KRB

FireRescue 124 earlier post on upgrades got me thinking...

I know my stock torque converter is my next weak link.

I "think" I have the truck tuned the best possible given the mods in my sig. I can push 30 psi, have a little smoke at startup and at WOT have a light gray/black haze. The only time I can make bad smoke is when I'm rolling and punch it.

Now my pondering. The truck, even with the 16cm2 housing is slow to start off the line. RPMs don't go up, so the TC isn't slipping (anymore than the POS is supposed to ). It just feels like a slug until I build boost and get rolling and then its great . Up until now I was thinking sloppy TC and 6,800 pound brick but maybe it is ALSO some of my fine tuning. The smoke screw is backed out as far as it can be without taking it out. The starwheel is what I'm thinking I need to adjust? I can't remember where it is but I do know I've messed with it and thought it was adjusted according to the sticky.

So, what should I be looking at adjusting to help at the bottom, assuming my TC is OK (just acting normal)? Or is this probably as good as it gets until I can swap converters? The only other 1st gen driving experience I have to compare to is my dad's identical truck except for his being a stick...

Ramrod90

The star wheel takes the pressure off the AFC spring so you get more fuel at low boost. The smoke screw (under the tiny cap on the very top) pushes the pin down so you get more fuel at ZERO boost, if you bottom both of those out, you should see a substantial boost in the bottom end.

Ramrod90

You backed out the smoke screw?? You need to turn it IN as far as it will go. Tighten the nut not loosen it. What that does is limit the upward travel of the pin so it can't defuel as much at idle. screw that in (righty tighty) and turn your star wheel clockwise till it bottoms out.

apwatson50

And if you don't want to blacken a whole intersection every time you take off from a stop light.....do the opposite

big stinky

Its called turbo lag... If you want a quick takeoff, power-brake to get the boost up. A convertor may or may not help because of having less rpms on the stall. (but being more efficient may make the launch feel better)

Any of the newer diesel autos still take a second to get their power.

KRB

I had those adjusted to eliminate excessive smoke (I know, call me old) but I guess I may have to live with a little black smoke to avoid the lag ...

I've got several things I need to fix so I'll start playing around with it some more soon. Especially now that the weather is starting to give a little.

1985cucv

take out the nylon washer and it will give you more fuel at low rpms because th pin will be down farther already

apwatson50

No it won't, but it does allow the pin to go further down into the bore under high manifold pressures.

sshort

adjust your smoke screw 1/4 to 1/2 turn at a time until you like it also I like to run the star wheel 1 turn from the bottom it works for me

KRB

I modified the fuel shut off plunger and installed that today. We'll see how long this one lasts...

The smoke screw was all the way down, only enough threads showing to fasten the lock nut with, I just described it wrong earlier .

The star wheel was about 2.5 turns from the bottom. I'll put it down 1 turn as suggested and see what happens.

Looking at the track my fuel pin makes, it's traveling too high on the fuel cone - or rather my Ol' Smokey is traveling too far down by a few mm's. When all the way down, the track shows that the pin actually is riding back in at the top of the cut, if you follow what I'm saying. The top (where it is deepest), is concaved to where it gets back to the size of the shaft.

I had shaved my nylon washer a while back, maybe I went to far huh?

I need to haul a few loads of hay this weekend so I'll have an idea of what effect the starwheel adjustment makes

KRB

Put everything back together. Found a new oil pan plug washer the same diameter but a little thicker so I used that on the fuel cone.

Made several runs pulling about 10K and everything seemed to do OK. After a little bit I'll pull the top again and see how its tracking now.

Jim Lane

I used different thickness of o-rings in place of the nylon washer to get the desired depth that I wanted.

Will your cattle or horses eat smoked blackened hay?

Dave F

My experience with the star wheel has been that it controls how soon the fuel pin starts to drop, adding more fuel. The spring resists boost pressure on the diaphragm. Turing the wheel down puts less spring against the bottom of the diaphragm letting the fuel pin move down easier I set mine so the fuel pin starts to come in at about 10# boost.

KRB

Ha Ha, after two drought years they'll eat about anything

I still only have a light gray haze. Only get the puffs of black when I get on it, no plumes at all.

O-rings are a good idea. The oil pan washer is fiber so I was concerned about it breaking down over time. I may switch to o's when I pop the top later to see how its tracking.