rancherman

I agree with all the above posts. Our 'predicament' took many many years to land us where we are, and It'll take just as long to get us back on track. Now, what is considered 'on track' would take a lot of push and shove in DC. Not to mention the fact that our 'elected officials' *yes we do elect them* but 'who is holding their puppet strings' ie; There have been many far better potential leaders that have not been promoted past the preliminary stages of the election process. Like it or not, we have become a 'service nation'. We can no longer be the great manufacturing machine.... we still have the natural resources, but lack the 'go ahead' because of EPA, SPECIAL INTERESTS, LABOR, and well, for lack of a better word, GREED by the large corporations. Maybe, as the old blue collar's retire/die off, and the new generations that take their place, 'the good ol days' will be long forgotten... The great warehouses full of Chinese products/parts will be managed by a few of us, shipped by a few more of us, installed by even more of us (As long as we want to get our hands dirty) and ultimately ALL of us will be the end user. This great pyramid MUST have USA on the top box.

It's the 'particulars' specific to each engine (such as your injector protrusion) that makes up the difference in assembly quality. The machinist already knows what the clearances need to be, (oh boy, he BETTER KNOW) ie; rod bearing, main bearing, piston wall, etc... Some shops have specialists, and it makes for a more efficient shop. The machinist only deals with the never ending pile of iron coming in the door, and can't be distracted. Plus, it's a lot easier to keep the assembly area clean if not running back and forth from the tear down, machining area too. Then there are shops that have guys that'll follow the engine all the way through the end.

This 'Jasper' engine may have some real surprises awaiting you... (well, apparently it didn't fare too well on last build).. WF nailed it with measuring deck thickness... I'd sure find out what minimum needs to be for both the block and head... and MEASURE what the injector protrusion is!!! The more that is milled off the head, the more it'll protrude, and melt either itself, or the piston. Shims make up the difference if needed. You may have a head that's been hacked a terrible amount.. and might be the reason for your flamed-out cylinder/piston. Did you notice any difference in the sealing rings on the injectors from cylinder to cylinder? If you can't find the specs on the deck thicknesses, measure the top of piston @tdc to top of block..., then put in a standard thickness sealing washer under the injector, torque it down, and measure protrusion. Compare those readings with cummins specs.

kinda wonder if he had an injector that was *almost* cooked off, and adding the EZ (and playing around) finished it off??

fuel would be the only fluid I'd keep isolated.. (from my gasoline racing days).. more for a 'stinking up the cab' part, not so much the 'burst into flames' worry! lol, If you guys could see whats stuck on the floor mats in my trucks, *cow poop* a little diesel fuel might actually be a nice air freshener! heck, most days I could probably wring out a quart of fuel from my cover-alls. True, a burst gauge or tube would be rare, very rare. I was just thinking *worst case scenario*

Electrical can be easier to install, capillary tubing can be a bugger! Plus, when it's time to remove the sensor wire or tube for component removal, (manifolds, IP, etc ) you have to be pretty careful not to twist up the 'tube. electrical all you have to do is unplug it. BUT, I'd imagine overall durability, hence accuracy, swings back to mechanical. I went with auto meter electrical on my last install, 903 cummins powered tractor. Right out of the box, the probe for the pyrometer was faulty. ( the gauge auto 'zeroes', goes through a self test, everytime it's energized. ) mine was off almost 100 degrees. New probe was sent to me free, and been ok so far. The coolant gauge been fine so far too. Man, these days, any 'high end' gauge should be pretty darn good regardless of how it's signaled... (not saying my auto meter is high end.. it was *affordable*.) I'm going to mount my FP on the back edge of the hood. (my 2000 ram) I too am a little leary of piping fuel into the cab. (unless there is an isolator version?)

One timer eh? are you talking about the lack of pre-heat, or the pressure variation? -20 F is pretty cold, you might've had some gel issues too. Welcome to the club! This happen immediately after you changed the filter, or after the cold snap it sat through? after that cold snap, there may be some nasties in your tank.. (spring is around the corner!!). Just for giggles, open up your needle valve, just for checking purposes. After you see if there is any change in the gauge, put it back to where it was. A short time un dampened shouldn't hurt. ( I mean SHORT) I've seen needle valves change big time just with a swing in ambient temps, vibration can screw them in or out too.. Yours may have a blob, or closed too much. How many miles you have on the lift pump now? I don't know what the threshold is for 'pre heat, or no preheat' or what is used to decide. IAT? I've read on other forums about the odd occasional 'lack' of preheat. possible pre start circuit didn't boot up?

