i had an annoying rattel from the engine compartment in my truck, it turned out to be the plastic loops on the firewall that hold the lines for the ac. It rattled from idle to 1,000 rpms. I took some tape and wrapped it around the clips to hold it tight. If your truck has ac mabey check it out. you wound't think you could hear something like that over the motor but it was annoying as hell.

 

Thanks for the tip, looked around but all the AC lines seem to be secure.

 

A ZF 5 in 4th gear at 2000 RPM going 45 MPH says you have 4.10 gears.
Overdrive at 2000 RPM should be 59 MPH.

If you drive easy you should be in the upper teens with mileage.

12 is what I am getting with my very heavy 4x4 and a 4 speed with no overdrive, and I don't drive easy.

 

Is there any way to adjust the gearing in the ZF5?

 

I tried traveling at around 59mph. I got 20mpg! Definately helped but will tuning the IP, adjusting the timing or injector rebuild effect it?

PS- considering Turbo when I can afford it

 

The only way to alter the gear ratio is to add an Over drive or under drive or change the gears in the axle.

If the engine only has 53,000 on it, the injectors and IP should be rather fresh.
It is hard to say what a tune up would do. If you can get 20 MPG the way it is, I would be tempted to run it as is.

Since I use mine for towing and hauling, my first priority is power, MPG is second.

 

How much power will those adjustments produce? Also would those adjustments be worth it after a turbo install?

 

absolutely!!!! in fact, those adjustments, are what makes all the power. the turbo gives the motor the ability to burn more fuel, more effeciently, and without any adjustments, you still see AWESOME gains, but with fuel adjustments, you see much more.
the adjustments by themselves help quite a bit, but they go hand in hand with a turbo. you can only get so much air with a naturally aspirated motor, and you can only burn so much fuel, with the amount of air that you are getting. the turbo forces air into the motor (boost) which is what gives you the ability to burn more fuel.

air + fuel = power.

2 x air + fuel = 2 x power
2 x air + 2 x fuel = 4 x power
make sense?
just a simple equation, it actually isn't accurate at all but, you get the idea.

with my set up, i am getting about 550 to 600 ft-lb of tourque (advertised, not dyno'd yet, but it will be soon)

stock torque is about 360 or somewhere in that range.
with fuel increases without a turbo, i imagine it would be tough to get too much farther above 400 or 420.

 

You all are very helpful, I have learned alot about my rig through you guys (especially Dave Sponaugle) and I wanta thank you. But I still have more questions to come...

how much would it cost to do those adjustments and could the local diesel shop do it?
what sort of effects (other than more power) would I see?
would it shorten my engine/injection system life?

I don't want to ruin the great engine I already have, I just want to get more out of it and get rid of the restrictive stock setup. Neway, thats why I ask all the dumb questions lol.

 

haha, there is no dumb question.
as far as the diesel shop goes, they probably could. however, if you are mechanically inclined and have a set of tools, you could do most of it your self.
other effects? loss of mileage, gain of mileage, increase in black smoke, higher EGT's (thats the dangerous one). there are alot of other side effects to messing with an otherwise stock engine.
when you play around with a motor, upgrade it, and adjust it, you will always run the risk of shortening your engine life span. it all depends on a lot of different things. however, you may not loose any life at all. in fact, in some cases, you may increase the dependibility, and increase the life of the motor, however, this is not all to common. just remember, with power, comes alot more possible problems. doesn't mean you will have those problems though, but there is a chance.

 

Very true 12V, more power and more risk. I don't know how reliable the diesel shops are here but I will check into it, that is a major concern of mine. I look to start rebuilding as soon as I can aford it. I will invest in a turbo down the road but right now Injection system, Intake and exhaust are the main issues. Any idea on cost?

Not too concerned about this second part because I don't use it but, the cruise control on my rig won't go past 55mph...let alone work at all. Any ideas on what that could be? On longer trips the foot gets kinda tired haha.

 

start with air flow, then move to fuel.

exhaust and increased airflow first (could be as simple as a higher flow filter),

then move to fuel increases. if you don't have the air, you can't burn the fuel, just remember that. get the air in there first, then add fuel.

you are setting yourself up for a turbo as you speak, so make sure you get an exhaust that will flow good enough to use with a turbo.

 

one idea for exhaust is to get a high flow four inch system built for a 94 or so powerstroke. you won't need the downpipe, but the four inch will be perfect for a turbo. i have three inch, i want to move to four inch. i am going to do the exact same thing, or i am going to do two four inch stacks. either way, you will have plenty of airflow for a turbo when the time comes. you could spend as little as 350 on exhaust and as much as 600. shop around.

intake, for now, just get a high flow filter, and see if you can do some sort of ram air. IIRC, DaveS. had some problems with K&N but i like them and have used them on numerous vehicles including three diesel trucks and i have never had a problem.

i have no idea about your cruise control. just get different weighted bricks for speeds or something. lol just kiddin'

 

I work on construction sites.
Summer means the talcum powder dust will be several inches deep on all the roads on the site.
When the oil you spray on a K&N is soaked up by the dust, the rest goes through the filter except the big particles.
I change my paper filter every oil change in the summer, 20 dollar filters are cheap when compared to an engine.

All the things you are asking about have the potential to increase the mileage. They also have the potential to increase the power, some of them considerably.

Now here is the bad part that is a bit hard to understand for a lot of people.
Everything you can do to make the engine run better increases the efficency of the engine. This will increase the fuel mileage as long as you do not use the extra power. However it takes more fuel to make more power, so if you use the power, the mileage will either stay the same if you only use a little, or it can decrease a good bit if you use it all.

Here in WV I used to run down the interstate pulling the hills at 50 MPH and down the other side at 75 when my 6.9 was stock, got 16 MPG.
Then I added a turbo and 7.3 turbo injectors and a 7.3 turbo IP and ram air and a 3" dual stack exhaust system with no muffler.

Now if I am so minded, which I am all to often, I can blast up every hill at 85 MPH with the smoke rolling, even if I have a load on the truck. But when I pull up to the pump and fill up after that exciting trip, I find the MPG has dropped to 10 or less depending on how heavy I am loaded.
Why did it drop, because I am using all the extra power that I made with the mods. But I also cut a two hour trip to one hour. My time is worth more than the extra fuel I am burning to me.

 

The stock exhaust I have now is severly constricting at 2.25in. I did replace the stock muffler and could really feel a differance. Will 94' turbo diesel parts fit on my rig? I plan on a 3" pipe off the manifold and feed up to 5" stacks down the road. Would I be able to get a system that doesn't wrap underneath the oil pan as the stock system does?