AIR
FILTERS
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| Q: |
Is a foam type filter
as good as the O.E.M. paper or a pleated cotton/oil type filter? |
| A: |
First
of all lets discuss foam type filters. Foam filters may flow well
when new but will rapidly clog with dirt and air flow will be
reduced dramatically. If you were to take a paper or cotton pleated
style filter and stretch the material out you would see the surface
area of the filtering material would be as much as 10 times the
surface area of the foam filter. More surface area = greater performance
over much longer cleaning or replacement intervals. |
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| Q: |
What advantage will a
cotton/oil type filter give me over the stock paper filter? |
| A: |
An
oil/cotton type filter like a K&N air filter will out flow your
stock paper filter. A K&N filter can be serviced and re-used many
times. |
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| Q: |
Some one told me a K&N
type filter does not filter out dirt as well as the O.E.M. filter
because they found oil on there turbo impeller blades. Is this
true? |
| A: |
This
a common misconception almost all K&N filters are over oiled by
the installer. Over oiling the filter will allow oil to be sucked
out of the filter and in to the turbo. |
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CAM
PLATES
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| Q: |
What is a cam plate where
is it located and what does it do? |
| A: |
94
- 98 Dodge trucks amongst other vehicles are equipped with a Bosch
P Pump. This pump has a device sometimes referred to as a fuel
stop plate, cam plate or torque plate. This plate basically controls
the amount of fuel available based upon engine r.p.m. |
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| Q: |
Can adjusting the stock
cam plate do the same thing as one of your cam plates? |
| A: |
Diesel
Dynamics Cam Plates are designed to increase torque at
low and mid range r.p.m. without over fueling at high r.p.m. Moving
the stock Cam Plate will over fuel at all r.p.m.'s. The graph
below is fairly typical of a cam plate adjustment. |
 The red
graph shows power and torque all stock. The green graph shows the gains from
adjusting the cam plate .040. As you can see the graph shows basically
a mirror image of the stock graph with marginal gains. The blue
graph shows a Diesel Performance of Utah Cam plate
kit installation. As you can see the increases in torque and power
are dramatic. More power at lower r.p.m. spells more efficient
towing performance and better economy. |
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EGT
|
| Q: |
What is EGT and how does
it effect my engine? |
| A: |
EGT
stands for exhaust gas temperature. A diesel engines EGT rises
as fuel is added. The more fuel, the higher the EGT. |
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|
| Q: |
Should I monitor my EGT? |
| A: |
At
Diesel Performance of Utah we are big believers
in monitoring EGT. Power modifications will normally raise EGT
levels somewhat. |
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|
| Q: |
Where should I measure
my engines EGT, before the turbo or after the turbo? |
| A: |
Diesel
Performance of Utah recommends measuring EGT before the
turbo in the exhaust manifold. Through extensive dyno and road
testing Diesel Dynamics have found that the difference in EGT
before and after the turbo is not consistent. Saying there is
a difference of 300 deg f may be true only some of the time. We
have measured differences of up 550 deg f during certain running
conditions.
There are many who contend that if the thermocouple tip breaks
it will pass through the turbo and damage the turbo. We have never
seen a tip break off. We would also point out that most light
aircraft EGT probes are located pre turbo. It would be our opinon
that if the F.A.A. allows aircraft manufactures to place thermocouples
pre turbo, it can not be that bad. |
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| Q: |
What EGT range should
my vehicle run at? |
| A: |
While
running down the road on level ground with no head winds EGT's
usually run between 6 - 8 hundred deg f. When going down hills
often EGT's will run as low as 200 deg f. Pulling up long hills
often EGT's will run up to 1000 - 1100 deg f. 1350 deg f is considered
to be maximum allowable EGT and should never be exceeded. Exceeding
1350 deg f will damage your engine. |
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| Q: |
Is it a good idea to let
my EGT drop before shutting my engine down? |
| A: |
Yes
your EGT should drop down to around 300 deg before shutting your
engine down. This will eliminate the possibility of warping your
turbine housing. This also allows your turbo to spool down before
shutting down. Your turbo may spin for longer than a minute after
shut down. The turbo relies on oil engine oil pressure for lubrication
with engine off there is no oil pressure! |
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| Q: |
Does altitude effect my
EGT? |
| A: |
A
diesel engines fuel delivery is not effected by altitude. Available
oxygen decreases as you increase altitude. This decrease in oxygen
will have an effect on air fuel ratio and cause EGT to rise. It
is not uncommon to see increases of 200 deg f going from sea level
to 5000ft. This is where the Air BullDog hood can
help tremendously. |
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ENGINE
WARM UP
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| Q: |
Should I let my diesel
powered truck idle until it reaches running temperature before
driving? |
| A: |
No.
