Hey I would like to know anyones opinion on a DPS H20 intercooler they cost $700 and include an 8 gallon tank that is mounted in the bed I have a 93 with a Banks sidewinder turbo, I know this will lower my EGT's how much of a power gain am I looking at? My whole goal with this truck is to be able to pull a gooseneck trailer and still do 75 to 80 MPH and at the same time I would like to see 12-15mpg in fuel economy is this possible? and would the intercooler be a step in the right direction?

 

That is not an intercooler, that is water/methanol injection.

Need a bit more info on the goose neck, load on the goose neck and where you intend to run 75 or 80 MPH with it.

Flat country, maybe.
Mountains, I don't think so.

 

Well like a 20' gooseneck stock trailer hauling lets say 8K and in Idaho so were talking rolling hills on the freeway, mountain country I wouldnt be thinking about 75, Thats right it is H20 injection and they say gains of 40-90 Horspower and 100-190'lbs. of torque, If this is relatively true it sounds like a pretty good deal, what have you heard or what do you think.

 

do you have a turbo? what kinda boost are you seeing? what kinda egt's 7.3? or 6.9?

 

The bad thing about fluids and diesels.

The piston to head clearance is the thickness of the head gasket.
If something happens to the water injection and too much enters the cylinder, when the piston comes to TDC, it runs into a brick wall.

Fluids do not compress.

When the piston is at BDC on a 7.3, you have a cylinder volume of about 57 cubic inches in round numbers.
At TDC, there is only 2 cubic inches left in the cylinder, again in round numbers.

Broken piston, bent/broken connecting rod, broken crankshaft, broken head bolts, blown head gaskets and many more things are possible.

Look at this as a possibility.
First the base compression ratio is 21.5 to 1.
Next you run 10 PSI boost, so that raises the effective compression ratio to 36.1 to 1.

Now just say for some reason 1 cubic inch of water winds up in the cylinder.
Suddenly you are looking at close to 60+ to 1 compression, your head gaskets just left the building.

Heaven forbid 2 cubic inches enter the cylinder for any reason, because you just bought a replacement engine since yours is scrap metal.


There were a couple guys on FTE a couple years ago running water injection.
They all had problems and pulled the systems off.

The basic problem I remember was if you had it set up for say 2500 RPM, at 1000 RPM it was injecting 2.5 times as much water per cylinder.

 

Well you've definately convinced me to rethink that idea, so as for an acual intercooler system I belive Hypertech makes one, what do you think about that system? What kind of power do you think I would actually gain? and one more question would be regarding Injectors who makes injectors that you can order besides DPS I know they have stage 1 injectors what they are I dont know? Have any suggestions.

 

Do you have any idea what injectors are in the engine now?

I have a set of Stage 1's in my engine and I am happy with them.
But I am also not running stock a injection pump, boost numbers, head bolts or compression ratio either.
Several people have also had problems with Stage 1 injectors since I bought mine.

I have heard of and seen some test videos of another person modding injectors, but no engine test results as of yet.

Intercoolers do help.
Off the top of my head, I can't remember the HP increase for the intake temp drop, I am thinking something like 1 HP per 10 degrees.
So a 200 degree drop would add 20 HP.

Back to the top question.
8000 pounds of hay + probably close to 5000 pounds of trailer + 7000 pounds of truck = 20,000 pounds gross weight.

70 MPH and 12 to 15 MPG at that weight and speed is not likely.
I don't have overdrive, and I can pull that weight that fast.
But my MPG is going to be around 9 at 70.
And what I normally tow don't catch as much wind as a load of hay would.



I am a bit over 20K in that picture, and in the backround you can see the terrain I live in.
The hills are small, but they sure are steep in places.

 

I'm not sure but I'm thinking probably stock injectors and stock injection pump, would the Stage one injectors increase the boost enough to require head studs? As for the intercooler not an extreme difference in Horsepower but wouldnt my engine run cooler so that I could probably run the a/c with a load and not have to worry about over heating? Plus I wouldnt have to get out of the gas as much going up hills because of EGT's?

Yeah I noticed the MPG probably wouldnt be possible I pulled my goosenech camper this weekend on a four hour drive up to central Idaho and got about 8 mpg most of the time I was doing 65 but as often as I could I would go 70, I also put in some diesel treatment and ran it in about four tanks of diesel also changed the filter before all this and my wife took the truck and camper down to our family reunion and she said it was able to do 75 most of the time and never got above 9 on the EGT's so I suppose the injectors were a little dirty even though the truck only has 78K on it being 16 years old do you think I need to change them even if I just went with stock injectors?

 

My guess is you have a DB2-5013 injection pump and Code E injectors with an aftermarket Banks turbo kit on it.

A 93 -94 7.3 turbo with an automatic tranny should be running a DB2-5069 injection pump with Code G injectors if it was a stock turbo from the factory.

Installing a turbo IP and injectors should give you a little more power.
The turbo should be a waste gated system, the waste gate regulates the boost pressure.
You should not need head studs till your boost pressure goes over 14/15 pounds with a 7.3 engine.

Do you have any idea how much boost you are running?

The thing with inter-coolers is the IDI runs such low boost pressures in stock configuration that the intake air temps are usually not that high.
So the return on the price of the inter-cooler takes a very long time to return on the investment.

Yes, the power will increase some, 20 HP is really a lot more than it sounds like on a diesel engine.
Torque will increase as well.
And last but not least, the EGT will decrease a little as well.

I your case, those benefits may make the cost worth it to you.

If you know what boost pressure you are getting, you may be able to adjust the wastegate and increase it a little more, which would also make the inter-cooler more effective since the charge air temp would increase as well.

I am a little on the excessive side with mods.
Head studs
Intake studs
Milled pistons to lower the compression ratio.
Modified 93 turbo injection pump
Stage 1 injectors
Modified ATS upgrade turbo
Straight exhaust, 6 feet of three inch before it splits to dual 3" stacks, no muffler
And I am running boost numbers in the mid 20's.

The down side to that engine.
Drive shafts and U joints don't last long.
If I run it hard with a big load, MPG numbers can go well below 10 MPG.

Building more power is fine and fun.
But when you use all that extra power, it does take fuel to make the power.
Like they always say, Wanna play, Ya gotta pay to play.
4500 in parts and machine shop work, all labor done by me.
That cost was just a down payment on the play cost, because I also pay every time I pull up to the fuel pumps.

If I took that trailer with that load, I could run 75 MPH down the interstate from one end of the state to the other, hills or not.
But when I pull up to the fuel pumps, I will have to pay for running like that.
Probably would be looking at 7 or 8 MPG at best.

But consideration to the 4x4, brick front end on the 86, the dump bed weight and width, the West Coast mirrors I have, the wide mud tires I run and the extra height of my truck because of the 4x4 and body lift and no overdrive tranny.
All the things in that list are also dragging my MPG numbers down at higher speeds.