Guages and Housing In - Now Timing

[JFitzgerald]

Installed the new turbo housing and gauges this past weekend. Went with a 16cm2 based on Piers' recommendation for heavy towing. There is a difference, not huge, but it seems to put the powerband right where I'll use it most for towing. Right foot action that used to produce black smoke now makes gray haze. Maybe a bit more "whine" also.



The gauges are great. Went with Isspro R3607T pyro and 40 PSI boost on a pillar mount. Drilled and tapped for pyro sensor while I had the turbo off so I didn't have any worries about metal chips going where they shouldn't. It's good to see where my EGT's are now instead of wondering. Full throttle in 5th with my son's quad and my dirt bike in the bed showed 22 PSI and about 1000* EGT. I am curious what temps I'll see when towing the big trailer up hills. Might be hauling a car to OH this weekend, so I'll get an idea then.



The next thing is to bump timing and rpm. The trick is getting to the nuts to adjust timing. What tools/methods have you guys used to get to the one or two that are hidden? Piers suggested buying a cheap 13mm wrench and bending it into a U.



Thanks for any ideas! John

 

[MDKram]

The way to adjust the pump timing in about 3 minutes requires the snap-on wrench SP144. No ands, ifs, or buts. This wrench is fairly inexpensive and the only way to fly. A "home-bent" 13mm will work for the nut between the pump and engine but may be too thick to access the nut on the underside of the pump. Without the SP144 (or equivalent), plan on wasting an evening and ask your neighbours to close their windows so their children don't learn any colourful adjectives. Make sure you mark the factory pump location before rotating it!

Marc

 

[JFitzgerald]

Thanks Marc! That's just what I needed to know. The pump is still matched up to the factory mark for timing. This is for the first gen pump, right? I noticed you have a second gen in your sig, and just want to check. Thanks again.



The Snap-on site shows $22. 55 for the wrench, if anyone is wondering. Here's a link.

 

[MDKram]

John, I do own a second gen, but I have worked on all years of trucks. I set the timing for bighemi a few week ago and went through the same ordeal you are facing. I spent a lot of time bending my own wrench only to find it would not work on the nut under the pump. After getting the SP144, the job took about 3 minutes to loosen the pump, gently rotate it with a big wrench, and tighten all 3 pump nuts plus the 10mm on the bracket.

Regards, Marc

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

MDKRam,



Any word from our friend travelling East???





Bob.

 

[MDKram]

Hi Bob, I have been soooo busy I have not had a chance to update you on bighemi's truck. I had to rotate the pump about 3/16" to 1/4" (advance) to eliminate the white smoke problem at idle. As they say (those people), no news is good news. i. e. I have not heard any news which I will assume is a good thing. Bighemi's truck smoked way less (across the entire RPM band) with the timing advanced and the engine also seemed to run a little smoother. As bighemi was leaving for the x-country journey the following day, I did not have a chance to take the truck for a good test drive. Anyway, I'll update you next week.

Regards, Marc

 

[JFitzgerald]

Originally posted by MDKram

John, I do own a second gen, but I have worked on all years of trucks. I set the timing for bighemi a few week ago and went through the same ordeal you are facing. I spent a lot of time bending my own wrench only to find it would not work on the nut under the pump. After getting the SP144, the job took about 3 minutes to loosen the pump, gently rotate it with a big wrench, and tighten all 3 pump nuts plus the 10mm on the bracket.

Regards, Marc

Thanks for clarifying, Marc. Tried to order the wrench online last night, but they show no stock (and no indication of how long until they get stock) so I sent 'em an email to find out. I may be able to get one thru a local Snap-on truck, I'm checking today.

 

[JFitzgerald]

Copied & pasted reply from Snap-on:



Good morning John! We expect to have stock on that item in approximately 2

weeks.



Thank you!



Heather Greiner

Snap-on Tools

Customer Service

 

[JFitzgerald]

Finally got the SP144 yesterday and adjusted my timing last night. You're right Marc, that's the right tool for the job. I did have to disconnect the fuel line coming into the top front of the pump to get at the upper pump nut. No problem though, that's easy enough. I'm guessing that is the fuel line feeding the pump.



I put maybe a little more than 1/8" between the marks. Also increased the RPM some. Definitely gained some upper end power and responsiveness. It changed the tone of the rattle some. Seems like it might have increased cool down time to get down to 300 before shut down. Not sure yet. Need to get a tach so I can see how far I can turn up the RPMs. I should be at ~2650 now. I think I'll stay there until I get a tach to be safe.



Thanks for the tip Marc!

 

[MDKram]

Great to hear the job went well! I am just heading out to Calgary for the dyno event. I just put all my specialty tools in the truck, including the sp144, in case some guys want to play a little either before or after they dyno. We can talk off line if you want to discuss any tuning issues. BushWakr is extremely knowledgable with the first gen pump tuning so you may want to direct some ?'s to him.



Marc

 

[Bseg]

When you refer to the timing are you talking about adjusting the fuel screw? I'm planning on helping a friend with a 93.

 

[JFitzgerald]

Originally posted by Bseg

When you refer to the timing are you talking about adjusting the fuel screw? I'm planning on helping a friend with a 93.

Bseg,



To do the timing adjustment, you loosen the injection pump and rotate it on its' mount, which changes the timing of the fuel injection into the cylinders. Two of the three pump mounting nuts you need to loosen to do this are hard to reach, which this special wrench takes care of. The fuel screw is a different adjustment.



Check out these pages for details:

fuel adjustments

timing



Let us know if you have more questions. There are plenty of guys here who know the answers. I have definitely learned a bunch here, and from Piers!

