Careful running your timing too advanced it's hard on the glow plugs

Good job on the speed droop adjustment, you can also turn that big nut under the cover to adjust the idle rpms if you run out of adjustment on your external screw.

I have to adjust every pump I run to get it where I like it

 

Thanks for the tip doc .. If that's the case it'll be easy to get er' right on point..

I guess I'll back the rear stud back out a hair under a quarter inch, adjust the nut that rides on that Governor rod out an equal amount, then find it's sweet spot from outside with the cover replaced..

Also it'll give me the excuse to pull that silly plastic valve stopper, and see if getting this min idle correct is maybe all she really needs.

Didn't get the chance to make it to town today, got sidetracked cleaning.. While stuck at home been making that the two birds killing project - nice now the skeeters are too cool to come up and get ya..

I really appreciate borrowing ya'lls big beautiful brains.. Thanks

 

I had to borrow the idle adjustment from macrobb, he has a video of it on youtube, his needed to come down, i just turned it the opposite way to get mine up

You can find the standadyne pdf for the pump and also their service bulletins online, has some info about these adjustments and various issues they had.

I had just got a rebuilt pump off a retired ambulance and after putting it on it idled way too low, sounded kinda funny, had horrible throttle response, I adjusted the speed droop and then the big nut inside and it rocked on like no tomorrow after that.

Also when you adjust the speed droop in it decreases idle and out increases it iirc, whichever way it is, so you kind of need to properly adjust both

I just set the speed droop where I like it, then adjust the idle. Either way should work in small increments so they don't mess with each other too much.

I have no idea if what were doing is "proper" but it's gotten me by with no issues/runaways so far

Also that runaway joke was not funny, I still remember the earth rumbling beneath a 6.9 hitting 4,000+ rpms

 

Hi ..

Okay, I'm back .. I got my IP tuned yesterday and the ol' Iron Horse is now running like a champ ..

So without further adue . . . . .


de . . da . . duhp a da dada . . . . duhp a da dada . . duhp a da duh

A long time ago .. in a galaxy far away .. there was a Leroy who didn't know how to tune his Injection Pump ..

Que Shchh .. Que Shchh .. Que Shchh Luke I am your Fatha'

You must Use the Power of the Force ...

The Force of the Stroke - The Power of the Stroke -- Unleash the IDI

For far too long I had been ignorant of the Power of the Pump .. NO more ! !

Thanks to Everyone who contributed on my path to enlightenment ..

So here's what I've discovered ..

HOW TO TUNE THE ROSA MASTER STANADYNE DB2 INJECTION PUMP

Tuning this pump is not so difficult .. it's just a matter of understanding where the adjustment points are, and what they do .

With the above advice, I broke free of my hesitance to make modifications to the pump - but were necessitated by an improperly setup take-off ..

With the basic concept in hand, I went and tuned up and down - at both the base idle / fueling nut and the governor guide stud ..

I quickly discovered how to get the best results from tuning and set my truck to BEAST MODE.

I'll race anyone - bar none - even my NA vs Turbo ..

Got the ol' gal singin' like a song .. beautiful ..

So this is an instructional on how to tune your IP ..

1 Set your timing .. I set mine advanced .. toward Pass fender Adv, Toward Drv fender Ret

- note I don't use the Glow Plugs, DOC mentions timing advance can harm Glow Plugs if you use them - Caution..

2 Set the BASE IDLE / FUEL METERING SET POINT

This is done by turning the large nut riding the Governor Stud with a 1/2 in wrench ..

Towards the Pass Side -

Faster Base Idle , Increased baseline fuel Metering , Quick Throttle Response ..

Toward the Pass Side -

Lower Base Idle , Less Baseline Fuel , Lag in Pedal Response

SET THIS FIRST

After playing around (had the top cover off at least a dozen times)

Here were my findings to produce the best power and quick clean throttle response ....

Back out the throttle idle set screw way out, so that the minimum available set point is AT the base idle set inside the Pump at the Idle nut ..

When you have it right, you cannot lower the idle any further at the external throttle idle screw ..

This setting - or near it .. Produces extremely powerful , fast throttle response that is smoother than any other position ..

So back the External Idle Screw out - 10 turns for example

Open the Top Cover and locate the Main Idle / Base Fueling Nut, riding the Governor Stud ..

In most cases you want to Increase it , unless your motor wont idle down as low as you'd like, then decrease it ..

Turn it Pass side - maybe 5 turns with a 1/2 wrench ..

Replace topcover -

Take care to push the metering valve small spring tab towards the back, pull the 1 topcover bold up half way to flush, and slide pump from front to back ..

You can feel the resistance if it catches the tab and bolt it down .. don't let it wander too far back or to the side when installing it or your motor will runaway .

Tighten down topcover and double check test for solonoid engagement put key to run and click with connector at the pump ..

Start Engine - Warning - it might rev WAY up .. just depends on how far you moved the base nut out and your pump ..

First time I did it the base idle was 1,600 rpm .. I set it WAY out just to see it's responses ..

Open and turn the Idle nut down a little at a time, until you have reached your desired base Idle ..

I set mine 800, because of stunning throttle response .. but it's also good for oil pressure.. for my setup it was best all around base idle ..

So you want this nut dictating the base idle, not the external throttle idle screw ..

