First Power Upgrades

[LorenS]

Between selling stuff and saving, I have some extra fun money to spend on making my truck more powerful and hopefully more efficient.  I see that DAP has Adrenaline units on sale, so am about to bite the bullet on one of those.  I do have some questions as to what other items should be on the shopping list.  Here is a list of what I do have or will have done in the next couple of weeks:

1. EGT gauge
2. Fuel Pressure Gauge
3. Modest lift pump (FASS DRP relocated to beside tank with Draw Straw)
4. 3" Exhaust
5. Automatic transmission in good shape, but so far as I know it's mostly stock (accumulator piston, governor pressure solenoid, Servo Cove plate, pressure transducer all upgraded).  Not sure what previous owner may have upgraded, if anything.
6. Running Amsoil in the transmission and read diff, Rotella T6 in the engine due to finding it for $2.25/quart after rebate!
7. HY35
8. Bosch Reman injectors, about 30k miles on them.
9. Valves set on the tight tolerance side, I believe 0.008/0.018"
10. W-T Mod and clean electrical connections.
11. With 307k miles, all kinds of other, small stuff has been replaced in the 34k miles I have owned the truck.
12. Had an engine oil analysis done on last oil change, and it came back good after 10k miles.

 

I plan to add a transmission temp gauge or dummy light(s), and have the Adrenaline monitor engine oil temp, but am open to suggestions on the matter.  As some may have noticed in the Classifieds ads, I am looking for an HX35 turbo.  I know 3" exhaust isn't popular, but unless overwhelmingly recommended to upgrade, I plan to keep that exhaust at least until I upgrade turbo.  I see no reason to buy an exhaust for one type of turbo, then have to buy another downpipe because I need a 4" v-band downpipe for a Borg Warner S300G, etc.

 

My goal is to have some better performance while very occasionally pulling a 7k lb box/travel trailer on long trips, or heavier trailers much shorter distances (150 miles).  I do not visit Death Valley nor do I plan to take said trailer over the Rocky Mountains.  However, I do venture to places it's frequently over 100 or under 0 degrees and windy.

 

Is there a set of injectors that I should pick up with this Adrenalin, good for a guy who plans to soon have an HX35?

 

Is there a particular, really good starting-point tune for this type of setup that I should buy off of this site?

 

I would never think of putting 100 HP injectors in my truck until Me said it was a good approach, with a tuner that can shorten duration to keep smoke down.  Will these big injectors cause problems when it's well into the negative temperatures, until the program kicks in at 140 or 170 engine coolant temp?  Is that one reason to choose a tune WITHOUT the temperature limits?

 

So many questions!   I hate to tag people, so I hope dieselautopower, Me78569, etc., happen across here and have some good advice for this very basic setup!

[Me78569]

are you planning on upgrading your trans ( vb and tc at the very least)?    If yes then keep reading, if no then keep it stock.

 

I would honestly put 150's in not 100's if you plan on updating the trans.   the hx35 is really happy with 7 x .010's and a good tune. Then if you ever plan on going with a bigger turbo you won't be underfueled.   

 

Personally I think a s300 with 100's is underfueled.

 

 

The quad will use you 0 psi setting if it is below %100 when in warmup mode. so when it is cold you won't have smoke or issues.   

[LorenS]

I can upgrade the VB and TC if that's what I need to do to not be stranded or send hard/clutch bits through the rest of the transmission.

Would a single disc from Goerend be sufficient?  I'm not yet 40 but drive like I'm in my 70's - no offense to cool guys in their 70's.  This is likely due to the fact I've always had to fix my own car.  Honestly, if I don't have to do so to make a tune work, then I won't even tap the injection pump wire.

I was considering an Edge EZ or Quadzilla XZT+, but for a couple hundred more would like the control and options available on the Adrenaline.

[Me78569]

tc and vb would be my recommendation, a good single disc will hold anything the hx35 do without overfueling.  

 

 

Get the adr and some 7 x .010's.  I am not even sure you will need wiretap honestly.  the hx35 can handle 7 x .010's + a touch of wiretap, but I dont get the feeling that you are goinng be to concerned about peak power gains.  

 

 

[Evan]

I'd toss some hygard or chevron thf1000 in the tranny and at very least bump pressure. 

