Attention: TDR Forum Junkies to start off much of my focus will be on the 12v since that is the truck i own, however all dodge cummins, and diesels in general would be great, i am always interested in theories used in heavy duty applications. thats why i am putting this in the general diesel forum.
anyways, due to the economic times a conflict of interests have come up. many if not all of us have all felt the pressure of our slow economy, for myself, it has increased my drive in the search for peak efficency, but as many of us are aware of, if we modify our trucks for better fuel mileage while increasing or at least not sacraficing power, it often is not very cost effective. example new injectors and or f. a. s. s. both do improve fuel mileage (in most cases) but it is a long time before we recover our costs. in good times this was not a problem, but for many of us we cannot swing those costs anymore. so i would like to talk about any and all ideas/theories, that people have, and obviously personal experience weighs more than just theoretical.
so lets get started, my current project/idea is wrapping the exhaust. i have been focused on preturbo since i think that post turbo would have at best no change, and at worst a negitive effect.
i have already wrapped the exhaust manifold, and today installed the turbo heat blanket. i ordered heat products 1"x50' 2000* insulating tape and the turbo blanket. my results at the moment are strictly the exhaust tape around the manifold. all the results are very early, only 200 miles or less, so what i am seeing, cruising: egt's have stayed the same, it is hard to say exactly sometimes it seems higher, sometimes, believe it or not it seems lower. prior to install boost was below 4 (bottom of my gauge), now boost is hovering right at the bottom, in other words it seems to have picked up some boost (1 or 2 psi) for all the other conditions being the same. acceleration (mild/moderate, daily driving): boost comes up a little faster, not much but some. egts stay low, this however might be attributed more to the intake work i have recently done (will discuss later). i do feel more power based on seat of the pants meter. the truck also seems happier cruising then before. lastly its looking like i am gaining some fuel mileage but i cant be sure yet. just the exhaust wrap alone, but the turbo wrap too, really lowered the amount of heat that soaks into factory air box, a rule of thumb i was told by a reputable source states for every 1 dergee of intake temp change equals 3 degrees of exhaust temp change, this i think was manifold temps not ambient air temps. the intake is probably 30 degrees cooler, im sure this is having a big effect on the egt temps. under hood temps are also drastically reduced, and im thinking that contrary to popular opinion, the exhaust manifold life will be extended, my theory is, the insulation will slow the cooling and even more evenly cool the manifold with the engine off, this reduces the thermal stress brought on by constant change of hot to cold. my own experience in this is my cousin's truck broke an ear off the head where the manifold bolts to it, what happened is a 4th gear high load burnout, the truck stalled and we could not restart it fast enough, the manifold rapidly cooled from 600+ degrees and shrank enough to break the mounting tab. as for rust, i live in cali so its not much of a problem, though i do not think that moisture is really much of a concern, durning operation the heat will evaporate the water plenty fast to not have any issues, so it is constantly drying, when the engine is shut down, what ever moisture is still left in the wrap will evaporate quickly with the remaning heat, and when the truck is not running the water should not be able to reach the manifold anyways and so should not be a convern. in all i am satisfied with these early results, i will report back more as i learn more. i do have one thought i want input on, heat products suggests 50% overwrap, to me it is looking thin especially compared to heat products turbo blanket, i have heard that too much insulation will cause problems, but no explanation as to what problems, anyone have any ideas? im thinking about wrapping it up a little thicker for more insulation. inputs please.
now for the other side of the turbo, i have spent a few dollars upgrading some different parts, i installed an afe drop in air filter in the factory box, i also installed a while ago a tag I that seemed to help but not tons, recently i installed the afe torque tube, this i modified to fit the tag, the results of that have been impressive. i think it is the combo of the torque tube and the tag that made a difference. what i have noticed is significantly lower cruise egts, and a lot slower rise in egts during acceleration. also the turbo comes on noticeable faster. i have a hx35 14cm2 non-wg housing. before intake work cruise egts were 600 to 700*, after install its now 500 to 600*, all of that depending on ambient temps. have only had one tank of fuel with the intake work done, it was up about 1 to 1. 5 mpg, weather conditions have been consistent and not a factor at the moment. its not enough for me though to say solidly that it is effecting that number. i do suspect it is though.
ok so now on to some of my thoughts and ideas for future benifits, up till now my mods, i would say that the cost of the mod vs the gain, while both are small it is probably about the same as a more expensive mods, we will know once i get some better fuel mileage numers.
for the moment this is all i have, i really do want to hear feed back and critiques to my thoughts, ideas, and actions, but be ready for me to defend it, not because i think im right and you are wrong, i just think that if we are forced to defend a position, more of the real truth comes out and we all gain from it.
