CTD in a Chevy 1500 (blasphemy?!?)

[phillips5]

Too bad you are 2500 miles away

 

[CGauthier]

Lol



I wish i lived close to someone

 

[Philip]

You put on the kitchen table after supper and test inj. pop pressures.

You have to be a single person. Us married folks would get threatened with removal of various body parts if we tried that.

 

[CRivero]

yeah, my wife would crap egg rolls if I tried that at home.

 

[Jeremiah]

Air filter stuff

Originally posted by CRivero

Thanks for all the replies, gents! Yeah, I know the engine is overkill, but we all must be a bit crazy or else we wouldn't be here. You're right, the gears were installed to increase the top end to 120+. The real issue here is the 3spd auto transmission which will get replaced as soon as I blow it (any suggestions for a high hp replacement?).



I'm using a K&N air filter, replaced the intercooler hoses and clamps, and adjusted the full fuel screw. I've tested the system for leaks, but could not find any. My next move may be installing fuel pressure and transmission temp gauges to get some additional info. What should I expect for fuel pressure?



Today, I installed the pyrometer in the exhaust pipe 3 inches after the exhaust housing . I know it should be installed in the exhaust manifold, but I wanted to do a quick and dirty install just to get some readings. It registered 800*F at 15 psi boost.



I'm at a loss here guys. Don't know if there's any electrical feedback between the engine, injection pump, transmission, and some sort of engine control module that I'm missing since it's not on a dodge. I'm considering replacing the injection pump for the 7100 and getting bigger injectors but the fact that I'm generating black smoke indicates (to me atleast) that I have enough fuel just not enough O2 to burn it.



Another theory is that the transmission is not putting enough load on the engine and/or the factory TC may be slipping since there's no way to lock it up. I want to avoid the trial and error approach to solving this problem and would like some professional help (I know when I'm in over my head). Anyone know of a good shop in Florida?



Thanks again for the help.

Just a comment ... Cummins recommends against the K & N air filter because of silicon. You'll find more users on this forum going with aFe if they're looking for high-flow and filtration. If you don't need high-flow and quicker spool-up, I'd stick with paper.



Welcome to the TDR. I'll bet that Cummins clattering away in a Chevy raises eyebrows. Good man!

 

[CRivero]

I've noticed that aFe is the filter of choice. Will order one straight away (the K&N looks kinda nasty anyway).



It definitely makes people take second looks especially since its a short-bed regular cab. People can hear me comin' a mile away, NICE!

 

[HoleshotHolset]

shortbed, regular cab?



Bolt-in a built TH-400 (with transbrake... of course... ), and a 14-bolt and take her down to the dragstrip!



Matt

 

[JLEONARD]

You put on the kitchen table after supper and test inj. pop pressures.

LOL. . reminded me of when I set up a shot shell reloader on the kitchen table once... well actually more than once... . talk about "fireworks"!

But I lived to tell about it.

A pop tester wouldn't even raise an eyebrow.

I'll bet that Chevy is sweet. Son has a 67 shortbed. . he was setting up a BB with a TH400 on a rustfree frame... it was an abandoned project..... hmmmm

now ya got me thinking... and we all know how dangerous that can be.

 

[CRivero]

That's the idea. I want to get the engine running smooth before making any changes to the driveline (beyond changing the gears).



I absolutely want to change the transmission but I'm not sure which would be the best for my application (speed!). I don't do any significant towing (jet ski's) so that's not a concern. Are there adapters for the th-400? I haven't done any research other than taking a brief look at the nv-4500 as a possible replacement.



I want to take this step-by-step (I tend to get crazy and want to do everything all at once). There's a wife issue in there I know it. Anyway, I figure I can do some modest upgrading now:



afe air filter

advance the timing

injectors (get the 8. 3 working right or move on to bigger and better)



torque converter

transmission



In the future, I would like to follow the upgrade stages documented in the forum in the following order:



exhaust manifold

twin turbos

intercooler upgrade

p7100 injection pump

injectors



If I haven't killed myself by this time:



racing cam

custom head/valve work



This is a really long-term project that I'm looking to have some fun with. Let's see how it goes.

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by CRivero

That's the idea. I want to get the engine running smooth before making any changes to the driveline (beyond changing the gears).



I absolutely want to change the transmission but I'm not sure which would be the best for my application (speed!). I don't do any significant towing (jet ski's) so that's not a concern. Are there adapters for the th-400? I haven't done any research other than taking a brief look at the nv-4500 as a possible replacement.