I've seen my fp up and down during the grid cycle (after cycling).. it'll do it 5-6 times. My dash voltage drops to 9-10 volts when grids kick in, that'll sure drop fp! I wonder why yours 'skipped' the preheat. Was this a 'one time occurance' Did the FP bounce after the engine was warmed up ( or on a warm restart?) How cold has it been while the truck's been sitting? where is your pressure tap at?

capillary tube. Kinda like a miniature hydraulic line... and your dial is actually a pressure gauge The probe has a small reservoir of (older units had a low flash point type fluid similar to ether) and when it warms up, the fluid expands, and then moves the dial. you can't cut the line to shorten, or even bending it too sharp. Ok, according to the post below, there are apparently more than one way to measure 'heat' mechanically. I've been around enough older crap to know that the capillary tube has pretty nasty smelling stuff in it when it's broke. Especially when trying to remove the sensor from a 'well rusted' port! Mechanical pressure gauges are connected directly to the process fluid being measured (i.e. oil). As the process fluid pressure changes the pressure on the bourdon tube also changes which in turn moves the pointer on the gauge. Mechanical temperature gauges also utilize a bourdon tube. They have a sealed capillary tube and bulb assembly that is filled with temperature sensitive liquid that produces a proportional vapor pressure on the bourdon tube. As the temperature changes, the pressure inside the bourdon tube changes, which in turn moves the pointer on the gauge.

when is that 'skunk' haired (ernie) gonna retire?? Omaha/Lincoln need to become their own State!

Good read/find WF! Right up to the comment section!.... geez, a person can't even protect themselves without being bashed by the leftnutless

I wonder if this stuff is comparable to 'Restore'. I think that stuff has powdered graphite that jams up under everything... but Restore washes out during oil change.. This 'gel' probably acts more like MUD.. mopartech hit the nail with the oiling cooling jets. I wonder how long it'll be before the turbo no longer turns. It's probably a fantastic product to dump in a vehicle for a quick sale... and possibly a few thousand 'free' miles.... or may be the next-best thing to sliced bread!

how are those 'heated' filters wired?... Do they have thermostat control, (wired to keyed 12 v, ) or would they need to be controlled..? . Kinda pricey, but standing on the edge of the road isn't a picnic either! I dug around a little, and found this: #4 and #21 is the heater sensor and heater terminal. Those Glacier filters use this harness to connect their filter to... Silly me, I didn't realize they already had a heater! My 2000 doesn't exactly look like this though.. It has a spin off top such as this, but has a boss for putting a 1/2 extension to remove the top.. and the wif sensor wire is towards the bottom of the canister.

Lot of my trucker guys are running the 'deer kicker' on their rigs. It's keeping 90% of those vermin out of the radiator, but most importantly, out of the front drag link! They tell me if a deer gets under the truck, it'll take out the drag link 'lickety split' and NO ONE wants a 80k rig without steering!! Not sayin they are preventing damage, but they claim at least they can keep going after the strike.

ok, I'll be the one that asks this time. Where exactly are you 'seeing' this blowby @ 70mph?

That would be nice to stand on! (reaching into the engine compartment)

I had an old engineer (my Dad) ream me out years ago for thinking 'cold fluids' should make more pressure! ( I used to think thicker fluid would 'stack up' and effectively make more pressure) Dad had a funny way of teaching his young! LOL What it boils down to is thicker fluids take more energy to travel along a path.. or pipe. Friction really takes it out. Add in the added resistance from the filter, and screens.. PLUS the resistance in the intake side of the system to boot. (No pump is worth a dang if itself can't be fed as much as it puts out) I would love to have your numbers! as far as the buzzing ps, mine too does it, when it's very cold. Warm, it's fine. I think it's just too thick for the system, and some of it's getting bypassed @ the pump. I've noticed that when it's a tad 'low'... it'll do it more readily when cold. Makes me think it's possibly cavitating (low level, and thicker ps fluid makes it easier to pull air from top of reservoir).

