DRB III Question/engine question

[DieselFiend]

My engine is getting louder and louder. I'm running a smarty and when I drop the stock program back in it, it rattles like crazy completely through the throttle range. It's loud at idle, loud at constant throttle and loud at WOT. I've also had a tick at idle. My recent oil sample from blackstone showed extremely high soot which indicated a possible combustion problem. The truck has always been loud but it's getting louder. I don't have any excessive smoke from the exhaust. My fuel milage is good. My EGT has been good except when I stop and let it idle for turbo cool down. My EGT never cools below 300 degrees at idle after running it. When I start it usually idles at 250. When I drop the smarty back in it, it all gets better and quieter except at WOT. Then I get the diesel rattle back. The engine just doesn't seem like it's running smooth at all in the higher RPM range. And not running smooth no matter what RPM range when the stock program is back in it.

My suspicion is an injector slowly going bad or a valve making contact with a cylinder. I've got access to a DRBIII but I have no idea how to use it. The guys that have it don't really know how to use it either.

All that being said, what kind of tests will I be able to run that will help me isolate the problem cylinder? Keep in mind that I'm mechanically inclined but I'm still a noob when it comes to engine problems. Aside from using the DRB III, are there some simple tests I can run that will help me isolate the problem without tearing too much apart?

 

[DieselFiend]

Can any one help me out with this one?

 

[JHansen]

You can do a cylinder kill with the DRB-but not sure if it will help you much with your diagnostics. Might be able to isolate a bad one though by RPM drop.



Plug it in, accept the software disclaimer and select DRBIII Standalone-then select ALL OTHER out of the list of vehicles. Select ENGINE from the next list and let it find the controller. You will probably have to press enter to get to the next screen. That should be the screen with DTC code reading etc... here is where I get vague, because I've never actually poked around on a CR motor with it. Should be under the option listed as ACTUATORS-either press that # on the keypad or scroll down with the arrows and hit enter. There will probably be multiple pages of options there-but each injector kill should be in there.



HTH

Jason

 

[WoodChuck]

As stated above there is a cyclinder kill test to isolate a bad injector and also a cyclinder contribution test to see the power balance between cyclinders.