Hey Dave did you notice any temp. Change with the propane? I have a '90 F250 7.3 with a side winder turbo and last may when towing my fathers 28' Dutchman travel trailer (don't know the weight but it is heavy) I could only use about 1/2 throttle climbing hills or I would over heat. The previous owner put in a new radiator 2 years ago so I don't think that is the problem.
So I guess my question is can I pull the mountains with propane injection with out overheating?

 

76and92ford, I found this web site reading earlier threads, stans-headers.com. Google it and if you cant find it let me know. I dont know what kind of time you have on your hands, but if your looking for some to kill, try reading some earlier threads, lots of info and endless opinions.

 

Let me tell you my experience with propane. If your IP is not turned up, then yes propane will make a big difference (it did on my truck). If you have turned the IP up even alittle, the additional power the propane gives will be reduced.

A NA engine can only handle so much fuel before all you get is a trail of smoke. The propane adds power because your adding fuel. After I turned up my pump, it did not seem to make as much of a difference, but with much more smoke.

My reccomendation is if you wanna keep stock, get propane, if you anticipate playing with it, then go ahead and save up for a turbo.

Bowedup

 

helifixer,
I tow a lot of stuff.
I also have the turbo and the pump tweaked to the max.
I also have a pyrometer.

With propane the biggest thing I see is more boost at lower RPM's.
As for the heat, I have to downshift to keep the heat under control more than I have to downshift from lack of power.
I can run my EGT's way to hot before I ever see the temp gauge start to move up.

When I am into it hard the exhaust temp will run up to 1200 degrees fairly fast, then I start backing out of the throttle to hold it there.
Next thing is the oil temp starts up for the max.
Then the water temp starts climbing.

Does the same thing propane or not.

 

Well gentlemen, when Im wrong Ill be the first to ammit it, Dave is right! I did a little more research on propane injection and from all the info I have gathered, if you dont have a turbo dont bother with the propane! Again I want to thank everyone for their imput! As for the headers...I never claimed they would produce the hp & tourqe of turbo idi, I said "Stan" of Stans headers claimed they would??

 

I had rigged and used a home made propane on my 89 7.3 . I liked the added power and used way less diesel fuel. But with the cost of propane I didn't see any savings back then. Today with diesel so high it may have turned the other way. The system I used was salvaged from a 35,000 btu kero bullit heater. There is a vane pump on the back of the fan motor that creates positive pressure and this in turn sucks up the fuel. So all you need is the nozzel. The pane was hooked up with a regulator to the nozzel. If you want water injection just add the water supply. You will get the perfect mist. For the last 2 years I have been driving a 94 idi turbo so I seem to have all the power I need with no pane. The system is still on my old 89 which I still have. I posted pics on another diesel site some time ago. I recall that if I was going 50mph and you turned on the pane the truck speed would keep climing to about 70 mph. So to maintain 50mph you would have to back off the throttle. So you would use less diesel. It felt like I was running on 70% diesel 30% pane. I recall I could get an extra 100 miles out of a tank of fuel no problem but when you figure the cost of propane it is about a wash even. I will try to see if I can find the pics but I think thay are on my old computer. japar

 

bcford6.9,
I did not mean to imply that you thought that, but I have heard that before from some other people here.

I also was intending to pointing out that Stan, who is selling a product, probably did not say that either, but it was probably implied.

I have no doubt that headers will produce more power than a stock exhaust manifold and exhaust system will, but I would also bet that the headers will only produce about 10 percent of the increase that a turbo can with a little tweaking.

The bad thing about headers is this. If they are not enough for you, when you go turbo the headers have to come off and the stock manifolds have to go back on. So now you are left with an expensive door stop that takes up to much room.

 

jus curious y do u need to put headers back on?

 

How did you have you propane activate? Was it a simple toggle switch that you kicked on when in high gear on the highway or did you have some sort of microswitch off of the injector pump arm? Also what psi were you running at?

I am thinking of turning the pressure on mine way down, maybe 1-2psi, and trying it on a long interstate trip and see what happens. Anyone forsee a problem with this?

Right now around here diesel is $2.50/gal and propane is $2.00/gal.
If I could get a similar mileage increase to what the MSD system adds, I would be tickled to death!!! Yall should check out that article by the way, it is at www.dieselpowermag.com.

Bowedup

 

I had a manual lever that was routed to the side of my seat. I would reach down with my left hand and operate it manual. This would also regulate the flow or pressure of the propane . When turned on the pressure would pick up the water injection. I would try to use the lowest possible pressure to get a fine mist. Using it at a low rpm is a no no I would get a pinging like on a gasser. Low bucks but it worked fine for me. japar

 

Bassproguy,
The stock manifolds are required so you can install the turbo. That is what all the exhaust side plumbing of the turbo kit is made to fit.

Bowedup2003,
I had a limit switch that turned the propane off when the throttle was less than 1/4 open. I was running about 1.5 PSI into the the system when it was activated through a 1/4" line.
The next time I am going to solder fill the hole through my brass fitting where the rubber hose connects. Then I am going to start with a small hole like 1/16" drilled through the solder which will act like an orifice into the copper tube that has all the 1/16" holes drilled in it to disburse the propane.

This should let me run a slightly higher line pressure that will be easier to set and maintain. If 1/16" turns out to small I can always drill the orifice bigger.

 

Right now I have a 3/8" copper nipple mounted inside of the air duct going to the air cleaner. I have 2 rows of 8 1/16" holes drilled appox. 45 degrees apart, and I have them facing the incoming air so as to get the best possible mixture with the incoming air. I am running 5psi closed system pressure right now, works good for extra power.

I think I will try it like you have it and adjust it down to 1-2psi and rig up a throttle switch so it comes on when I'm over 1/2 throttle.

Bowedup

 

I was at a website selling books on "how to" install propane injection and they had you drill, tap and install an "injector" at the front of the intake manifold, below the air cleaner?? Has anyone ever installed something like this or am I in neverland again!

 

I have mine in front of the air cleaner in the ductwork.
So it goes through the air cleaner, through the turbo, than into the intake manifold.
I figure that is about the best air propane mixing I can give it.

If you inject it into the intake manifold it will not have time to mix very well.

Most of the kits I looked at had it injected into the air cleaner housing pre turbo for the mixing effect of going through the turbo.

With the CFM's of air that go through a diesel clearing the propane is a matter of 1/4 second or so after it is turned off.

 

The # one reason I was going with Bulldog, is the system is vacum activated, higher the rmp = greater the vacum, another plus the heater hose is attachment to the propane line ensuring vapour, not liquid. This does away with micro swithes, manual levers etc.