So what did you do with your truck today?

[IDIBRONCO]

This is totally different, but well once upon a time I learned something......

My forklift battery went down all the way, key left on or something. Anyway I hooked charger up, charged it up for a good charge. Hit starter & something wrong happened, don't remember what now, but not good, This was back in '95 or so.

Anyway friend of mine stopped by & got to asking things. Finally he told me I had charged battery up backwards. I said Didn't know it was possible. He said that yes you can if battery is totally down, then it can be charged up backwards.

He told me to completely discharge the battery, leave key on lites on etc etc overnite, then chaqrge battery back up correctly & see what happens.

I did, & things worked correctly. & I learned something!!!

I heard a story about a guy who had his own mechanic's shop from the late 70's into the early 90's. A customer wanted him to do something to his old tractor. The battery was dead so he charged it up while he was working on it. After he was done, he started the tractor up and it worked fine but all of the gauges read backward. He was almost going crazy trying to figure out what happened. Another guy stopped in to say hi and get to hear what happened. He told the shop owner that it was a positive ground tractor and he had charged the battery backward. So he left the lights on overnight to drain the battery and the next day, he charged the battery up the right way. Then all of the gauges read right. So, yes, it can happen.

 

[KansasIDI]

.......but did the truck really leave you stranded....? Or did YOU leave YOU stranded.......

Joking aside, I’m glad it ended up just being a pain to the wallet and your time, but nothing else!!!

No, your right, I DID leave me stranded!

Part of the process, must find my mistakes, and work out the kinks. Just hope whatever my other mistakes are, are less… expensive…

 

[KansasIDI]

Drove to town and back twice, got fuel on most recent trip. Calculated fuel mileage, with turbo 7.3, no smoke, ZF5, 3.55 gears, and normal driving, not heavy on the pedal. Been doin 70 on the highway, 2200ish rpm

8-9 mpg.

This seems bad… no fuel leaks, parked on freshly swept concrete last night, no leaks of any kind at all actually… crawled under the truck this morning to make sure there weren’t any streaks, nothin… nice and dry and dusty.

 

[XOLATEM]

8-9 mpg.

I didn't go through your whole thread on your build...I will, eventually because I want to do the same thing with mine......just hit bits and pieces of it...but the first thing that comes to mind on is this......

How did you time your IP..?

And...what kind of engine temps are you seeing...?

Also...what pressure was your injectors set at...?

 

[KansasIDI]

I didn't go through your whole thread on your build...I will, eventually because I want to do the same thing with mine......just hit bits and pieces of it...but the first thing that comes to mind on is this......

How did you time your IP..?

And...what kind of engine temps are you seeing...?

Also...what pressure was your injectors set at...?

I did not time it that could be a contributing factor

About 185°

2100 psi if I recall correctly

 

[Nero]

Fully loaded crew cab with boat in tow, zf and 4.10 gears I average 12 still, you got some funky business going on

 

[XOLATEM]

Ok...first off...I don't know 'nuthin...not compared to all of the other guys on here that work with this stuff every day...

But....I did read Smokey Yunick's book...'Power Secrets'...

And...I have picked up a lot of good stuff from being on this site for a few months...so...I welcome others to correct me and help me learn, too...

According to Smokey...a cylinder will not get 'good' and round until the coolant temp hits 195 F ....and you need the cylinders to be round as possible to get adequate ring sealing...I noticed a big difference with my small block back in the 80's when I ran at the track...I tried different temps before I lined up at the gate and 195 was the magic number...

...plus....for an engine that uses heat to light off the fuel...it would stand to reason that a little more heat would help efficiency...up to a point...

I can see that 2100 PSI would help with atomization of the fuel...but it would also affect timing...it seems logical that it would delay timing somewhat...that the IP would have to develop that extra pressure before the injector would let the fuel go...

I am getting ready to invest in injectors soon...and I like the idea that one guy says about setting the pop pressure around 1900 so that they will break in and settle down to around 1800...

I can understand your feeling of disappointment with your immediate results....I have been there, too...I have learned a lot of lessons over the years...but this is just an opportunity to get more experience and find that extra fuel mileage that you are looking for...

It is hiding in there, somewhere...you just gotta go find it...

 

[KansasIDI]

Ok...first off...I don't know 'nuthin...not compared to all of the other guys on here that work with this stuff every day...

But....I did read Smokey Yunick's book...'Power Secrets'...

And...I have picked up a lot of good stuff from being on this site for a few months...so...I welcome others to correct me and help me learn, too...

