what are some engine mods that are preferred and useful to increase power and longevity of the engine? I new to the Diesel world, and. I've heard of ccv mod, zoo dad mod, and oil crossover mod, but I was wondering what else is good?

 

IMO, the single biggest thing you can do is regular maintenance, actually check your oil, coolant, etc. Take a flashlight and look around the engine and under it for leaks, carbon, wet spots etc.

I personally change the fuel filter minimally every 6 months regardless of miles driven, it can tell you a lot of about the health of your fuel/engine. Upgrading the stock air filter and making sure it stays closed, my truck came with the AIS system/filter, a seller on Amazon has it for $60, for that price I change it every Spring. Regular oil changes with quality oil/filters. Fuel & oil crossovers, from what I've read can keep your injectors healthy.
I run the following Gauges: EGT, Fuel pressure, Tran temp, oil temp, they allow me to KNOW what is going on with my truck.

 

I would say AIS intake, 6.0 tranny cooler would be good for your tranny if it's an automatic. I'm not a fan of the CCV mod, I see no benefit to it and if I read anything on a zoodad mod it went in one ear and out the other, I don't know what it is. If you want more power you'll need to get tunes and if you want gobs of power injectors would be in order, then you would want to goose your turbo. Billet wheel for the turbo would help too, I have no experience with them. Some of us have upgraded to 99.5+ intake components but I can report not a huge difference, if any. You could also upgrade your IDM to a 120V (I think) version.

 

CCV skip it...

ZooDad you can do as it is free and quick...

HPX (oil cross over) skip it...

As said above, good maintenance and getting everything to 100% is the very first thing you should do. Don't guess at what the sensors are reading, get an OBDII reader and torque pro or forscan and see what they are seeing.

Change all the fluids, all of them...

Once the truck is 100%, then start looking at things to make it better. Billet compressor wheel, gauges, improvements over stock items. HPX you can accomplish the same thing by installing non-check valve fittings on the HPOP if/when you change out the old HPOP lines.

Start making a list of things you would like to install on your truck, get a cool beverage of your choice and start reading using the search function. No matter how much information we relay to you in this thread, there is so much more out there on the FTE that we will forget or just not get around to.

 

In addition to the above information which is excellent, I would like to add the Hutch and Harpoon mod. The Hutch mod will really pay dividends by removing the majority of the air from your fuel system long before the air ever makes it to the heads/injectors. I would also add a Racor PS120 fuel/water/pre-filter to the system.

 

Most of the common mods here aren't necessarily for more power, but improved reliability. That being said, all of them provide a good foundation for real power adders. Bellowed up-pipes eliminate exhaust leaks; R&R'ing the intake plenums and new IC boots eliminate boost leaks; the H&H mods and regulated return (FRx) eliminate air and improve fuel flow; replacing pretty much every o-ring on top of the engine since they're so old at this point will help everything function better; and finally a good OBD-II monitoring method will let you know the condition of your engine for a good baseline to start with real power adders.

True power will come with more fuel and air in and more exhaust out, plus tunes. Since you have an e99 (like me), you have smaller injectors to start with (130cc vs 140cc) and smaller intake plenums and an ever so slightly smaller turbo (although I don't think they're that restrictive compared to the late 99 setup). If you want modest power increases, you can probably stick with your stock e99 intake stuff and still go to 160 injectors, but if you want 350-400hp or more you're looking at a bigger turbo and much larger injectors, so new plenums, pedestal, up-pipes, etc are in order. You just have to plan ahead.

 

I love the feed back I'm getting here!! This is truly great! Now I'm just asking myself where do I start?

I've done only minor things to my truck so far. I've put 5" exhaust on, PHP Hydra with custom tunes, and wheels and tires.

Nothing crazy yet. I'm still learning a lot of the basics yet! Chances are I'm going to have to further study the things you guys have suggested doing, but it's still a start!

 

bts valve body will wake up the trans a little,and 6.0 trans cooler will help extend its life.A new trans is a big buckzooka blast(credit to tugly) and not the kind of surprise you want

 

The first mods I did when I bought my truck 10 years ago:

Replaced every fluid (oil, trans, transfer case, coolant, both differentials)
Hutch and Harpoon mod
6637 filter (stock airbox is terrible)
Transmission valve body

After that my list developed from the issues I had. I would replace things with as good (OEM) or better components for longer life and better design (and maybe a smidge more power).

There have been a few times where I've done something that was not necessarily needed (tuner chip, MBRP exhaust) but most everything has stemmed from the need to resolve an issue whether it was just an annoyance or a failure that parked the truck.

I have a wish list as I come across good ideas in this forum or surf the Riffraff Diesel website (aka truck ****) but I don't have a set list that I work from. At its current age and miles my truck decides that for me.

 

Unless I missed it you have tunes but I did not see anything about gauges. You really need to monitor EGT's as well as several other parameters when you start playing with increased HP.

 

I'll keep you all posted, I'm ordering gauges soon I think I'll be going with automeeter gauges!