I recently bought my first diesel, a 97' 12v. My buddy has been a diesel buff for a while and was giving me some tips that him and his buddies used to do to get more black smoke. We ended up taking the alan bolt off the top of the fuel pump and turning the star wheel all the way to the back only to find out that it was the wrong way. Now I have a problem. My turbo is spooling up like it should be and my motor is running perfect except now my turbo isnt producing any power. Ive got stacks through the bed and can definatley hear the turbo so I know its working, but I dont have a boost guage yet. Before, I would hit about 2,000 rpm's and it would take off like a rabbit. Now it is only the motor pulling. Any ideas are more than appreciated.

 

Did you forget to hook back up the boost reference tube to the pump? That will cause exactly what you are talking about.

BTW, why do something to "get more black smoke"? Now, getting more power I understand, but there is such a thing as too much....

 

Excuse my ignorance as I am still kinda new at this. What do you mean by the boost referance tube?

I have never seen a 12v that didnt blow black smoke like this one. We have to get it to black smoke and just cant. It will smoke at an idle when I blip the throttle but not when I stomp on it in gear.

 

If your buddy just move the star wheel he should not have unhooked it, but if he moved the housing or fuel plate he would have.

The boost reference tube connect to the injection pump so that it "sees" boost and will raise fuel accordingly. The star wheel you are turning on adjust the amount of fuel before the pump sees boost. By cranking it out toward the front of the truck you will allow more fuel before boost begins to rise....which causes more smoke. Mine runs from the head to the pump. It will connec to the pump on the rear side of the AFC housing(where you took out the plug to access the star wheel). My 12V is from a Ford and I am not sure if the dodge is the same, but I would think it is.

 

I agree with turbos10. You have a boost leak somewhere....

 

We have a Cummins Mid-South LLC out here in Little Rock. I am going down there today at lunch to see what they have to say. I will log back on tonight and let you guys know what they say. I appreciate all the input too.