A list of questions while I'm into it this far

[hacked89]

Looking good Brett

 

[TNBrett]

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So the piping kit I used was obviously a universal affair. The factory finished ends have a nice bead rolled in them. I came up with this for the ends I cut. It's a standard tail pipe expander. I used a scrap of 2.5" exhaust pipe to make it work right. then i gently tapped the end with a ball peen hammer. the finished product should at least give the clamps a fighting chance of holding.

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The elbow on the intake hat is a 2.5" to 3" reducer. I also drilled and tapped it for my boost pressure sensor.

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[hacked89]

Looking good Brett

 

[TNBrett]

At this point in the build I buttoned everything up, refilled all the fluids, and bled the fuel system. I started the truck and was immediately disappointed. The engine was running like garbage. It was running so rough I was convinced there was a dead cylinder. The glow plug controller seemed to not be working correctly. I tried driving up and down the driveway and I had zero brake assist. And to top it all off my once silent ZF5 had horrendous gear roll over noise. To say the least I was not happy. I put the glow plug controller and power brakes on the back burner and focused on the engine. I ran cylinder contribution tests, and compression tests, and there were no obvious problems. Everything in my mind pointed to my screwing around with shimming the injectors. Frustrated with how much time and money I was into it this far, I bit the bullet and orders a pump and injectors from CDD. I went with the 110cc pump and stage 1 injectors. I had an extra pump and injectors so I boxed them up and sent them off. I believe it was 5 weeks to get the pump and injectors back. In the meantime I started diagnosing some of the other issues. Turns out the glow plug controller was actually working, but wasn’t lighting up the wait to start light. In fact none of the diesel warning lights were working. After wasting some time checking wiring diagrams and troubleshooting I checked the obvious. All 4 of the warning indicator bulbs were burned out. Apparently the PO had burned out the WTS bulb a few times, and kept swapping bulbs around until they all were burned out. 4 new bulbs and all was good.

To be continued…

 

[TNBrett]

So, as I was waiting for My new pump and injectors from CDD, I decided to dig into the Brake booster issue. As I first started checking things, I found the split in the check valve grommet. easy enough I thought, so I put in a new check valve and grommet. When I fired it up, (still running like crap) I still had nothing. Some deeper diagnosis revealed a failed vacuum booster. At this point I had a decision to make. I already had an old Hydroboost and MC from an 89 F-superduty, but it was pretty obvious it had been leaking badly. I can't actually remember which project I bought it for, but it was cheap, and I've had it for close to 10 years or so. I did some shopping, and found out I could get a rebuilt PS pump w/ the correct reservoir, new hoses, and a hydroboost rebuild kit for less than a new vacuum booster. Easy decision. Contrary to popular methods, I elected to keep my original 1-1/8" MC and not modify the Pedal arm. My reasoning was that the Master Cylinder was matched to the brakes on the truck, and I would get the same volume of fluid for the same amount of pedal travel as before. I did verify that the pedal rod was in the same position on both boosters, and that they both had the same amount of maximum travel. In order to replace the seals in the hydro boost, the pedal rod must be removed. I didn't take many pictures of this, and I won't go into much detail, but try this at your own risk.

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To mount my smaller MC to the hydro boost, I had to elongate the holes in the MC. I just did this with a carbide burr on an angled die grinder. I did the entire Hydroboost job without disconnecting brake lines. I also fabbed up a bushing for the MC to keep it centered in the bore of the HB. It was a scrap of some 1-1/4" EMT conduit.

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I ended up getting the pump from Amazon. It's a Cardone reman, but there was no core charge. It was about $60. Inside the box was a flyer from Cardone for a core rebate. The core shipping was free, so I figured what the heck. I sent them my old pump, with just one return fitting, and I got $33 back. What a bargain.

 

[TNBrett]

So, here’s the way it looks under the hood right now.

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It’s a tight fit for everything, but I’m pretty happy. I really like the pedal feel of the hydro boost setup, and I works great. I still need to modify the adjuster arm for the alternator, but I’ve got a scrap of silicone boot protecting the tube right now.

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

Where is your intake getting air?

Love the pictures and explanations, I hope the new pump and all wakes her up good and you're done chasing problems. Nice work!

 

[TNBrett]

Where is your intake getting air?

Love the pictures and explanations, I hope the new pump and all wakes her up good and you're done chasing problems. Nice work!

Currently the intake duct is just wedged under the cruise control servo and ends a few inches from the fender. It seems to draw in cool air there, but I feel like it’s louder in the cab at higher rpm’s there. My thoughts have bounce around on this one from a Hypertech cowl intake, to cutting a hole in the inner structure of the fender, to now thinking about trying to make a stock “snorkel” work around the intercooler piping.

 

[TNBrett]

So, my pump and injectors finally showed up. I was very excited to get the new parts installed. I got everything bled out and she fired up. I was immediately disappointed again. It felt better(maybe?, it had been a few weeks), but it still didn’t feel right. I set the timing. Again, maybe a slight improvement. I convinced myself that maybe it was all normal. Maybe with new motor and transmission mounts, I was just feeling everything more. Maybe my old clutch was just so worn out, that it wasn’t transmitting any of the vibration into the transmission. I decided to try a little shake down drive. I learned a few things. First my cheap Amazon intercooler piping will not hold any boost if you leave even just one of the clamps completely loose. Secondly the CDD 110 pump rolls some coal when you loose all boost. But lastly, things were still not right.

