Well, it's not often 60+ degrees in upstate NY on November 3rd, so I figured it must be a sign to mess around with the truck! First thing I noticed was what looked like some past KDP damage. Pics are pending approval, so I'll add them in here as they show up. KDP was in place, recessed about 1/8''. Made a tab and put it behind the bolt and tightened her down w/some lock-tight. Phew, I feel better just saying it's done, hehe. I had to trim a bit of the case to get the tab to fit, but no big deal otherwise. I marked the cam and pump gear with a sharpie 'cause I was too lazy to rotate the engine all the way around to TDC Popped the timing gear off and went about tabbing the KDP. Once I cleaned up from the KDP, I went to put the timing gear back...uh oh, when I slid the gear on, the sharpie marks were off by a tooth! Had no idea how it happened, but they were aligned the way I had planned anyway, so I re-assembled the timing gear, front case and balancer, leaving the fan/hub serp belt and shroud off. Good thing I did, 'cause she wouldn't start Although it seems intuitive that you would rotate the gear in the same direction you rotate the pump to advance, this is not the case. So I dis-assembled and scratched my head for a while, but as I watched the timing marks interact while rocking the crank back and forth, it made sense. Rotating the pump HOUSING toward the head has the same effect as rotating the pump GEAR/SHAFT away from the head. So, I dug up TDC, pulled the gear (which was a tooth retarded) and lined it up with the 'C' instead of the 'E' stamped on the gear. The 'E', as I understand it, it the factory setting for a VE-pumped 5.9. Don't know what the 'C' stands for, but it happens to be one tooth advanced from the 'E', so there it is. Double checked everything and buttoned her up to the dampener. Next, I loosened the VE up and pulled it out from under the head---yeah, it was that advanced. I pulled it all the way back in the slots as far as it would go and clamped it down. Jumped in, hit the key and she fired right up nice and smooth, too. Prelim test drive says I've lost about 50% of my smoke . It pulls harder--much harder, especially above 2000. I assume fuel is now being burned in the engine rather than making a death cloud. Cruise EGT's are down 75-100 degrees. I went from 550-575@ 60 in 5th on flat ground to about 475, roughly. These are post-turbo #'s, obviously. Sub-1800 rpm temps still rise quickly under load, but that's to be expected. Once over about 1900 though, temps stay quite a bit cooler. My short, steep test hill couldn't get me over 700 in 4th (not WOT). The hill is 12%+ and about 1/2 mile. I hit the bottom @60 in 4th and rolled on to 70 at the midpoint of the hill, then sustained 70 to the top. Usually, that would get me to 800+, for reference. The engine doesn't rattle a whole lot louder, so by pulling the pump back, I think I minimized the net change from where I started, but now I've got more timing to work with when I get POD's. I hate seeing what I like on the gauges 'cause it gives me that ''too good to be true'' feeling. I'm afraid to really get into it for fear of what may happen to my poor head gasket. Now that I've been though it once, I could re-set back to factory in an hour or so. I'll give it a week and see how my head gasket likes it. So far I'm all , but I really can't believe how much smoke I lost. Guess I'm walking the fine line between efficiant combustion and carnage now
Pics are still pending approval. When they come up, let me know if the case looks like normal crappy casting or if there've been some repairs in the past. Thanks!
Greg

 

Some pics:


tabbed...



old damage or poor casting?




intake horn bolts and puller

 

I'm not sure about that casting from the pictures I would say it was just the casting.

For the timing advance, i'd be interested in actually measuring it to see your degrees of advance. Does it rattle like the old chevys or the old fords do?

 

''For the timing advance, i'd be interested in actually measuring it to see your degrees of advance. Does it rattle like the old chevys or the old fords do?''

If the weather holds, I'm going to put the dial indicator to it this weekend. No, it does not even come close to a chevy rattle. It is louder when listening closely on the injector side of the engine, but almost not-noticable with the hood closed. I think with the pump pulled all the way back timing is still within reason.

 

Thanks for the report, Greg. I gotta go in there and do that to mine.

 

Glad to be of service, Dave. I'm gonna mash the go pedal a bit tomorrow--if I need studs, better get it over with before the weather turns, but I think I'll be fine--I drive it like a wuss for the most part

 

So do you all think that would be too much timing if your using the truck hard, as in towing trailers in the mountains?

 

I think you could get away with more timing in the altitude, but I'll let the experts weigh in on that one. I'm going to have my injectors pop tested/checked/cleaned by the local diesel shop, as I have a few that I think are lazy. Because of this, it's hard to hear exactly what the effects of timing changes are. Hope to do the cleaning soon and will provide an update, but for now I'm just gonna run it and get a feel for how the truck behaves. My gut says it's close to the edge with present fueling--I had a LOT of smoke before, mostly due to the AFC grind. Now, under the same throttle/load conditions, I'm almost perfectly clean! If all that fuel is getting burnt, cylinder pressure has to be way up...doesn't it?

 

Lots of timing is bad news in a working truck. Guys like Greg and I can get away with doing stuff that would kill a tow rig. Our engines never work hard, just a 15-20 second rip now and then.

On a tow rig you need to keep timing conservative and control EGT with better airflow.

Greg, I am going to stud mine before I jump the timing a tooth. With water/meth I am just begging for trouble as it is.

 

Yeah, I'm thinking of studs over the winter...seems like good insurance for future mods.

 

Dave, I wonder if thats why my truck runs hotter now? The first two years I owned my truck I towed my boat and trailer (4100lbs) over some desert passes in 115 degree weather with air on and the coolant never got past half way. My buddies would stare at my guage as we are going 70 with the cruise control on making 12-13lbs of boost going up some of the passes with a look of amazement, and I was feeling rather smug

That was when everything was stock. 1.12 timing, 15lbs max boost and 18cm turbo housing.

Now making the same run in the same type of weather, my truck runs substantially hotter with the mods in my signature. Same amount of boost is being produced, about 12-13lbs to pull the same grades as before. There's no difference when I'm not towing, but when I have a load, the coolant runs 1 full segment hotter on the guage when I go uphill with the same load.

I'm wondering if advanced timing and a more aggressive fuel setting is playing a part in the increased temps I'm seeing?

brad

 

Small update: I can finally hear my KSB. Fired up cold this morning and took off like usual. Sounded about like a 24v. Then, a few miles down the road (about 4 minutes) it just went away. Nice and smooth with no noticeable rattle in cab. I'm happy with it.