I set my base internally at 800 and added a tiny bump for sound to maybe 810 rpms base idle ..

This results in Incredible Power ..

Be Prepared to take that topcover off 10 times (easy) to get it just right ..

3 DROOP

This is what the Governor Guide Stud controls

It's not so much a base idle adjustment though it has a super small effect on it ..

Do work in tandem with the Base idle Nut for absolute final touches .. BUT

Basicly Get the Base Idle / Fuel right , then set your Droop ..

Droop is how far down your engine will idle in gear, below non load nuetural idle ..

Like if you put it in first and no throttle and light and or light braking RPM's

It will drop up to a Few hundred RPM When you drop it into gear ..

This is where the Gov Guide Stud comes into play ..

Unlock the 1/2 in nut with a wrench, and turn the allen Hex head in to increase droop,

and Turn it out to decrease droop ..

I set Mine to that Crunchy Bone Shaking RPM's something around 600 ..


So now you know .. if your careful you CAN tune the DB2 pump quite easily ! ..

This is apparent Dark Knowledge or something .. because in scouring the whole dang Internet , I could find so precious few resources of it's workings..

And no Concise explanation on how to Tune an Injection Pump ..

NOW you Know ..

NOW I KNOW ..

The World will Never be the Same - See Ya in the Slow lane - I'll Be Passing ! !

 

Okay .. Time for an update ..

So she's running 100% perfect ..

but i had a few more little issues to resolve along the way.

thought i'd post this in case it helps someone at a future time .


///

So what had precipitated my problems were .. bucking upon deceleration at high speeds .. surging .. loss of power .. missfire .. smoking .. stalling after extended high speed operation .. leaking seals at ip ..

I thought this was because of my injection pump , because i'd replaced the lift pump and fuel filter and checked for air intrusion ..

well the problem was my injection pump ..

partially ..

let me explain .

yes the ip was cooked, but there was a 'pre-existing condition' that had led to it's demise .

after installing and tuning a replacement everything seemed great ..

until an extended freeway run ..

at which time it started the same ol symptoms described above .. not quite so extreme but pretty much it bucked , surged , and stalled on the freeway ..

I pulled over and luckily a highway breakdown truck stopped and offered me a jump start because cranking was not getting it fired off .. it did eventually fire ..

so .. i was pretty pissed off at this point . but now I knew it just had to be something to do with the fuel lines or tanks or fsv because everything else had been eliminated ..

I had in mind to replace all the fuel lines so i started looking at all the lines to see what i'd need ..

started from the front and worked my way back ..

behind the engine where the lines go up to the bypassed fuel water separator I took a close look at the loop of line ..

this is what I found ..

one of the soft lines had a minor kink in it !!!!!

not a huge 90 degree bend .. but just about a 45 degree kink here ...


kinky

chop chop


SO - this explained why it'd run great at idle - low - medium speed operation ..

yet - starve the ip when running flat out .

This little half kink - killed my IP !

all that trouble .. all it took was 5 minutes - and 0 dollars to fix ..

////////

all in all though it's okay .. I like my new IP and it's running perfect and dialed in precisely .. so all's well that ends well ..


/////

other issues .. I had my pump turned too advanced at first .. after the highway stall - I run her slow and low rpms for an extended time to 'get there' "less fuel flow" did alright ..

BUT .. slow and low with an advanced IP is a EGT creating monster .. I knew this but had to do what I had to do to keep her running .

well the monster did bite .. after about 20 minutes of likely elevated EGT driving - she started to KNOck !!

I thought i'd burned a piston, but it sounded just like a rod knock .. I just for shore thought i'd blown my motor !

bad bad bad ..

Okay , well I said to myself .. a blown motor when you get there is better than a blown motor on the highway ..

so I just kept driving with the knock .. knock .. knock ..

Until .. It stopped !!

It was not my imagination .. sounded just like a rod out .. very very loud knocking ..

what had happened explained ..

she ate a glow plug !

yes, she's a hungry gal .. chewed her up and spit it right out ..

immediately after digesting that pesky plug she runs perfect again .. no knock ..

so as DOC said advanced timing can be bad for glow plugs and the upper engine generally ..

to say the least .. i backed the timing off a bit ..

and now that the fuel line kink is out and she runs out full speed, no more lugging in the future ..

but still one thing ..

2 of my injector returns started leaking .. and this had never happened before ..

so i speculate that too far advanced timing also causes excess heat build up on the injector body and caused 2 o-rings to fail ..

so .. if you have burning glo plugs .. return line issues .. or cracked head problems try retarding your base timing at the injection pump ..

I replaced the o-rings and greased them up and turned the pump down just a hair more and since all problems are resolved ..

100 percent running perfect .. turning down the pump yielded better hill and low speed operation but very small increase in fuel consumption ..

Getting great MPG though .. and sounds - starts - runs perfect ..

so if you have phantom fuel problems - don't forget to check over every inch of fuel line .. it doesn't take much restriction to cause catastrophe ..

good luck .. keep em' burnin' and turnin' !

 

Glad you got it all figured out!

I wouldn't worry much about the glowplug mishap, several of my pistons have the tips embedded in them and its still running just fine..

 

good to know ..

never much cared for them pesky blow plugs anyways, she can eat them all as far as i'm concerned ..

just freaked me out when it happened the first time .

adds character