So back into the shop she went. I went through checking exhaust manifold temps, cylinder contribution, compression, and timing all over again. Nothing. At this point I was feeling pretty confident in my work putting the engine together, so I decided I need to check elsewhere. So last Saturday I dropped the transmission. I removed the pressure plate and clutch, and reattached the transmission so it could support the engine. It ran like a sewing machine compared to what it was. Out again with the transmission, and back on with the clutch. I ran it this time with the trans out, and the vibration was back. Looking through the floor with it running I could see the pressure plate wasn’t centered. Apparently when they redrilled my flywheel for the 13” clutch they got off center by about 1/16”. Looking closer at the pressure plate, I could see where the clutch shop had elongated some of the holes to get them to line up with what they drilled. I guess I had assumed that they had some way to accurately drill the bolt pattern in the flywheel, but apparently they just did it by hand. Anyway I decided to abandon the 13” clutch for now, and I ordered a standard Luk clutch kit from Rockauto.
It’s finally right. Well, mostly. I drove the truck to work on Thursday and it was great, until it wasn’t. About halfway home, it started surging, it was sucking air somewhere. By the time I was in my driveway it was struggling to idle, and actually died. It started back, and I got it pulled into the shop. I didn’t have much time to dig deep, but I guess I’ll be back working on it this weekend at some point.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Man I hate to hear that after all of the work you've put into this truck. And curses to that clutch shop!

 

[Big Bart]

So, my pump and injectors finally showed up. I was very excited to get the new parts installed. I got everything bled out and she fired up. I was immediately disappointed again. It felt better(maybe?, it had been a few weeks), but it still didn’t feel right. I set the timing. Again, maybe a slight improvement. I convinced myself that maybe it was all normal. Maybe with new motor and transmission mounts, I was just feeling everything more. Maybe my old clutch was just so worn out, that it wasn’t transmitting any of the vibration into the transmission. I decided to try a little shake down drive. I learned a few things. First my cheap Amazon intercooler piping will not hold any boost if you leave even just one of the clamps completely loose. Secondly the CDD 110 pump rolls some coal when you loose all boost. But lastly, things were still not right.

So back into the shop she went. I went through checking exhaust manifold temps, cylinder contribution, compression, and timing all over again. Nothing. At this point I was feeling pretty confident in my work putting the engine together, so I decided I need to check elsewhere. So last Saturday I dropped the transmission. I removed the pressure plate and clutch, and reattached the transmission so it could support the engine. It ran like a sewing machine compared to what it was. Out again with the transmission, and back on with the clutch. I ran it this time with the trans out, and the vibration was back. Looking through the floor with it running I could see the pressure plate wasn’t centered. Apparently when they redrilled my flywheel for the 13” clutch they got off center by about 1/16”. Looking closer at the pressure plate, I could see where the clutch shop had elongated some of the holes to get them to line up with what they drilled. I guess I had assumed that they had some way to accurately drill the bolt pattern in the flywheel, but apparently they just did it by hand. Anyway I decided to abandon the 13” clutch for now, and I ordered a standard Luk clutch kit from Rockauto.
It’s finally right. Well, mostly. I drove the truck to work on Thursday and it was great, until it wasn’t. About halfway home, it started surging, it was sucking air somewhere. By the time I was in my driveway it was struggling to idle, and actually died. It started back, and I got it pulled into the shop. I didn’t have much time to dig deep, but I guess I’ll be back working on it this weekend at some point.

Some thoughts
1) Your good people so I hate to hear you are have some bugs to work out.
2) I remember when I believe it was you writing about redrilling the flywheel for a PSD clutch kit as I recall.(13” clutch.) I was second guessing if that was going to work. What template or CNC machine would they use to center and drill it so it’s centered. Would the deck height installed be the same or would there be some clutch pedal play. Sorry to hear they did not truly center it for you. But it was worth a try. Just glad you figured it out before taking the engine apart.
4) Glad to hear other than that it is running nice.
5) Damn clamp gremlins! (We all have been there with something that should of been tightened.)
6) It is a bummer when you do say 6 projects and when you go to drive the truck, something is wrong, now your in the pain funnel of going step by step to check each one off the list.

Sounds like you will have it figured out by Sunday night for your Monday commute. Good luck and all the best.

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

Oh MAN what a bummer... how could someone sell work like that? If it was off by half that you'd still have a serious vibration. That kind of work can't be done by eyeballing it, geez. :***:

But on the other hand, it's always good to hear of a successful solution and to know your own work was correct.

Can't wait to hear the good news of all things purring and boost gauges breaking!

 

[TNBrett]

Oh MAN what a bummer... how could someone sell work like that? If it was off by half that you'd still have a serious vibration. That kind of work can't be done by eyeballing it, geez. :***:

It really comes down to me assuming that the clutch guys were capable of doing what I asked for, and then them not being up front with me about their methods and capabilities. And then more fault falls on me for not doing more to verify their work before putting it in the truck. I was so excited about getting the truck together, I just assumed all was good with the clutch. In hindsight if the clutch shop had agreed to resurface the flywheel and supply the clutch disc and pressure plate. I could have taken it all to a machine shop and had the holes accurately drilled in the flywheel. That's why they say hindsight is 20/20.

 

[TNBrett]

New lift pump fixed it. It’s check valves were not checking. Fortunately I had the forethought to pick one up yesterday in town. It’s about a 45 minute round trip to any parts place from home. I used one of these to diagnose and double check everything.

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This is also what I use to bleed all the air out of the fuel system any time I open it up. The fitting on the end of the long hose was salvaged from a valve stem extension hose, but I’ve also used the end off of a can of fix-a-flat. Just screw it onto the schrader valve on the filter head. It’ll fill up an empty fuel filter pretty quickly and get all the air out up to that point. I also picked up replacement retainers for the fittings at the FSV because I new I would be removing it to check everything. I road tested it by taking my wife out for a burger. During dinner we decided that it made sense to swing by Home Depot and pick up 40 bags of mulch. I guess I know what I’m doing tomorrow.

 

[asmith]

What are you using for a lift pump?