Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) What hp can i expect?

[RRamsey]

I have a 98 12v 180hp stock, currently i am running honed 370's, #5 plate, 191dv's, HX-40 38psi, BHAF, 4" exh, 2 stage water/meth, 15. 5* timing and chrome valve-covers (heard the chrome's good for 50hp... lol) I have a friend with almost the same setup only he has marine pistons, a 100 plate, and stock dv's and no water/meth ,his was a 215 orig and he did 446 rwhp . does anyone know approx what I will see with mine

 

[RRamsey]

also does anyone have any suggestions as to a better plate than the #5 for controlling egt's?? I can hit 1600 easy w/o water/meth. that is empty, when I tow i have to be very carefull when trans is locked, any slight movement of the throttle gets egts from 1150 at cruise to 186,000+ degrees easy! well seems like 186,000 but gets to 1600 easy. Also myy trans is built but no billet shafts, can I put a lockup switch to lock earlier??? when is safe to lock??? I am planning on doing the afc mod and rack travel plug this week.

 

[Tom C]

RRamsey,

I'll guess 350HP (w/20° windshield fluid). Do I get a prize if I'm right? :-laf

with my setup (see sig) I'm at 355hp 777lb (mustang dyno) with 20° washer fluid. I imagine I could do better if I put in a 50/50 mix of meth. Not having the gsk's will hurt you HP rating. Your truck is probably defeuling at 2600rpm.

You'll need a lock up switch on a dyno. I usually lock in 3rd gear and shift to OD when locked. Just letup on the right foot when shifting locked. I have shifted locked at full throttle but only when a ford or chevy wont get out of my way . I also don't have billet stuff but I built my transmission (per Dave Goerand recommendations) to hold 350hp which its doing. If I add more HP I'll probably need more transmission work. My egt's run 1500 max'd out (w or w/o meth).

 

[NCovey]

Ditch the BHAF, and go with an AFE set-up or something similar, it will help you drop a little temp wise-Nicholas

 

[RRamsey]

hp?

Shouldnt I be seeing more than 350hp?? fuel plate alone is 90hp + injectors turbo, water/meth and dv's??

 

[KCloward]

I'm guessing you'll see more than 350hp.



With the lockup, I usually lock mine up around 35mph. I wouldn't worry about billet shafts for just the lockup switch. All I have is a performance TC and VB and mine is going fine. If you lock it up earlier than that your engine might bog down and end up shutting down. It's a fun ride when you're going to turn and forget you have it on.



Bryce

 

[Tom C]

RRamsey,

Easiest way to find out you HP is to put it on a dyno. Over the years I've have had several of these trucks and while modifying them I would always ask "how much HP do you think I have". Answers would always be all over the board. On my current truck I thought I would have had more power. Found a dyno within 30 minutes of me and $60 bucks later knew just how much I have.

Good luck and let us know how much it turns out to be when you get it dyno'd.

Tom

 

[RRamsey]

I would love to put it on a dyno, but there is not one close to me, will try this next summer as i plan on attending many of the diesel events. I know with all the great cummins lovers out there, there has to be at least a few hundred oyt ther that have the same setup as me and have had theres dynoed.

 

[RRamsey]

I am going to a custom intake (engine side) and also going to do the afc and rack travel mod, maybe going to grind the hell out of some plates to experiment with, any one have some templates for me to try. still need to tow and keep egt's low, any suggestions?

 

[Swamp Donkey]

I dynoed 394 with the 98 truck in my signature. That was with a #10 plate. I am almost done installing my snows water meth stage 2 kit and am going to attack the dyno again on Nov 10th. I also hacked one of my many fuel plates into some sort of #100 shape. Other than the 3k GSK we should be almost pretty close to the same... ... ... ...

 

[RRamsey]

Hey Donkey, hows your egt's when towing??? let me know what you get with the water/meth. I am running home made 2 stage with snows 325 and 625 nozzle and 250 psi pump.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

My egt's when towing are terrible. I seem to be way overfueled with all the heat and black smoke all the time. I have a 7,000 lb travel trailer and it is a chore to watch the egt gauge and let off on the fuel on any little hill. But my truck is not modified to be a towing machine. Even when empty they always seem high. I think I might turf my 191 dv and put my stock 181's in. I will post here again after the 10th.

 

[RRamsey]

hey donkey, when i put my 191 dv's in i saw no no increase in egt's

 

[Tom C]

Rramsey,



I guess I need to revise my stated egt's.



I was running a custom plate (combination 10/100) for a year now. I changed back to the 10 plate a couple of days ago and also changed my timing to 14. 5° from 16. I set the plate full forward, loosened the medium afc spring full loose and pushed the afc housing full forward.



While towing a 6K load after making these mods my temps never got above 1300 (low or high rpm). Smoke is way down in light throttle use, power comes on quicker, engine runs quieter. I noticed no power loss and never had to use the water injection to help cool. I did notice though that my max boost went up from 38 to about 43 lbs. I'll adjust it back down to 38 max. I like the new setup and will be leaving it this way. If I ever get around to it I'll put it back on a dyno. Maybe the lower timing works better with the stock turbo.



Thought I'd pass on the mixture and results.



Good luck,



Tom

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Just what I have read in the TDR on an article written by Joe D he did some testing and found no power gains at all from the 191 dv but did get more smoke and higher egt's. Quite a few others have said the same, so I might put my 181's back in. I see you are pretty new here, so you probably do not have the old TDR issue.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

I chickened out @ the dyno and had my water meth kit installed but still have never used it. I still dyno'ed 401 with the truck in my sig. Did not want to blow a HG that far from home... ...