I see ol Harold Ramis died yesterday. (dude on the right)

too many people look at the letter of the law, as opposed to the intent... Some things just can't be written without opening the flood gates of conjecture... and a few opportunists jump in with both feet to kick open the 'loopholes'... For their personal agenda. Not to mention the grandstanders or soapboxers.. These same people who loathe religion, (which paints out a pretty good road map of how we should live) are the same ones who hide behind 'laws' (which DICTATE how we should live).. In either case, there are 'rules' in our lives! I can't understand where the division occurred.. unless 'laws of man' seem to have more 'pull'??? I don't know about you, but not spending Eternity in Hell is a pretty good motivator in this ol cowboy! Gee, the 10 Commandments are pretty much covered (lawwise) in one form or another in our lives... (except the 'no other God' part) ... Do these 10 precious 'laws' piss them off, because 'they' didn't think of them first?

just for giggles, measure your backlash in your timing! Verify also everything in the timing case is lined up. U sure engine is tdc (balancer hasn't slipped) during timing test? I had a 354 perkins that didn't idle worth a dang, turned out it had a hammered out keyway on the crank. The bottom of the keyway was wallowed, plus the moon key also way undercut. When the key was sitting in the 'way, it looked perfect! But I could rotate the gear almost a full tooth by hand. Those symtoms weren't loping though, it was more like an occasional chirp or bark in the exhaust, from random cylinders.

anyone who watched any of the Sochi Olympics probably noticed several 'fans' and athletes sporting 'rainbow' fingered gloves... No doubt in opposition to Putin's statement @ beginning of the games... (about you know what)...

I'd recommend you just getting it 100% road worthy first.. Then see about the mods! This is your first diesel, and 'getting to know' your new machine helps when it's still basically stock. (that way, you'll actually see and feel the differences when you do upgrade) I agree with the above posts about the IP, and intake system. Look to see if you have a 53 block. It can be a problem with a crack in the water jacket towards the back of the block. There are a lot of no-problem 53 blocks out there however. Yours may be one of them, or already fixed. I don't have a handy pic to post, but a quick search will give you plenty of pics to see what I'm talking about. Fixed right, it's a pretty long lasting fix. Just so you know! Above all, get an aftermarket fuel supply pump.. to feed the injection pump! oh, btw, the intake manifold doesn't need to come off, just the intake 'neck' and grid heater, to change the IP. Now would be a perfect time to adjust the valves too! 5000 bucks is about right for what you've described.. finding a low rust vehicle on the east coast is tuff! especially one that is 14 years old.

Gas went up 20 cents on Thursday. Now up to 3.69 Diesel at the local pumps can run 3.99 down to 3.69, (depending on if it was purchased on the Indian Reservation.) But recently, we USED to be able to purchase 91 octane, 89 octane, and 87 octane gas. The 91 proof was 'no ethanol'. the 89 was 10% ethanol, and the 87 octane was also non-ethanol. I ran the 87 non alcohol gas in my small engines..... chain saws, mowers, four wheelers.... etc Now, all that is available is the 91 octane, and a gas they call ' 87 octane WITH 10 percent ethanol'. (geez, what kind of garbage fuel are they mixing with ethanol to get a measly 87 octane????)

X2... early 98's are 'somewhat different' than late '98's LOL

The reason I like the cleanable type screen, is just that; cleanable. I never know when gel, or crud is going to strike. It might be once a week, or once a year... and ANY filter/screen on the suction side is problematic. This can be spun off for a fast dump/clean. There is a simple column of screen (various size available) It's a simple agriculture sprayer screen, LOTS of surface area, and has no ability to separate water.. it only screens. This particular one is a cast iron head, and nylon cup. Stainless steel screen. I have similar ones on a couple of tractors. (to protect my electric lift pumps) This one has 1.5 inch ports. (should be enough eh?) On my '00, I have the fass drp 02, (warrantee dictated me to run a filter before the pump.. wix 3270's)