imcumin

Im totally new to diesels and turbos alike so please take it easy on me if im totally asking retarded questions.

Ive been borrowing my inlaws 97 Dodge 3500 4x4 a/t dually for trash trips and runs to the local home depot etc.. basically every chance I get !. I just love the whine from the turbo and the crazy tq this thing has when the turbo decides to kick in. Lately the trucks been acting up. The trucks been surging Between 1500-2100 rpms under normal driving with and without load. It almost feels like while cruising in a manual car youd push in and then released a clutch. So I was hoping that maybe someone has dealt with this issue before and maybe can point us in the general direction of what could be the problem. Also my inlaw (real cool dude) is dying to start doing some mods. I have already ordered a cold air intake and looking at diffrent exhuast systems and adding some guages. The truck is completely stock. We are wondering how to go about adjusting the turbo boost to gain couple of pounds.

Thanx.

BBWD

Welcome to the board. There are no retarded questions and everyone is here to help as much as possible. What you describe sounds like a fuel system problem - but, don't worry it's fairly simple and you can do it yourself and git-r-done.

The surging you describe may be caused by a stopped up filter if they have not been changed in some time. You may want to start by replacing the fuel filter and the fuel heater screen. Both may be obtained from your local Cummins shop. When you change these, be sure to keep everything clean and you will have to prime the fuel system to get all the air out of it before starting the truck. You can do this by cracking the bleeder bolt on the top of the filter and pumping the heck out of the primer button located on the lift pump until you get fuel flowing through the fuel filter, or by using air pressure at the fuel filler neck to force fuel from the tank through the system into the filter.

Another think comes to mind is that the rubber fuel line hoses may be cracked from age and may be letting air into the fuel system. This is a fairly common problem with these trucks with some time on them. They can let air into the system without a noticable fuel leak. If you replace the hoses, be sure to use diesel rated hose as the hoses you buy at the local auto parts store are for gas engines and will last about a year with diesel before you have the same problem again.

Also, if it has not been done before, you may want to consider replacing the fuel overflow valve located on fuel pump, engine side, toward the front of the pump. This valve keeps pressure on the fuel system and when the spring gets worn will let the fuel pressure drop. Perform a search on the site for a gentleman named Marty who sells these at a reasonable price.

You can do a search on these subjects on the site and read up more about what was mentioned above. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

John (DH)

P.O.R.

take a look at the air filter to while your at it...

imcumin

Cool we will replace those parts and see what we have. Any tips on kicking up the turbo boost a pound or two not looking to go crazy.

TxDiesel007

Block off your wastegate


or pinch the line... that usually means faster spool up, or higher boost numbers, anything over 35PSI on ur stocker tho is just hot air, not good for much. You can also get a lil more boost by pushing your stock fuel plate forward, Before you get into this tho, make sure you have gauges.... I have a link that explains to newbies what most of it means, Ill root it up if need be, if not others will chime in..

Tx

imcumin

Ok, Tx. send me that newbie horror under the hood tech link. Im dying to get my hands dirty.

On a more serious note. Im from Miami Fla and a survivor of Hurricane Andrew. Andrew was a cat 4 storm and later upped to a 5. For you
Texans who have decided to stay during this storm. please !!! take my
advice pick up and GO ! do not stick this one out. Take off go visit some
family or friends go gambling to vegas whatever you do Do Not Stay Home.
It will be a life altering if not ending experience.

God Bless You All .
Im praying for ya.
Ralph

TxDiesel007

THIS is just to get a little more power out of your ram. You can do serveral things, i see you are getting gauges, and you have an air intake on the way. which is good. Now this is an into to the main power source of the ram, Your P7100 Pump, and what you can tweak on it for more power. You can also time it, but thats advanced, well at least for me... use this as an intro more than anything.. I tried my best to explain it.... here goes... and

I meant to say post.... sorry.....

Here is an intro the link to the pic might not work, but u can see it as banks plate in my gallery.....

to get more power out of your truck the first and foremost investment is a good set of gauges. These are a must anytime that you are adding more fuel to your mix.

A governers spring kit, Reffered to as a GSK is a wonderful investment that widens your normally narrow powerband from the 12 valve engine and allows you to fuel hard to at least 3200 RPMS or so, before it starts to defuel, this is all dependant on your governer arm adjustment and your plate positioning. A Torque, or fuel plate should come next. NO one really follows the plate guide anymore and the most popular plates nowadays are 100 (PM northslope for wicked work! ) and a zero plate. Piers Diesel Research and Hot Rod Diesels have them for the same price, The fuel plate... here is my explanation....

Torque plates.... ok this is a torque plate right here... https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...=500&page=1

More commonly reffered to as fuel plates, they come in different numbers to explain how "aggressive" (for lack of a better term at the moment) that they are 10, 8, 6, 5, 0, and 100, zero being a flatt plate that bombards the pump with fuel, and a 100 being a ten plate curve with no top end defueling, much like the zero.. The one you see there is my banks plate, screwy yes, i know, i dont get it myself. that plate goes in the P7100 injector pump, It goes under what is called the AFC housing, which has a little starwheel on it, the starwheel can be accessed with the removal of the hex dealy using the the right hex head size plug, and u loosen it for more smoke, and better lower end, and tighten it for the inverse. Use a good screwdriver.... furthermore... You will see four screws there where the starwheel is, two that are flatt, one that is possibly a breakoff screw that can be a real PITA to remove, take a hammer and good screwdriver and bang the tar outta it, it will come off, if that fails, left hand drill bit... Looking down the driver side, the top left hand is the breakaway, and the top right is a regular screw as well, the bottom two are 8mm bolts and you need to get around to one that is in the back of the AFC housing that holds that fuel shutdown solenoid in place...