 

Gauges, fuel system, injectors, turbo, programmer 

 

In that order

[LorenS]

4 minutes ago, Me78569 said:

I dont get the feeling that you are goinng be to concerned about peak power gains

You got the right feeling.  The day I have the kind of money to be concerned with that, I'll buy a second truck.

My dad had an 01 3500 with NV5600 and Edge EZ (and 3.55 gears?!); it was Goldilocks, Just Right.

[Evan]

I've got probably 50k on sac 7x009 injectors 100hp. Boost fooled and turnbuckling the waste gate this really livend up the truck.

But they do smoke when you put your foot in it. 150s will smoke more.

 

I'm not sure that a quad would be worth it to tune smoke out on the low end. Youd be taking fuel away.

 

Adding a 62mm s300 completly changed my truck runs cool tows cool and smokes much less. I guess they say it's over turboed being only 100horse injectors.  But It runs much much better than stock and Egts are low. I will go to 150s when the need arises but so far I'm making plenty of power and even getting decent fuel mileage.

 

The quad is nice because you can set egt max temp limits to defuel at wich will come in handy with both the hy and hx35 paired with 150s. I just cant see those turbos pushing enough air in towing situation to keep temps at or below 1250 while pulling grades. Even with no programming adding extra fuel. Youd be pushing 35psi plus with just injectors alone doing they're thing..

 

I feel like mike pushing 20" tires and the quad lol.

 

Theres lots of ways to do it just gotta figure your way out. For me I'll go mechanical first every time. So far it seems to be working. 

 

I do have a decent tranny and cant hold injectors turbo plus added fuel through programming. Empty is okay but not towing. I'm on single disc with all tranny build upgrades but only have a shift kit installed.

A dynamic valve body may make all the difference but I'm unable to swing 700 bucks for it right now.

 

Good luck and have fun with it.

 

 

 

 

[Me78569]

2 hours ago, Evan said:

I've got probably 50k on sac 7x009 injectors 100hp. Boost fooled and turnbuckling the waste gate this really livend up the truck.

But they do smoke when you put your foot in it. 150s will smoke more.

 

I'm not sure that a quad would be worth it to tune smoke out on the low end. Youd be taking fuel away.

 

Adding a 62mm s300 completly changed my truck runs cool tows cool and smokes much less. I guess they say it's over turboed being only 100horse injectors.  But It runs much much better than stock and Egts are low. I will go to 150s when the need arises but so far I'm making plenty of power and even getting decent fuel mileage.

 

The quad is nice because you can set egt max temp limits to defuel at wich will come in handy with both the hy and hx35 paired with 150s. I just cant see those turbos pushing enough air in towing situation to keep temps at or below 1250 while pulling grades. Even with no programming adding extra fuel. Youd be pushing 35psi plus with just injectors alone doing they're thing..

 

I feel like mike pushing 20" tires and the quad lol.

 

Theres lots of ways to do it just gotta figure your way out. For me I'll go mechanical first every time. So far it seems to be working. 

 

I do have a decent tranny and cant hold injectors turbo plus added fuel through programming. Empty is okay but not towing. I'm on single disc with all tranny build upgrades but only have a shift kit installed.

A dynamic valve body may make all the difference but I'm unable to swing 700 bucks for it right now.

 

Good luck and have fun with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You really need to drive a truck with a quad and good sized injectors.  Egt's are not a result of injectors they are a result of bad tuning.   I could put my foot to the floor with 7 x .012's towing my horse trailer climbing a grade in OD locked TC with rpms falling and EGT's wouldn't top 1300*f.

 

Keep in mind that oem tuning asks for %88 of possible duration in stock form.  however only asks for ~25-26* of timing.  adding timing up top to the max of 30* really brings down egt's  

 

I don't recommend using the temp backdowns, your tune should not put you in a situtation where you need them.

 

 

Here is a datalog of my lugdown towing test in pretty much the worst conditions possible with the most overly fueled setup possible. 

 

 

a hx35 + 7 x .010's is about a perfect fix with a quad.  Talk to MonsterMaker on Cummins forum, he is running that setup and wishes he went with bigger injectors.   and yes his truck is a work truck that tows.

 

 

It is easy to overspeed the hx35 turbo with 7 x .010's without tuning.   You throw a bunch of fuel at it and then the turbo gets out of it's map and you are stuck with egt issues.  if you control fueling down load to prevent "slingshooting" the turbo out of it's map you don't have that issue.

 

Edited December 20, 2019 by Me78569