Just Purchased-1990 W 250 CTD

[TIpock]

I just purchased a 90' W 250 and looking for ways to turn it up without spending big bucks on it, any ideas? I know the fuel screw has been turn up and I've got a fuel pin on order, but any other ideas?

 

[Paychk]

1st Generation Ram Forum FAQ - TDR Roundtable

 

[AVerHage]

Turn the boost diaphragm up

 

[TIpock]

How do I do that man? Any details you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thomas

 

[WOT]

I know the fuel screw has been turn up and I've got a fuel pin on order, but any other ideas?

The gas stations / big oil have already done the fuel screw for you

 

[TIpock]

Lol luckily diesel prices are back down in the mid 2$ range.

 

[peobryant]

I would be wary of the fuel screw if I were you. I have been told that when you turn the fuel screw in, the truck will start to eat up shut off solenoids. It seems to be a problem in trucks that turn the fuel screw, and a lot of people just install a pull cable to kill the motor. There is a way to beef up the solenoid to prevent this problem, but just how to do it escapes me at the moment. When I remember, I'll post back.



Also, If you don't mind telling, what fuel pin did you purchase?

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

The fuel pin you can grind yourself if you wanna save some cash. I bought one from PDR and then realized all they did was grind the shallow end down further.



My truck currently has to be shut down by popping the hood and hitting the manual shutdown lever on the side of the pump. Turning up the fuel screw alone won't do that to your truck though, I have a lot more going on under there than just a cranked fuel screw.



Get a "366" spring, best $16 you'll ever spend. It is a little deeper into the pump, if you're comfortable tearing that far into it, but that spring is what takes the 6BT from boyhood to manhood. You wanna play with the big boys, you're gonna need one of these at some point.



There's a lot more "free" adjustments inside the fuel pump than just the fuel screw. Read up on the FAQ forum for more on that. Also you may be able to turn your fuel screw in more than it already is. Eventually you reach the point of diminishing returns on that one though. It took a lot of messing around to get all my pump adjustments where I want them, and I still get under there and tweak stuff once in a while when I feel like it could be running better. Just experiement a little. Don't just crank everything to high heavens and think that's how it'll run the best.



Always remember though, everything mentioned here adds fuel, eventually you're gonna need to add some air to suppliment or you'll be pushing some serious egts. You can advance pump timing to help lower egts a little bit, and thats free to do, but eventually you will need a bigger turbo. My stock WH1C was seeing 1500+ degrees before I torched the bearings and finally spent the money on something better.



What they don't tell you... . what nobody tells you... is that the most expensive part isn't the upgrade parts you buy, it's what you have to replace as you start to realize the limitations of your driveline and truck. But it's worth it when you see the look on the face of the guy with the little sports car who just got beat by a 7k lb truck.

 

[JLEONARD]

eventually you're gonna need to add some air to suppliment or you'll be pushing some serious egts. You can advance pump timing to help lower egts a little bit, and thats free to do, but eventually you will need a bigger turbo. My stock WH1C was seeing 1500+ degrees before I torched the bearings and finally spent the money on something better.

On that note since you have a 1990 (non I/C) YOUR stock turbo is what we call the "Baby H1C". It has a smaller comressor, and the housing inlet/outlet are smaller than the later intercooled H1Cs. So simply upgrading to one of those later turbos is a nice upgrade and you'll need to do that as a minimum if you turn up the fuel. You might consider building a larger custom intake to replace the factory crossover intake tube. If you send an e mail to me at -- email address removed -- I'll send a pic of what I ended up with for an intake on a non I/C engine.

Jay

 

[peobryant]

The fuel pin you can grind yourself if you wanna save some cash. I bought one from PDR and then realized all they did was grind the shallow end down further.



My truck currently has to be shut down by popping the hood and hitting the manual shutdown lever on the side of the pump. Turning up the fuel screw alone won't do that to your truck though, I have a lot more going on under there than just a cranked fuel screw.

From my understanding, the fuel screw alone will cause the shut off solenoid to fail, if you turn it in enough. It may take a while, and I'm sure other mods would speed along the process, but if you leave it turned in long enough, it will most likely fail. I got this information from Brian Block before when I was trying to decide whether or not to turn my pump up, and I think he is a very reliable source. If you turn the screw to the collar, you probably wouldn't have a problem.



On the fuel pin, I wouldn't buy from a company that requires a core. They most likely grind the stock one down, and charge a whole lot for it. In my opinion, the DennyT Stage II Fuel Pin, is the best one on the market. He makes them from hardened steel, and doesn't require a core.

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

My 366 spring is finally what did my shut down solenoid in. That was after 2. 5 years of having the fuel screw turned up and everything else cranked in the pump, too. I put the 366 in... which brings out all the other mods to their fullest... and within a month the soleniod bit the dust.



At any rate, I've been looking into remotely controlled valves from grainger that are beefier and that I could select the position from the cab, so if I wanna shut down I can, and if I wanna leave it running while I grab a gallon of milk I can. That would lay the shutdown issue to rest once and for all.

 

[JLEONARD]

I ran mine 5 years with the pin turned in (but not maxed) and never had an issue with the solenoid.

But that's probably because I had a spare in the glovebox

 

[PToombs]

KTA explained to me why the solenoid plunger tip fails. If you have the fuel screw in with stock injectors, and let off the throttle quick, it creates a backwash effect in the system which tears the tip off the plunger. If you have larger injectors, it won't do this. There was a little more to it, which I can't remember. This is the gist of it though.

 

[peobryant]

Whoops, I forgot to add that key part, stock injectors...



Thanks Pete.

 

[PToombs]

No problem bud! I'm here to please. Me!

 

[TIpock]

Thanks for all the great advice, I ixnayed the fuel pin as I'm having my girlfriends uncle make up a few from hardened steel, as for the bigger turbo I'm hoping to work on getting one in the near future and hopefully an exhaust brake.

Thanks,

Thomas

 

[peobryant]

What turbo do you plan on running?