According to Smokey...a cylinder will not get 'good' and round until the coolant temp hits 195 F ....and you need the cylinders to be round as possible to get adequate ring sealing...I noticed a big difference with my small block back in the 80's when I ran at the track...I tried different temps before I lined up at the gate and 195 was the magic number...

...plus....for an engine that uses heat to light off the fuel...it would stand to reason that a little more heat would help efficiency...up to a point...

I can see that 2100 PSI would help with atomization of the fuel...but it would also affect timing...it seems logical that it would delay timing somewhat...that the IP would have to develop that extra pressure before the injector would let the fuel go...

I am getting ready to invest in injectors soon...and I like the idea that one guy says about setting the pop pressure around 1900 so that they will break in and settle down to around 1800...

I can understand your feeling of disappointment with your immediate results....I have been there, too...I have learned a lot of lessons over the years...but this is just an opportunity to get more experience and find that extra fuel mileage that you are looking for...

It is hiding in there, somewhere...you just gotta go find it...

Well made one more trip to town, kept better track of miles, and fueled up again. 11.8 mpg. Gettin better with every fill-up. Notice the sound changing, sounds more even and smooth. Still sounds good, no smoke, save for 2-3 seconds at startup, first thing in the morning. Then, no smoke rest of the day.

 

[KansasIDI]

Maybe it does break in

 

[KansasIDI]

I’m getting temps off my temp gun, it tends to read low. That is at the bottom of the water pump, where I checked it. Thermostat temp was 192°.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

...plus....for an engine that uses heat to light off the fuel...it would stand to reason that a little more heat would help efficiency...up to a point...

I've seen it said that our engines need to be at 180* for the fuel to atomize properly. Which will give you the most efficiency and power. Over that won't hurt until you get too high, over 130*.

Maybe it does break in

I don't know for sure. It sounds like it does. maybe you need to ask one of the rebuilders about that.

That is at the bottom of the water pump, where I checked it. Thermostat temp was 192°.

192* is just fine. The bottom of the water pump is where the cooler coolant comes in from the radiator so it will be at a lower temperature. The thermostat will give you the engine temperature once it has opened since the coolant is flowing from the block through the thermostat.

 

[Austin86250]

When my idi is down like right now I drive my duramax i Inherited and they never came with high idle you can imagine how bad it is trying to warm up a diesel at 500 rpm
So I took a big step out of my comfort zone today and installed high idle I had to remove the pcm and ecm to add a pin into the ecm but it turned out great!
When your used to 1 wire engine operation being greeted by 100 wires is jarring for the first time

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[The_Josh_Bear]

Well made one more trip to town, kept better track of miles, and fueled up again. 11.8 mpg. Gettin better with every fill-up. Notice the sound changing, sounds more even and smooth. Still sounds good, no smoke, save for 2-3 seconds at startup, first thing in the morning. Then, no smoke rest of the day.

Maybe it does break in

Makes sense that any single tank might give you bad reading, all depends on the fuel station, parking angle, and how picky you are about "full", etc. The average should come up over time. You also said you're running small tires, which may affect MPG's if you use the odometer vs a gps. Although with smaller wheels it would report you're traveling more miles than you actually are so real world MPG's would be worse...

However, given the cold starting with no glow plugs and all the power, I think you're on to something! I'm enjoying seeing your journey and results. I can't remember if you re-ringed or honed the cylinders. But both or either of those things will give you a crappy ring seal for some time. So as you drive around it should get better and better to a point.

Get-r-timed up properly and keep running through the RPM band as much as possible as you seat the rings(if that's the case).

 

[Cant Write]

It is hiding in there, somewhere...you just gotta go find it...

Man that makes me think of the movie, “The Legend of Baggar Vance”

Love it!!

 

[KansasIDI]

Makes sense that any single tank might give you bad reading, all depends on the fuel station, parking angle, and how picky you are about "full", etc. The average should come up over time. You also said you're running small tires, which may affect MPG's if you use the odometer vs a gps. Although with smaller wheels it would report you're traveling more miles than you actually are so real world MPG's would be worse...

However, given the cold starting with no glow plugs and all the power, I think you're on to something! I'm enjoying seeing your journey and results. I can't remember if you re-ringed or honed the cylinders. But both or either of those things will give you a crappy ring seal for some time. So as you drive around it should get better and better to a point.

Get-r-timed up properly and keep running through the RPM band as much as possible as you seat the rings(if that's the case).

I have the proper speedo gears for my 28.5” tires.