving, and you get better fuel mileage because the DPF doesn’t go into cleaning cycles as often. We highly recommend every diesel owner invest in an aftermarket lift pump so you can greatly reduce the unburned diesel fuel that goes right out the tailpipe – or worse, into your particulate filter.

Package Details

Each AirDog lift pump comes as a complete kit. The detailed installation instructions have colored photos, a step-by-step installation guide, and a full parts list for that specific kit. There are even photos, a brief description, and part numbers for each component in the kit. The installation instructions also come with diagrams illustrating how to use the quick-connect components in your lift pump kit. You get a mounting bracket and frame brackets for the pump, a mounting hardware kit, 20 feet of fuel hose, a wiring harness, a high-flow suction tube, a return fuel filler tube, quick-connect fittings, and more. It really is a complete kit.

Product Details and Recommendations

The Original AirDog 4G and AirDog II-5G lift pump kits come with proprietary AirDog fuel filters and water separators. The Fuel Filter, part number FF100-2, filters fuel down to 2 microns. You can also use some NAPA, WIX, Baldwin, Fleetgaurd, Donaldson, and LuberFiner filters in lieu of the AirDog fuel filter. The AirDog water separator, part number WS100, is also made in the USA and can be cross-referenced with many other brands of filters like NAPA and Donaldson. They also make accessories like a Universal Low-Pressure Indicator Light kit that will turn on if your fuel pressure drops lower than 5 psi at the sensor, as well as suction tube kits, universal sump kits, and fuel module upgrade kits.

Anybody with a 2001 through 2016 Chevy Silverado or GMC Sierra with a 6.6L Duramax diesel engine needs an AirDog lift pump. The LB7, LLY, LBZ, LMM, and LML Duramax diesels came from the factory without a lift pump. This leads to decreased longevity of the CP3 or CP4 injection pump since the injection pump has to both pressurize diesel fuel for the injectors and siphon fuel from the tank. If you use your Duramax to tow heavy loads, or if you’ve made any performance upgrades to your 6.6L, the inefficient fuel movement often will cause problems. 

These problems can be fixed simply by adding an AirDog lift pump. The AirDog allows the injection pump to focus on its primary function, which is pushing fuel to the fuel rail and the injectors. The AirDog fuel pump will provide a sufficient flow of fuel, and at sufficient pressurization, saving you real money in the long run as it extends the life of your injection pump. 

Original Airdog Lift Pump Specs

Let’s take a look at the Original AirDog Fuel Preporator. Ideal for diesel pickup trucks that range in power from stock to moderately upgraded, the Original AirDog lift pump had two different available flow rates. The 100 gallons per hour (GPH) systems were for stock trucks, or trucks with the mildest of upgrades like an intake and an exhaust. The 150 GPH systems also worked on a stock truck, but are really designed for trucks with some tuning or mildly upgraded performance injectors. Vehicle coverage included the 1992-2000 pre-Duramax 6.5L GM diesels, as well as Duramax diesels from 2001 through 2016. 

For the Cummins diesels, coverage began with the first generation 5.9L Cummins in Dodge diesels in 1989 and went all the way through the P-Pump, 24V, and common-rail 5.9L and 6.7L diesel in 2022 and beyond. For Ford Powerstroke diesels, the Original AirDog lift pump only covered the 2008-2010 6.4L trucks. On these trucks, the diesel lift pump attaches to the frame rail using the included sandwich plate mount kit. Any entrained air or vapor that is filtered is returned back to the fuel tank through the included filler neck tee. 

AirDog II-4G, the AirDog Lift Pump Redesigned

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The AirDog II-4G is the next step in the design and evolution of AirDog. Their engineers wanted to create a lift pump that offered even better performance and fuel system protection than the Original AirDog and they really hit a home run with the II-4G. Just like its predecessor, the II-4G removes entrained air from your diesel fuel and the water separator and fuel filters ensure your costly fuel injection systems get pressurized, clean fuel at a volume needed to run performance upgrades like injectors, tuning, upgraded performance injection pumps and the like. 

The AirDog II-4G has a dual-feed gerotor pump and a low amperage, self-aligning motor that is much quieter and lasts approximately four times as long as the Original AirDog motor. An intermediate pump shaft is also key as it separates the motor from the diesel fuel. The compact pump is quiet, smooth, and sturdy. Flow rates range from 100 gallons per hour up to 200 GPH. Often these kits will bypass the factory lift pumps, with the pressure side connecting directly to the side of the OEM fuel filter housing.  They also often include a fuel module upgrade kit. This is installed in the factory fuel basket allowing you to pull diesel through an OEM-style one-half-inch bulkhead fitting. 

AirDog II-5G, the Newest in Airdog Lift Pump Technology

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New in 2022 the AirDog II-5G is the first ever aftermarket diesel lift pump with air and fuel separation that includes a fully-integrated diaphragm fuel pressure regulator.  What this means is you can have more control and adjustability than ever and with improved flow at higher pressures. The AirDog II-5G includes wiring harnesses and connectors which have been upgraded over those found in the II-4G kits. Normally when you drive at higher altitudes, especially when under a load like a camper or 5th wheel, a loss of power occurs. The pressures and flow rates of the II-5G overcome this power loss. In its initial January 2022 release, the only flow rates offered were 165 GPH and 220 GPH.