 

[TexasTurbo]

Originally posted by JFitzgerald

Finally got the SP144 yesterday and adjusted my timing last night. You're right Marc, that's the right tool for the job. I did have to disconnect the fuel line coming into the top front of the pump to get at the upper pump nut. No problem though, that's easy enough. I'm guessing that is the fuel line feeding the pump.



I put maybe a little more than 1/8" between the marks. Also increased the RPM some. Definitely gained some upper end power and responsiveness. It changed the tone of the rattle some. Seems like it might have increased cool down time to get down to 300 before shut down. Not sure yet. Need to get a tach so I can see how far I can turn up the RPMs. I should be at ~2650 now. I think I'll stay there until I get a tach to be safe.



Thanks for the tip Marc!

Hey JF, thanks for the thread, I've needed to increase timing since installing the POD injectors and wasn't real sure how to go about it. Did you have to remove or loosen all the fuel lines on the pump? How did you rotate the pump and in which direction?

I've ordered the Snap-On tool and any help would be appreciated!

 

[JFitzgerald]

Texas Turbo,



Glad it helped. I'd like to get some injectors sometime too. The only line that I had to mess with was the incoming line into the top front of the pump. I disconnected it at the pump end only. This is because it interfered with getting the SP144 wrench in to the top nut. Rotate the pump so the top is closer to the engine to advance it (counter-clockwise looking at it from the front of the truck). Note the position of the factory marks first. My pump didn't want to move at first, and I didn't have pliers big enough to grab the pump, so I gave it a couple gentle whacks with a rubber dead-blow hammer. Just had to knock it loose, then it moved more freely.



Also, once I started the engine after moving the timing, I noticed a small leak. A banjo fitting on the pump had loosened from turning the pump. Just a gentle snug with a 17MM wrench, and it stopped leaking. I remember someone's post cautioning the tightening of these banjo fittings. Apparently, they strip easily. Good luck.



Updates:



There was no change in the cool down time like I thought. Must have been just that one time for some reason.



MPG must be better. The 6500 lb. beast got the same (18. 5) as I have been getting with no load or trailer, but on this tank I hauled a load of steel in the bed 30 miles and there were several "test runs" to 90+ MPH to get the feel of the power increase.



Seat of the pants dyno testing: really makes an improvement in the mid and upper RPM's. I believe I feel a small loss of low end torque. Next test is to see if towing EGT's have dropped, so I can use more of the power.

 

[TexasTurbo]

Thanks for the info, I'll give it a shot when the wrench arrives.

 

[Dieselman359]

Advanced Timing

Finally got around to adjusting the timing. Man, I don't know how some of ya'll can rotate the pump. I guess that all of the fuel lines are so tight that its hard to turn, but I got it moved about a good 1/8" from the factory mark. I have noticed the decrease in max. boost (28 to 24), I need to go for a ride on the highway to see just how much or any change in EGT. I can't really tell around town, especally racin' around with my trailer.

Now that my boost is down, I guess that I might have to fiddle with that Full Power Screw.

 

[JFitzgerald]

Dieselman,



That pump wants to stay where it was doesn't it? I hated to resort to the hammer, but I was gentle and didn't hurt anything.



You don't mention if you feel a difference in power, just that your boost dropped. Any seat-of-the-pants improvement? My max boost stayed at about 22, but I'm still running stock injectors.

 

[Dieselman359]

JFitzgerald, I can't say that I noticed a power improvement, anywhere in the power band. What I have noticed is the drop in boost and thats about it. I know that some said that their trucks ran quieter, and smoother, but I noticed no difference. The only thing that I think might and I mean MIGHT have changed is what you seemed to notice, the cooldown time. Maybe its just me, or maybe its the freakin' weather (I think it was 100 today), but I have noticed a very little longer cooldown time.

I always thought that the more boost that you had, that you were making more power. Going down on the boost gauge had me wondering, but I will say that I haven't had any decrease in power.

I cranked my fuel screw today just to see what it would do to the boost numbers, nothing. I went for a ride, and the boost was about 25. I turned the screw about 3/4 of a turn. This little test run did tell me one thing, this truck flat gets it! I was running through the gears only to look down and see 90mph:--) on a 45mph road. I've been debating on wether or not to do the Diesel Drags @ Scheid Diesels' rally, I think that I just might.

On last thing, I'm thinkin' 'bout playing around with some of the other pump adjustments like the starwheel. However, I've never messed with that and am a little reluctant to. I've found that this truck is a never ending saga to see how big of a grin I can smear on my face!!!

 

[JFitzgerald]

Seems like different trucks respond differently. Mine changed noticeably for the better, and boost stayed the same. But, I increased the RPM at the same time, so that is a factor. Last weekend, Case500D and I had a little "bomb session" and we set my valves, along with some bombs to his truck. The rockers in my engine were a bit loose and now the truck sounds better. You're right, my truck always puts a on my face too. Maybe I'll see ya at Terre Haute.

 

[JFitzgerald]

Towing report

Well, this past weekend was the first time I towed heavy since advancing timing, increasing rpm and setting the valves. The weather was cooler than last time, but the load was heavier. On the trailer was the camper, Jeep, two dirt bikes, a big quad (my friend's Kawasaki Prairie 650), tools, parts, spare tires, etc. I would guess the trailer weight at 13K, where I usually pull about 12K. This time, high EGT's were not a problem. Could not get to 1200 degrees on any hill. We drove over three hours to southern IN where there were plenty of hills on the smaller roads. It seemed that the engine was not struggling to tow the load as it had before on hills. Cruising on the interstate at 65-70, the engine was happily buzzing along, not laboring. The power is right where I need it for towing on the highway. The rpm increase really helps a ton when going through the gears from a stop, especially in that shift from 2nd to 3rd. All I can say is I love my truck even more now. Getting to and from the off-roading spot is getting to be almost more fun than being there. Anyone on the fence about these mods - it's worth a try.