as i mentioned before anybody else with other ideas for cheap easy mods that will boost performance, please chime in with it so we can all gain from the idea.
anyways, due to the economic times a conflict of interests have come up. many if not all of us have all felt the pressure of our slow economy, for myself, it has increased my drive in the search for peak efficency, but as many of us are aware of, if we modify our trucks for better fuel mileage while increasing or at least not sacraficing power, it often is not very cost effective. example new injectors and or f. a. s. s. both do improve fuel mileage (in most cases) but it is a long time before we recover our costs. in good times this was not a problem, but for many of us we cannot swing those costs anymore. so i would like to talk about any and all ideas/theories, that people have, and obviously personal experience weighs more than just theoretical.
so lets get started, my current project/idea is wrapping the exhaust. i have been focused on preturbo since i think that post turbo would have at best no change, and at worst a negitive effect.
i have already wrapped the exhaust manifold, and today installed the turbo heat blanket. i ordered heat products 1"x50' 2000* insulating tape and the turbo blanket. my results at the moment are strictly the exhaust tape around the manifold. all the results are very early, only 200 miles or less, so what i am seeing, cruising: egt's have stayed the same, it is hard to say exactly sometimes it seems higher, sometimes, believe it or not it seems lower. prior to install boost was below 4 (bottom of my gauge), now boost is hovering right at the bottom, in other words it seems to have picked up some boost (1 or 2 psi) for all the other conditions being the same. acceleration (mild/moderate, daily driving): boost comes up a little faster, not much but some. egts stay low, this however might be attributed more to the intake work i have recently done (will discuss later). i do feel more power based on seat of the pants meter. the truck also seems happier cruising then before. lastly its looking like i am gaining some fuel mileage but i cant be sure yet. just the exhaust wrap alone, but the turbo wrap too, really lowered the amount of heat that soaks into factory air box, a rule of thumb i was told by a reputable source states for every 1 dergee of intake temp change equals 3 degrees of exhaust temp change, this i think was manifold temps not ambient air temps. the intake is probably 30 degrees cooler, im sure this is having a big effect on the egt temps. under hood temps are also drastically reduced, and im thinking that contrary to popular opinion, the exhaust manifold life will be extended, my theory is, the insulation will slow the cooling and even more evenly cool the manifold with the engine off, this reduces the thermal stress brought on by constant change of hot to cold. my own experience in this is my cousin's truck broke an ear off the head where the manifold bolts to it, what happened is a 4th gear high load burnout, the truck stalled and we could not restart it fast enough, the manifold rapidly cooled from 600+ degrees and shrank enough to break the mounting tab. as for rust, i live in cali so its not much of a problem, though i do not think that moisture is really much of a concern, durning operation the heat will evaporate the water plenty fast to not have any issues, so it is constantly drying, when the engine is shut down, what ever moisture is still left in the wrap will evaporate quickly with the remaning heat, and when the truck is not running the water should not be able to reach the manifold anyways and so should not be a convern. in all i am satisfied with these early results, i will report back more as i learn more. i do have one thought i want input on, heat products suggests 50% overwrap, to me it is looking thin especially compared to heat products turbo blanket, i have heard that too much insulation will cause problems, but no explanation as to what problems, anyone have any ideas? im thinking about wrapping it up a little thicker for more insulation. inputs please.
now for the other side of the turbo, i have spent a few dollars upgrading some different parts, i installed an afe drop in air filter in the factory box, i also installed a while ago a tag I that seemed to help but not tons, recently i installed the afe torque tube, this i modified to fit the tag, the results of that have been impressive. i think it is the combo of the torque tube and the tag that made a difference. what i have noticed is significantly lower cruise egts, and a lot slower rise in egts during acceleration. also the turbo comes on noticeable faster. i have a hx35 14cm2 non-wg housing. before intake work cruise egts were 600 to 700*, after install its now 500 to 600*, all of that depending on ambient temps. have only had one tank of fuel with the intake work done, it was up about 1 to 1. 5 mpg, weather conditions have been consistent and not a factor at the moment. its not enough for me though to say solidly that it is effecting that number. i do suspect it is though.
ok so now on to some of my thoughts and ideas for future benifits, up till now my mods, i would say that the cost of the mod vs the gain, while both are small it is probably about the same as a more expensive mods, we will know once i get some better fuel mileage numers.
for the moment this is all i have, i really do want to hear feed back and critiques to my thoughts, ideas, and actions, but be ready for me to defend it, not because i think im right and you are wrong, i just think that if we are forced to defend a position, more of the real truth comes out and we all gain from it.
as i mentioned before anybody else with other ideas for cheap easy mods that will boost performance, please chime in with it so we can all gain from the idea.
