That looks gross.

 

Let me preface this by saying im not judging because I know so little about them as is, hence why im here, but holy cow just thinking about that makes me feel like id have to be nearly 2700 -3000 rpm and screaming bloody murder to be starting each gear at 1800 rpm. I mean I'll give it a shot... What earpro do you reccomend?

On a serious note, whats that at your shift point between 500 and 700 higher? Im just going off the rpm difference at the rpms I drive at, I usually drop 500 to 700 per shift minus 5th gear. soo 2300 to 2500? What kind of mpg are you getting? are you modified more than what ive posted for mine?

 

I find if I am in gear and doing 1500 RPM or less, and I need more than 10% throttle, I can feel a pulse if you will in the power.
The shifter will shake and I hear a low almost growling sound.

This means you are lugging the motor and those bad vibes are bad for the whole power train.

So depending on the power level I want to shoot for shifting into gear, I want more than 1500 to about 1800, when I enter the new gear.

I do not usually use ear pro., but my first major concert was Slayer in ‘89.

I have 6 different VE powered 12V 5 speed trucks on the road. I get anywhere from just under 15, on a road trip in my 4.10 geared truck, with the A/C on and the RPM over 2000 for most of the ride. To 23 in a 3.07 geared 12V W350 crew cab with a NV-4500.
All of them are tuned up past stock OEM settings.

I go into some details on the couple of build I have on here.
I do not find that my truck always wants a aftermarket fuel pin to run its best.

 

So you aren't driving at that high rpm value you are just using it as your shift point.

 

If you want it in the short answer.

I am never going down the road under 1500RPM.

But I described how you can locate the perfect shift point for different power levels and different Cummins trucks by ear.

you taking about cruising the road at 1300RPM sounds really low to me.

 

Yeah I only go that low with no load and no hills flat open road in 5th gear and its super quiet and smooth. If I did that in any other gear it would rip itself apart. Still for the most part, minus using a higher shift point, that's exactly how I drive which makes me feel pretty good. Just minor adjustments to habbit needed. Sadly that still doesn't explain how to make up 5mpg loss since the upgrades.

 

You tuned up the pump, so it moves more fuel to make more power so it uses more fuel….

When I tune my truck I adjust and fiddle with the settings for days. I bring tools and adjust stuff on the side of the road.
Getting good power and keeping it clean without killing you MPG takes some time.

 

Watch your boost gauge if you want to learn how to get better MPG. When you are running higher boost you are using more fuel. Adjust shift points to get lower boost #s while doing the same amount of “work”and save fuel.

 

Yeah im jist wondering what other adjustments I can make with the ve. The stsrwheel seems to be backed out as far as I can with out it free spinning. Smoke screw backed out until it literally just makes co tact with the pins bolt head when it's firmly up against the ring in the afc lid. My power screw could be backed out I suppose but it's not been adjusted in at least by me. This is my first diesel and at that my first cummins. I'm kinda lost. I only did the upgrades because I was looking for efficient power not flat out more power. Not complaining, just trying to learn.

The thing that confuses me is that the truck pre mods smoked like a chimney any time I so much as breathed on that pedal. Now it only smokes if I stomp on it. I thought it would be better.

 

It is obviously using more fuel, your job is to find out where.

 

As fast as boost, I seem to be cruising at about 1 to 2 lbs, with normal slower casual acceleration I only see 3 to 5, if I accelerate hard/fast I can see 7 to 10, but I usually only do that pulling into. Busy roadway which is next to never. If I stomp on it I see it jump to 17 to 25 and I only did that just to see what it can make. I still need to buy my trailer so the o ly thing I've really towed so far is a light duty trailer and my harley, I've had more weight I. THe bed. Maybe 2000lbs in the bed and I never even noticed it was there. The truck didn't care. I wonder about starting in second for lugging. But 1st gear is soo low I'm afraid to pull into a roadway with it

 

Anything that increases power, will increase fuel consumption. My 1990 in my signature, may net 17mpg empty and 12 mpg or less with a loaded gooseneck, it's at the end of all cheap mods and an HX35. The 1974 CrewCab, with a mostly stock VE and an HX35 gets high teens and low 20ish unloaded on the highway cruising at 70mph or under. I'd consider any 1st gen with 3.55s gears and a 35inch tire economical in the 15mpg and range around town.

