chickenfarmer

By the way, here was tonight's project. The old sill plates were all nasty and corroded and what not, so I used some scrap diamond plate I had around and made some new ones! They turned out better than I expected to tell the truth.

DOZENVALVE

Mine is pretty much dead to me now that the head gasket is going. And those sill plates and can lights both turned out nice. I need to do both those things to my
Truck.

chickenfarmer

Well I've been driving it for two weeks now and I absolutely loved the throttle response I was getting. This thing is fast as nuts! Haha until I found that I got 10 mpg on the first half tank! I can not afford that! So I made sure my fuel pin was at stock setting and backed way up on the smoke screw and star wheel. I am now only getting 13 mpg. Does anyone know where I can find the stock settings for the pump? I'd really like better milage than that, and yes I know I gotta keep my foot out if it. Thanks!

Rick 12v CTD

I was getting 20+mpg driving a 400+hp motor in a bigger wind break, heavier truck than any stock first gen out there. Driving habits play a massive role. In the winter, driving only short distances absolutely kills fuel mileage. Winter fuel is often good for a couple mpg loss as well.

I'm not sure which trans you have (auto or stick) but the auto seems to do kind of poorly as well in the winter.

What I'm getting at is it may well not be the pump tuning. It may be any combination of your right foot, winter fuel, colder outside temps, shorter drives, maybe even low popping injectors. etc etc.

chickenfarmer

Thanks Rick, that's good info to know, it is an auto and I drive less than a mile to work and back everyday, and of course it's like 15 degrees over here! I do think my pump can be turned down some still though

j_martin

Diesels are funny. As long as you're not making a huge amount of smoke, pump setting doesn't seem to affect the mileage much given the same conditions. Some of the best mileage trucks I know of are beasts when it comes to pulling a load. Driven gently, they sip fuel.

As has been mentioned, there are a lot of other factors that can waste fuel. Engine temp control for instance, and the often mentioned lead foot.

chickenfarmer

What do you mean by temp control?

thrashingcows

I'd be interested in the bulb numbers....the truck is looking better and better BTW.

j_martin

Water temperature. A cold engine will waste a lot of fuel.

j_martin

Brighter bulbs are hotter, and they can cause plastic parts to deteriorate rapidly. I'd stick with the stock spec, or go LED.

mknittle

I think the problem is the right foot I have the same problem
more power to a point can produce better mileage if driven correctly. but where is the fun in that?.
If you do change any pump settings only do one at a time so you can easily go back if the result isn't what you expected.

jcruse64

KRB, I'm looking for a set of lights for the '73 crew I just bought. I'm in Paducah; if you go after them, I'm interested in a set.

Joe

KRB

I've been kicking myself for years over a '73 crew I let go by. I'll see how much they want for the lights, maybe the holiday break before I can get there again though.

jcruse64

That would be great! You can PM me or email to jcruse64@yahoo.com.

I found this '73 crew on Prescott, AZ Craigslist this summer. There's a story in itself just getting it here.

Sorry for the thread-jack, Chickenfarmer!! Love the truck!

Rick 12v CTD

the short drive is your biggest problem. When I lived right in town years ago I was only getting 10mpg as well (truck dynoed at 248hp back then). As soon as I hit the hwy on a long trip I got 18mpg in the dead of winter running winter fuel. As soon as I moved a little out of town where the drive was farther I was getting closer to 14-16 average just because the drive was longer than short little 1-4mile trips. With a diesel like what we have, a motor running when it's not at operating temp is really inefficient. Not only that but things like diff oil is really cold and wheel bearing grease is SUPER thick because it's cold and those things increase drag until they warm up.

For example, my truck normally cruises at about 3-5psi boost. If I just hop in it and drive when the truck is cold and it's cold outside, it takes 10+psi to cruise the same speed until everything warms up (which usually takes 10-15 minutes of hwy driving to do). It's surprising how much harder the motor has to work when everything is really cold. And how inefficient it is when it's cold too. These motors love their heat, it helps the diesel burn more efficiently. That's why I run a 195F thermostat.