I just picked up a 97 Ram 3500 12 Valve 4x4. Its got an ATS torque converter and a valve body job in the trans. The motor came with 370 injectors a #5 fuel plate, the pump moved forward and turned up, and a four inch exhaust turbo back. Its got a 3k gsk in the truck box that needs to be installed also. I like the power of it but the reason I bought a diesel is for the fuel mileage and Ive heard these trucks can get almost 20 mpg. How bad are the mods hurting my mileage do you think? Im getting about 14 right now. Also, when it sits at idle is smokes like crazy, I want it to smoke when I get on the gas but in the mornings it hazes up my enitre front yard. I want as much power as I can without sacrificng fuel mileage and I want it to run as clean as possible. Im sure Im ganna be asking a ton of newbie questions in the next few weeks so bear with me. Thanks for the help, Justin
Congrads on the truckwaytogo. Im not an expert, but you should be getting better mileage than 14, it sounds like your using to much fuel. You could probably back it off some and get better mileage with still good power. Maybe smaller injectors, im not sure. You came to the right place though, there are guys in here that will lead you in the right direction.
You should be getting better mileage average. Around town that isn't that far off, I get 15-16 in town only with my truck. Does the truck have guages? Meaning a pyro, boost, and trans temp? These are all VERY important with that much power. The pump can't be slid forward, it's the plate that is. I am not sure how aggressive a number 5 plate is but if it's slid forward too, that could poor a lot of fuel. I think that if the pump is turned up it's the timing that could have been altered. This is a good thing from what I know, this makes power, improves mileage, and helps cool EGT's. I know you can slide the stock plate forward, so I don't know why you couldn't slide an aftermarket one forward for more fuel too. I have a feeling that your aftermarket plate that is slid forward is pooring the fuel to the motor, since you say it smokes a lot. That would scare me if there are no guages in the truck, fuel equals lots of heat. The 370's should be fine, that is a really popular injector on the 12v. I'd try backing the fuel out, sliding the plate back where it's supposed to be (someone else with experience with that will have to tell you how to tell that it's slid forward along with how to move it back) and see if that helps limit the smoke and drive mileage up. 370's and a number 5 is a LOT of fuel IMHO, enough to outfuel the stock turbo. If the PO did actually slide the plate forward on top of all that, thats just way too much IMHO, but I'm no 12v expert...I'm a 24v guy.waytogo
The truck does have pyro and boost guages. I run about 600 degrees on the highway going 65mph and it gets up to about 1200 when I get on it hard. Boost never gets above 35psi. I picked up some round bails the other day and averaged 12 mpg only hauling around 6000 pounds doing 65mph. 14 around town and 12 hauling on the highway is just about what I was getting with my gasser:doah: How do I decide where to reset my fuel plate and pump settings? Im worried about turning the pump down too low, especially considering the bigger injecters and modified fuel plate. Does anybody know of a good source of all this basic info??
I believe that the plate should be in the middle of the movement range normally. More forward will give you more power, more reward will reduce power. The plate regulates the amount of fuel the truck is getting. With the plate slid back some the tranny will probably like you more also. I am not a 12v expert but the truck sounds beefy, but with as much fuel as it sounds like it is supplying it would probably get some poor mileage. Back off the plate and see how it is. The injection pump timing takes a special tool to adjust. If the truck has more then enough power with the plate slid back you might go down to a smaller plate. The #5 plate is pretty aggressive. From what I understand the smaller then number of the plate the more aggressive it is. #10 plates seem to be very popular for all around power. Harley EDIT P.S. My 24v stock gets about 15-17mpg intown, and 17-19 on the highway. This is with winter fuel. Summer fuel I can get up to 21 on the highway. A buddy of mine has a 12v with a #0 plate slid forward and gets better mileage then 14mpg.
Thats what I was thinking, I think the truck is way overfueling. General, does it smoke like a freight train everytime you take off?
It most definatly does, it POORS a cloud of black smoke anytime I get over half throttle. I want it to smoke at full throttle, but when Im driving stop and go in the city I feel really sorry for the people behind me. I think Im going to back the fuel plate off this weekend and install the 3GSK set the truck came with. Any performance I lose by adjusting the plate Ill hopefully gain back with the GSK set. Then hopefully it wont smoke as bad and It will still have good power when I want it. Any body have any tips or tricks for installing the 3GSK set?
Moving the plate back should help a good amount assuming that it is slid most or all the way forward. The 3k spring kit helps with upper RPM power I believe and also let the motor rev to a higher RPM. Slide the plate back to about the middle and try that out. A little movement of the plate can go a long way I am told so move it to the middle and see how it is. Then you can move it little by little forward or back to dial the truck in to where you want it. My buddies 98 12v with a #0 plate, 3k springs, straight pipe, and BHAF only smokes bad when you get on the gas really hard. Harley
Good plan, you might not lose any power to boot. Completely fogging the motor with diesel that has a small turbo (an HX35 isn't bad at all, but with your fuel setup it's tiny) isn't good for it and really doesn't help build power. Adding sufficient cool boost to the fuel is what makes power. High boost doesn't neccessarely mean lots of power either, it's COOL boost.waytogo
BD Super B-Single Turbo Charger You can adjust the plate back and forth all you like but it is very tricky to get the best of both worlds with that 5 plate and big injectors, BD sets up their 300HP pumps on the test bench and is truly the only way to get the pump set up for optimal performance. You should look at doing the delivery valves with those injectors and getting the timing reset may help out with that haze, we usual recommend advancing the timing 1 degree from stock. Check out my signature, I have pretty much the same set up and highly recommend looking at the Super Single Turbo; the Super-B will not do much for that morning haze but will convert your black smoke into HP. Before my Super-B with 37's I dyno at 280HP and ran 1500degrees on the Pyro, now I dyno at 325HP and max EGT is 1200 degrees. RJF is completely correct when he talks about cool boost, with boost bigger is not always better, its all about efficiency! Read about the extended fin tip design we use with the Super B's. Oh did I mention that the single can be upgraded to twins at anytime as well??? Next upgrade is the BD Cool-It intercooler which BD hopes to release this summer, we offer them for the 03-06's and wow what a difference, cooler boost is better! Here is 2 links, one to our Super-B Turbo and another which is a testimonial from a customer on our forum who documented the whole Super-B install. Super-B http://www.bd-power.com/ram/product.php?pn=Super Turbo Kit&tt=ram Forum Testimonial http://bd-power.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3425
I had 370's on my old truck. There's your main reason for the fuel economy issue. There's cleaner burning injectors out there that still give nice power, like factory 215hp, Diesel Dynamics stage 1-3, and Furmula1 EDM's. I got 17mpg on the highway with mine after I advanced the timing. So that's one more thing for you to get done before you try swapping out injectors. And, here's a little extra on the GSK install: http://www.flex.net/~triplem/new/govspring.htm
If it hasnt been said, check the AFC housing and star wheel settings. Slide the AFC housing back to the middle of its travel, along with the plate, spin the AFC away from the motor a bit, bump the timing up and your MPG will come back. Make sure your valves are adjusted as well.
What exactly is the AFC housing? And which way do I turn the star wheel inorder to turn down the fuel?
The AFC housing is held on by 4 bolts on the back/top of the injection pump. Inside it contains a device which limits fuel until a certain level of boost is reached. There is a hex plug on top of the AFC, remove it and you will see the star wheel inside. Turn it away from the motor to decrease pre-boost fueling, towards the motor for more fueling before boost. Start off with 15 or 20 clicks towards you, if its an absolute dog, go back 10 clicks towards the motor. Also, make sure the AFC is in the middle of the travel it has.
