I have 196000 miles on my truck now and was thinking of taking it in to a mechanic to do a tune up on the valves and get the turbo cleaned. I am also going to have them do the thermostat to a 190 and have them go through my wiring on my column gauges and redo them because who ever put them in before I bought must not have done it the best way and took corners and might have them look at the a/c... just wondering if any other things I should just have them check on while its in the shop?

 

I only want it down for like 3 weeks because I live in Bismarck and im taking it over to Jamestown because they have good rates and I know the people working on it has done good work on other trucks for one of my buddys.

thinking of taking it in to a mechanic to do a tune up on the valves

 

 

Ummm... You could do the valves yourself with basic hand tools in about 1 hour.

http://articles.mopar1973man.com/2nd-generation-24v-dodge-cummins/26-engine-systems/121-valve-lash-adjustment

 

 

get the turbo cleaned.

 

 

May I ask why are you having the turbo cleaned? If your using a good quality air filter and not a washable you'll never have to touch or clean the turbo.

 

I am also going to have them do the thermostat to a 190

 

 

Go to NAPA pick up a thermostat. Then without draining the coolant just remove the 3 bolts on the thermostat cover. It will spill a bit most of maybe a quart or two. Might want to do this outside. Then pull the old thermostat out and put the new one in. Replace the cover and 3 bolts. Then top off with coolant your done.

 

 

wiring on my column gauges and redo them because who ever put them in before I bought must not have done it the best way and took corners and might have them look at the a/c...

 

Yeah... Now I would let a shop take that on.

with valves i just don't trust myself enough because i get very picky about thing and i don't have that much experience doing that.

 

 

well with the turbo it sounds alright but it has like a spider sound to it like one of the fins has a chip on it. it hard to explain how it sound but had other people listen to it when driving and sounds a little funny...They are going to take it all apart and clean it and check bearing if it needs new ones.

 

i should be able to do the thermostat then. I thought it would have to be drain first before doing it

Can you post a picture of the turbo?

Does your turbo have a high pitched squeel? Pull the intake off the turbo and look for rub marks on the housing from the fins. Also move it up and down and it should have about the same movement as the thickness of a quarter

with valves i just don't trust myself enough because i get very picky about thing and i don't have that much experience doing that.

 

 

well with the turbo it sounds alright but it has like a spider sound to it like one of the fins has a chip on it. it hard to explain how it sound but had other people listen to it when driving and sounds a little funny...They are going to take it all apart and clean it and check bearing if it needs new ones.

 

i should be able to do the thermostat then. I thought it would have to be drain first before doing it

 

Valves are super easy to do and have a wide range of tolerance.

 

Intake valves: 0.006 to 0.015 inches

Exhaust Valves: 0.015 to 0.030 inches

 

Nothing to get picky about. Book calls for 0.010 intake and 0.020 exhaust. I set them at 0.008 intake and 0.018 exhaust. Like I said there is all kinds of room for valve lash and nothing to get picky about.

Does setting them a couple thousands less than spec make the engine quieter?

I will try and post some pic of the turbo this weekend.

Does setting them a couple thousands less than spec make the engine quieter?

 

Yes. I'm set at 0.008 intake and 0.018 exhaust currently.

I set mine at >008 and .016, but did not notice it being any quieter. Might have been, but just did not pay any attention to the noise level.

What makes the 24 valve engine noisier than later models? Is it the injection pump? Michael made a comment at one point that his truck was as quiet as later models. I'd like to achieve that, although not at a huge expence.

What makes the 24 valve engine noisier than later models? Is it the injection pump?

The same thing that makes the 12 valve engines noisey. What the noise you hear is the sudden rise in cylinder pressure caused by a single injection event. The CR engines have a 'multi-shot' injection that brings the pressure up more gradually.

A friend of mine has an early 12 valve its got over 700 k on it.

Its much quieter than my 24valve.

He can almost sneak up on me with it. 

Another friend with a commonrail has a few mods done to his and its quiet but has a nice growl in there.

I think with the ones I am familiar with that the 24valver is the noisiest...maybe time to set the valves again and go a bit tighter.

Was 010 and 020

 Regards Chris

A friend of mine has an early 12 valve its got over 700 k on it.

Its much quieter than my 24valve.

He can almost sneak up on me with it. 

Another friend with a commonrail has a few mods done to his and its quiet but has a nice growl in there.

I think with the ones I am familiar with that the 24valver is the noisiest...maybe time to set the valves again and go a bit tighter.

Was 010 and 020

 Regards Chris

Chris, you may find that the reason that 12V is so quiet is because the timing is set quite low. The higher the timing the noisier they get plus the sound is a lot 'sharper' with higher timing. The CR trucks are the multi shot to bring the noise down.

I have also noticed that a straight piped 12v is usually more quiet than a straight piped 24v. 24 valve trucks exhaust have a harsh bite compared to the rest of the cummins trucks. IMHO.

how do I put pictures up on here? I got them of the turbo and I just can't figure it out

Click "More reply options" down on the bottom right. Then on the new reply page below the input text part there is a "Choose File" selection. From there you can find browse your computer for the files! 

Got the turbo images now and the bearing play was fine but in one picture there is something on the one fin.

anyone got anything on the turbo?

Was there ever an oiled type of air filter on that truck? Thats almost exactly how my turbo looked when I got my truck. They had been using a KN style air filter that you oil every once in a while and the turbo had pulled the oil through the filter. Otherwise, looks like the seals inside the turbo might be leaking on ya.

As for the chipped fin, the only thing I can think of is something must have gotten through the filter and sucked into the turbo. Not really any way to tell exactly what happened there.

Is it scratched into the blade or just on the blade. Possibly ingested something.