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Mine failed at 120K with stock injectors and tuning, it never ran hot, never towed heavy, always had clean fluid in it, and it shifted great, then it started slipping one day all of a sudden, I still drove it that way for a few months while I got all of the parts together to do a 6 speed swap.
Yeah, I know it can be a crapshoot. I'm also really not sure what was done to the truck before I bought it at about 165k miles, and I haven't put any effort into trying to figure out if this is the original transmission or not. In any case, I got the truck for a fair price and I can afford to replace the transmission whenever I need to, I just can't see replacing it proactively at this point.
Yeah, I know it can be a crapshoot. I'm also really not sure what was done to the truck before I bought it at about 165k miles, and I haven't put any effort into trying to figure out if this is the original transmission or not. In any case, I got the truck for a fair price and I can afford to replace the transmission whenever I need to, I just can't see replacing it proactively at this point.
As for the tuning issue, I am hopeful Titan Unlock will work well.
That's a good question. In terms of cylinder pressure, my motor does have the forged rods so I'm less concerned than I would be otherwise. And I'm sure that timing issues would be apparent in the EGTs. It would be nice to have some kind of metric to know what tuners are more aggressive than others, beyond seat of the pants.
I had some small boost leaks due to some wrongly sized plenum boot clamps and the wastegate solenoid tubing. I replaced the clamps and deleted the solenoid altogether:
Using some vice grips, I was able to work the nipple out of the spyder
I tapped the remaining hole and plugged it with small cap-head bolt and a little thread sealant
I used a 470 ohm 1/2 watt resistor in the solenoid plug to prevent any lights
Now, doing boost testing I'm not finding any obvious leaks. I haven't been able to find a good answer about what the leakdown *should* be, but I definitely don't have anything significant.
I wanted to get that resolved in order to give all of the tunes an honest shakedown. At first pass, the Titan tunes all seem to drive well. They're definitely a little smokier than the 1023 tunes (initially, under hard acceleration) but I really think that might have more to do with their throttle sensitivity than anything else.
A few posts back, I touched on the Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor. From what I've learned, this is just a basic potentiometer that's supposed to return a voltage from about 0.5 (idle) to 4.5 (WOT) based on the throttle position. Some tuners approach throttle position linearly (like 1023) and others (like PHP) are giving you WOT at a lesser pedal position. From research, I know that there is a variability from sensor to sensor in what voltage is actually delivered at a given pedal position. For example, if the sensor in my truck only delivers 4v at WOT and the tune is looking for 4.5v before delivering WOT, then you'd essentially never get WOT from that particular tune.
All in all, I'm getting the kinks worked out and right now I'm just trying to put some miles on a few of these tunes to see what kind of mileage I'm getting. When I had my stock injectors and turbo, I seemed to get my best mileage on the PHP light tow tune and some of my worst mileage on the 1023 tunes that I had. I was never sure why, and I'm not sure if that's still the case, but I'll continue to report back what I'm finding.
The truck is running really strong right now though. The power comes on immediately after idle and it pulls hard all of the way through. It is a VERY noticeable increase and I'm incredibly happy so far with the KC 300x 63/68 turbo. I think it's a perfect match for real world driving with my setup. I was told by KC that I should avoid any sustained boost at 40+ psi and unless I was towing 20k pounds up the side of a mountain, I can't imagine how I could actually get it into that danger zone. At the same time, the boost comes on early and strong.
Charlie at KC is right about the 40 PSI mark. That is generally considered the maximum boost point for an OEM motor. No spring upgrades or anything under the valve covers.
I had 1023 tunes back when Dusty was writing them and they were way too responsive for my tastes. I spoke to him and he made throttle response much more linear, as you described. I rode those tunes with a MST for quite a while and was happy, but in the end I was not impressed by the MST for long term use and long distance towing heavy.
Vaughn came on to 1023 a while back and had some learning curves, but he seems to be doing a good job now.
I ended up removing the Gear Head and 1023 tunes when I swapped in a T4 364.5/74/.91 SXE because they were both very lethargic. Not throttle response, but overall performance when towing heavy.
I gave the PHP tunes a shot since I already paid for them and really like the 65 HP. I have a ZF6, so the tune suffix makes no difference to me.