I want to take this step-by-step (I tend to get crazy and want to do everything all at once). There's a wife issue in there I know it. Anyway, I figure I can do some modest upgrading now:



afe air filter

advance the timing

injectors (get the 8. 3 working right or move on to bigger and better)



torque converter

transmission



In the future, I would like to follow the upgrade stages documented in the forum in the following order:



exhaust manifold

twin turbos

intercooler upgrade

p7100 injection pump

injectors



If I haven't killed myself by this time:



racing cam

custom head/valve work



This is a really long-term project that I'm looking to have some fun with. Let's see how it goes.

I didn't see any gauges in there. They oughta be first on your list!

 

[CRivero]

I've got boost, egt, oil pressure, water temp, fuel



In the process of getting transmission temp and fuel pressure



Did I miss any?

 

[Jeremiah]

Gauge count

Airspeed, altimeter and tach!

 

[dpuckett]

Jeremiah, I think the 93 Chevies came with a factory tach.

Carlos, I got to thinking (yeah, I had to get the fire extinguisher out this time round ) about the 8. 3 injectors in your 5. 9 engine, and from the 8. 3s I've seen, it just dont work. Someone somewhere told you a fib, or it could have TIPS from an 8. 3, which is nothing in itself, as there are only 3 dozen applications for each engine. Someone posted a pic of an 8. 3 injector recently; I'll see if I can find it. TOTALLY different set up.



Next, I'd get a dial incicator, find true TDC, and time it right. THe reason I say that is, I had the AFC housing against the head, and it was ABOUT 2. 05mm @ TDC (I had verified earlier that the timing pin was, in fact, dead on in my pickup- rare, but it happens)- it was about 1/8" above the marks for "stock" timing. If you get too much advance, you can get ill effects, sometimes even worse than with retarded timing, namely increased cylinder pressures, and a knocking that makes it sound like a cold 6. 9 Ford. Not good, to say the least.



Good luck, and keep us updated.



Daniel

 

[phillips5]

I am maried and my wife would have a fit! But when I was in diesel school I rebuilt a lot of rushamaster pumps in a plastic tub on the kitchen table and a couple of chevy autos tranys.

 

[CRivero]

Daniel, you're right about the tips. I talked to the mechanic who was working on it yesterday and he verified that he only changed the tips.



We're going to pressure test the injectors tonight (just in case) and take a closer look at the timing.



Will let you know how it goes.

 

[CRivero]

Quick update ... .



The injectors pop-off pressure was 3400 psi. Not too much over 3200, but reset anyway and adjusted the timing. No improvement. Still have lots of white smoke at idle and a stream of black smoke when I punch it but it then disappears after 2 seconds at WOT.



I'm beginning to suspect the injection pump is taking a cr@p. Any way to verify this? What's the best remedy? My mechanic is suggesting upgrading to the p-pump, but I'm hesitant since it's not a trivial task and we haven't verified that it's the injection pump.

 

[MidwestMotorman]

CRivero... some specs from my 90 FSM...

no more than 3 psi drop across the fuel filter... lift pump should put out a minimum of 3/4 quart within 30 secs of crank time and lift pump pressure should be 3-5 psi.



Other things to consider... make sure your manual shut down is in the vertical position as it can obstruct fuel flow... white smoke going to black is an indication of retarded timing.



Chevy trucks run a check valve in the fuel line to keep the fuel there for startup. You may have severly restricted fuel flow on the supply or return side if you are running the stock tank and module. You can unbolt the return line and have it dump into a pail to check return flow. This is very important as the VE pump is made to self bleed air into the return line.

 

[CRivero]

Thanks for the info, Nathan.



Where is the manual shut down? I tried advancing the timing but the pump won't rotate any higher. The factory timing is set to 1. 25 mm as per the CPL (is that the right acronym) on the side of the motor.



I am running the stock tank and sending unit. Although the mechanic put a holley blue on the chassis to act as a pusher pump, I don't think he checked the return line.

 

[CRivero]

Oh, one more thing. Tons of carbon on the injector tips as well as the exhaust housing. Could be normal, but thought I would throw it in.

 

[bgilbert]

What size injector tips are these? 9mm or 7mm? I'm guessing that since it has the 3sp auto 727, you are non-intercooled. Stock non-ic inj tips are 9mm. What size tips came off the 8. 3? What size inj tip washer did you install if any? If the tips are 7mm, did you use adaptor sleeves (7-9mm) on the tips? Just thought I'd throw out some more obvious, let us cover these bases. Bill