I'm sure someone will chime in saying they are running 400 hp with a wh1c turbo getting 25 mpgs.

 

So clearly I need a few full tanks of fuel to really be able to be certain about this, but for the last 2 weeks I have been driving/tweaking/driving etc trying to work out optimal pump set up for optimal fuel economy.

I know there will clearly be allot of margin of error in this from things such as
weather conditions
individual fuel station pump settings
driving habits
fueling habits ie how many times you re start fueling after the click, how many different stations or pumps at the same station you use to refuel.
how accurate is the actual needle position on the gauge in relation to the gauge markings and actual fuel quantity

If Im not mistaken the factory tank capacity on these trucks is 33 gallons. I have never ran my truck empty so Ive never put more than 29 gallons in at one time.
the low fuel light, on level ground is set from the factory at 6 gallons

the first half of my last tank of fuel (16.5 gallons ish) was 264 miles which comes out to roughly 16 mpg. (my previous entire tank from installing my mods without adjustments at all calculated to between 15 and 16 mpg so I trust this calculation for now)
at this point is when I started doing my star wheel adjustments a little each day and just watching the odometer for the next quarter tank of needle travel.
just yesterday or the day before I also did one other mod that I havent seen anywhere online and havent really had enough time to test/validate so ill keep it to my self for the time being.

I am right now teetering just above the 6 gallon reserve as when my truck is going up or down hill the light comes on, and once I level out and the baffles stop slosh, the light goes back off.

My od is reading 513 miles currently. IF I assume that the needle at half tank mark is actually accurate then subtracting the 264 miles of the first half of the tank from the current 513 leaving 249 miles traveled post tweaks thus far, and assume Im running on exactly 16.5 remaining gallons in the tank minus the 6 gallon reserve because on level ground driving or sitting the light is not staying on, that would mean I am just on the edge of having burned another 10.5 gallons of fuel. That works out to 23.7 mpg post star wheel adjustments, one other mod, and about 100 miles yesterday with Oliver's advice on my shifting habits. I have a few other tests to run on my "other mod" and at least 2 more FULL tanks of fuel worth of proofing and I will post another update.

I also sometime in the near future plan to add the KSB spacer as well and will do combined testing on it all. Keep in mind, I havent the funds yet to purchase my hauling trailer yet so all of my driving testing is going to be unladen or with what ever I have available to throw in the bed.

 

IIRC the factory 1st gen Cummins tank is 35 gallons and I feel like the low fuel light comes on in most of my rigs with about 8 gallons left.

I would run several full to near empty fuel tanks to get the best MPG by averaging them. This gets rid of variables, like one stations pump shuts off sooner than another.

 

What is that crud on the top of your filter? Seeing that I would want to drop the tank and clean it out. Is it goey or granule? Diesel will grow algae in it. When I bought my truck in 2007 the filter had green stringy pond scum in it. Only time I saw it. Power service sells a couple of cleaners. Bio blends will remove crud from your tank and dump it into your filter.

These tanks are 30 gallons.

"As pressure increases to lessen America’s dependence on fossil fuels, biodiesel will become more widely used as a blended component of diesel fuel. Some states have mandated that all diesel fuels contain varying percentages of biodiesel, and the U.S. government has authorized a B20 fuel (20% biodiesel and 80% diesel fuel) for use in non-strategic applications. Poor cold weather performance, high water content and microbial infestation will require biodiesel fuels to be treated for reliable performance. All Power Service diesel additives are effective in treating biodiesel and biodiesel blends and have directions for their use printed on the back of the containers"

Running straight diesel cruising at 62mph I got 21.7. B20 I got 17.7.

In TN they don't tell you what percentage bio fuel you are filling up with on the pump.

https://powerservice.com/psp_product...&rl_retarget=1