Install time, for a newbie, well it will take you about a couple of hours at most. If you read my literal "dissertation" of a post hehehehehehe. it tells u the procedure on how to do it. Your only real problem might be that break off screw, especially if your truck is stock, However, nothing a good strong screwdriver and some persuasion cannot take care of.

The other tricky bolt is the one (if you look down from the drivers side) behind the Fuel shutdown soleniod (electronic hooked up deal that bolts in front of the injector pump, easily removed with in my case an 8mm (and most should be too) socket and pull out the two bolts. when you undo those ull notice that there is one in the back that is holding the housing, you can just loosen the one in the rear using a deep 8 mm socket and just move teh shutdown soleniod out of the way, (downward) and then you can get to the plate..

When you are in there its simple adjustment, u just remove the stock plate and put the other plate in place of that one. NOTICE you have some play here. If you dont have gauges, dont set it full forward, If you do have gauges set it forward for a 30 or so rwhp increase!

Now put it back together and you are done. Installation is simply the reverse of removing it.PS having a magnetic tip screwdriver REALLY HELPS...

Which one is right for you.. id say the ten if you are not gonna be that aggressive with it, but the 100 is downright WICKED!! that be the one to go with, the zero is just too much at the low end for me but for dynos and racin, its awesome!.. The zero, PM Northslope AWESOME AWESOME WORK, and ull be helpin out a fellow DTR member, and the zero plate you can grind yourself, well you can do either or, but PM northslope do a search for plate grinding, started by gunracer1.. good instructions..

Either ways, you are going to need a clutch or tranny work if its an auto.....if you are going to play hard, in most cases if you just want a modest power gain, just get a 10 plate, set it a lil bit forward, and a GSK will wake up your truck. In the stock position its easily drivable and fun as well.

Waste gate, if i was good with pictures id put one up for you, but im sure you know what the wastegate looks like, that head looking deal, it is usually hooked to a rubber or similar airline, you want a little more boost? You can get a longer hose or pinch it up, There is a thread, i dont member where tho, where it shows someone improperly blocking the wastgate with a screw.... Well that aint good.. Anyways

Also make sure you get the KDP done on that truck as well... Not hard to do, look in my previous posts, KDP Report Using TST kit, or somethin similar to that......

PS this is cut and paste of other posts, sorry if its redundant....

Best of luck and hope that this helps..

Tx

imcumin

Your are the man !!! I never expected someone to post something so descriptive and helpful. I appreciate every minute put into your
desertation. Job well done.

Ps.. picture link does not work.. no biggy.

Dr. Evil

Ditto on that - NICE job. U get an extra gold star for effort!

imcumin

Tx,, Your gonna kill me.. Took the truck out this morning for a ride. I opened the hood and to my shock their lay a 24 valve Cummins turns out shes a 98.
Im sure that your write up will help many, so do not consider it gone to waste. Whats the diffrence between the 12v and the 24 outside of the amount of valves. I mean as far as performance and the ability to modify.

Im sure your thinking NOT THIS GUY AGAIN !

Thanx !

TxDiesel007

Dude

no worries about it.. People here helped me when i was a newbie, im just returning the favor..... Thanks for appreciating my posts.... It means alot to me, if i can help someone in any ways I will..... it makes me feel better to help someone who appreciates it, than someone who wont answer my posts, but ive never had that issue to begin with....

Dr Evil, instead of a star can i have a cookie?

Tx

Dr. Evil

How about a SCAR??

Mopar1973man

Well you can follow my footsteps...

A set of guages from - http://www.dieselperformanceparts.com/index.html
The DiProcol's are the cheapest there and work beautiful...(Link below in sig)

Cut the muffler and resinator out... All you need is a piece of straight pipe (about $30 bucks) and stick it in. (Link below in sig) Cooler EGT's for running more fuel! Also increases turbo whine and throaty sound! I love it... Breathes easier...

Pull the silencer ring out... Just take to screwdrivers and pry it out.. No performance change but sounds great to listen to turbo whine...

Looking to buy a BHAF (Big Honkin' Air Filter) Next... Keep her breathin'

As for boost... Boost doesn't make power FUEL makes power! So you going to need guages first then a box of some sort... (Ez-Edge Etc.)

Horsepower and torque cost money... How much did you want??? You've come to the right site...

johnsjas

The 24 valves had a bad problems with their lift pump. If the pump cannot supply fuel to the injector pump the pump will cavitate and cause the truck to surge. Also you can check the simple stuff like the air and fuel filters.

TxDiesel007

Guess beggers cant be choosers eh?

LMAO!!

Tx