I tried the 80 HP, but there was no noticeable difference. I suspect now that I have a 363/68/.91 SXE I may give the Gear Head and 1023 another shot. I have lifetime free updates from Gear Head as I bought the tunes from them when that was still offered as part of the purchase. Although, Lars at Gear Head was making things difficult a while back.
I am a big fan of "if it isn't broke, don't fix it".
My HPOP and OEM injectors are original and have 260,000 hard and heavy towing miles. Anyone can see that when looking at my IPR DC and ICP. Although, they still get the job done quite well and just towed our 5th wheel from GA to ID reaching 9,000 feet of elevation at the highest point.
They didn't even blink... I really think I will go with AD injectors again because if 260,000 mile injectors can perform like this, I would be more than happy with fresh AD's. We will see though...
Tuning makes all the difference as it tells all of our fancy and expensive hard parts what to do.
I am pleased to see you are working your way through this methodically and carefully. I am confident you will get it sorted out soon.
Charlie at KC is right about the 40 PSI mark. That is generally considered the maximum boost point for an OEM motor. No spring upgrades or anything under the valve covers.
That was my understanding as well (on the motor side), but I wasn't sure if they'd warn me away from that mark for the turbo's sake. As it stands, it looks like even with the wastegate solenoid deleted, I won't have any problems with boosting past those levels.
On any unrelated note:
Your mention of the HPOP condition reminded me of one of the comments from when I was talking to 1023 about the performance of the tunes. He mentioned something about a worn HPOP somehow causing excessive black smoke. I should have questioned him further, but my attention was elsewhere as I do not have what I would call "excessive" black smoke.
In thinking after the fact, I've been trying to understand how a worn HPOP could be causing black smoke. With black smoke being a result of injecting more fuel than can be efficiently burned, and a weak HPOP usually results in not injecting enough fuel, right? I've been wondering if he misspoke or if I'm just missing something.
I can tell you without a doubt my HPOP is tired and worn. I can also tell you without a doubt I have virtually no smoke. Occassionally I'll see a haze and once there was a 1 - 1.5 second puff of smoke because I was in 3rd at 1500 RPM entering an uphill on ramp towing heavy at ~5,500 feet of elevation.
Perhaps he misspoke or was thinking of another symptom as I don't feel my truck is a unicorn by any means. My truck was a working truck before I owned it and was well maintained.
I would be saving for a transmission instead of spending it on different tuning, your transmission is on borrowed time with what you have now.
I disagree and think you had an unusual experience. Driven conservatively with good tuning, those mods will not change transmission lifespan. I do recommend monitoring transmission temp as that is the best way to avoid disaster.
Originally Posted by cbattles
That was my understanding as well (on the motor side), but I wasn't sure if they'd warn me away from that mark for the turbo's sake. As it stands, it looks like even with the wastegate solenoid deleted, I won't have any problems with boosting past those levels.
On any unrelated note:
Your mention of the HPOP condition reminded me of one of the comments from when I was talking to 1023 about the performance of the tunes. He mentioned something about a worn HPOP somehow causing excessive black smoke. I should have questioned him further, but my attention was elsewhere as I do not have what I would call "excessive" black smoke.
In thinking after the fact, I've been trying to understand how a worn HPOP could be causing black smoke. With black smoke being a result of injecting more fuel than can be efficiently burned, and a weak HPOP usually results in not injecting enough fuel, right? I've been wondering if he misspoke or if I'm just missing something.
Originally Posted by cbattles
We're on the same page. By no means am I any sort of expert, but I can't find any information supporting that idea.
A ‘tired’ HPOP would not maintain ICP and low ICP = poor atomization and black smoke.
A high DC like Sous is seeing could just be the tuning asking for more ICP than the pump can make or worn injectors/HPOP/IPR.
Lack of IPC causing excessive PW?
Just a guess from a non-tuner.
On another note, glad you’re getting it sorted out. Please consider sharing your review in the Turbo Matrix once you get some miles on the setup. This was designed to try and help folks pick the right combo on the first try.
I took these pictures climbing a long 7% grade up to 7,500 feet towing the 5th wheel in 6th gear with cruise control on. There was no smoke at all to be seen in the rear view mirror or passenger side mirror.
ICP - 2056 PSI
MFDES - 90 (100% throttle, WOT)
IPR DC - 93.75% (65% is maximum effort)
FUEL PW - 4.36 (Cleatus12r has told us this is expected and normal at 2000 RPM)
RPM - 1912
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