You may find some diesel engine trucks will not even reach normal
running temperature while idling. It has been proved that most
engine wear happens upon engine startup and engine warm up. 60%
of all carbon deposites found in a diesels combustion chamber
are deposited when the combustion temperature is cold. Diesel
Dynamics recommends starting your truck and once EGT has stabilized
start driving at light throttle openings (low load) until water
temp reaches 160 deg F. This allows for a fast warm up and also
allows your drive train to warm up with the engine. |
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EXHAUST
SYSTEMS
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| Q: |
Should I upgrade my trucks
exhaust system when I upgrade my engines power output? |
| A: |
It
is important to understand that even if an exhaust system does
not increase power it may allow more flow lowering EGT. It is
important to understand that matching exhaust flow to increased
engine fuel system performance modifications is extremely important.
Keeping EGT down to acceptable levels is key to a good working
performance package. A good quality 4'' exhaust can work wonders
on your truck if modified. |
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FUEL
FILTERS
|
| Q: |
At what mileage intervals
should I replace my fuel filter? |
| A: |
Manufactures recommended
intervals for fuel filter replacement are o.k. but do not allow
for bad batches of fuel that may be encountered. We have often
seen filters plugged in one bad fill up. If experiencing low power
and lower than normal EGT shortly after fueling have some body
check the fuel filter pressure differential. Testing this will
show a clogged filter immediately. |
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IDLING
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| Q: |
Is it a good idea to leave my engine idling? |
| A: |
Letting your engine
idle for extended periods is not good for your engine. When your
engine is idling, the cylinder temperature is colder than almost
any other running condition. Fuel is often not burnt completely
by the combustion process. When you are driving your truck down
the, road cylinder pressure is increased and piston ring seal
is increased. When your engine is idling piston ring seal is at
its worst. Extended periods of idling cause fuel to pass by your
compression rings and contaminate your oil with fuel.
We discourage idling for periods greater than ten minutes. |
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INJECTORS
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| Q: |
Will bigger injectors give my engine more
power? |
| A: |
Within reason injectors
with larger nozzle discharge holes will increase fuel flow rendering
more power. Increasing nozzle hole size excessively will eventually
cause injector fuel atomization (plume) to deteriorate causing
excessive smoke poor fuel economy and wash down cylinders. Diesel
Dynamics hand built blue printed True Torque injectors
undergo an advanced flowing process that polishes the injector
nozzle discharge holes. This process dramatically improves plume
distribution. Power, torque and economy are greatly improved. |
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TRANSMISSION
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| Q: |
How much power can my Ford or Dodge pick
up truck handle without transmission upgrades? |
| A: |
Diesel Performance
of Utah recommends that automatic transmissions are upgraded when
power is increased 70 hp or more. We recommend clutch upgrades
on manual transmissions when power upgrades of 90 hp or more are
installed. Both Ford and Dodge automatics suffer from a torque
converter that has an excessively high fluid stall speed. What
this means is that a large percentage of power and torque never
get to the ground where it counts. Diesel Performance of Utah
transmission torque converters and clutches are designed to get
the most from your truck. |
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TURBO
BOOST
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| Q: |
Should I monitor my turbo boost? |
| A: |
Yes we believe that
monitoring turbo boost is important. Monitoring boost and EGT
levels can be of great diagnostic value. Manifold leaks, waste
gate malfunctions, air filter restriction, exhaust restriction
and poor fuel delivery are just a few of the problems that can
be diagnosed. |
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| Q: |
Should my turbo boost be increased when
modifying my fuel system for higher power? |
| A: |
Yes if increasing
fuel delivery turbo boost should also be increased. When adding
fuel for improved performance EGT levels will increase. Increasing
turbo boost will lower EGT. A basic rule of thumb is that for
every 4lbs of turbo boost increase EGT will drop 100 deg f. |
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