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-   1994.5 - 1997 7.3L Power Stroke Diesel (https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum170/)
-   -   Khan's 95 Build thread (https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1626307-khans-95-build-thread.html)

Khan 06-07-2020 05:09 PM

Khan's 95 Build thread
 
I figured now would be as good as any to start a build thread on my OBS as I've done enough up to this point to give you folks something to read and look at. I tend to lurk on the forums but I figured I need to start giving back and helping those as needed.

I had my wife buy this rig in 2017 as I was getting ready to PCS (USAF Permanent Change of Station) back to the states from being stationed at Kadena AB in Okinawa, Japan. Before this truck I had/have a 1986 fullsize bronco I was building with my dad before we had a falling out the night before my wedding.

Anyway, on to the cool stuff, this truck is a 1995 F250 Ex cab long bed, with the Dana 50 TTB and E4OD transmission. She had approximately 219k on the odometer with one prior owner, I can only assume having spent it's whole life as a farm truck of sorts out of Redding, CA due to having a gooseneck in the bed and being covered in mud.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...c833f0455f.jpg

As Soon as I got to Yreka, CA where my Fiance' was the first thing I wanted to do was drive it! I had an EVO 4 5 speed and it still couldn't compare to old American iron. This truck was pretty gutless so I wanted to get a few things done before we drove this across the country to Eglin AFB, FL where we were going.

I changed the oil with some T6 Rotella, and a Donaldson DBL7405 filter, changed the fuel filter, added a Riff Raff HPX line, had the coolant flushed, (Or so I thought) new t stat, 6.0 fan installed (FoCoMo #YA245), new Curt brake controller/ wiring fixed and I was on my way.

We loaded up our things in the truck and pulled her '07 Toyota Yaris with us (Weighed in at 6700lbs empty, 13500lbs loaded) and left towards Reno that night. In between a screaming cat and being tired we reached Reno at about 3am in the morning and got a room for the night with checkout at 11am. Once we woke from our power nap it was off for another day of travel. After a smooth day of towing we stopped in Kingsman, AZ for the night after driving through Nevada all day. Talk about boring! I was starting to get uneasy as we hit a bit of hills and couldn't keep speed over 35mph on the hills towards Kingsman. At this point I didn't have gauges installed, so I could only watch the temp gauge and hope for the best.


Once we were back on the road for the next day I noticed some black smoke in traffic out of the tail pipe and some smoke coming from the engine bay while we were stopped. I didn't think too much of it as the fluids were ok and the truck wasn't overheating..... YET. As the day went on, we hit some serious hills on the way into Flagstaff, AZ where my inexperience started to show. The trans couldn't decide whether to stay in OD or shift down into 3rd (Remember I have an E4OD) and the O/D light started flashing. Impending doom was about to hit once we were about 25 miles out of Flagstaff. There it went. RPM's were rising like it was in Neutral. CRAP!!!!!! Here I was, coasting at 55 mph and the truck was going to stop eventually. I pulled over to the left side of the road (Big mistake, still used to driving on the left hand side of the road in Japan) and we got a local tow truck to tow us to a diesel repair mechanic. The mechanic ended up BSing with my wife and I and it turns out he was AF reserve.

We finally made it to High Mountain Diesel, which is where the tow truck guy takes his truck when he needs work. He assured us the job would get done right, but obviously it wasn't going to be cheap...... Here we gooooooooo. The Mechanic took the keys and called me the next day after tearing into my truck and told me that I would need a new trans, I fried all my clutches from the heat.. Again here comes my inexperience with towing and trucks in general. He replaced the whole trans with a FORD E4OD unit. 1 week later we were back on the road.

About 200 miles into the next day we stopped for fuel somewhere in the Land of Enchantment, New Mexico. When I was filling up I noticed a bunch of oil pooled up under the truck. CRAP! what now? I called the mechanic and asked him what was up and he told me to monitor it, and check for leaks/ keep the oil full. I pulled the dip stick and there wasn't a drop of oil on the dipstick, luckily I had a gallon of T6 in the bed for such an occasion. I threw that in and went to Walmart for some more to make sure she was topped off. Remember that RiffRaff HPX I had? I was one of the unlucky ones with one that wasn't bent quite right and I ended up with a pinched O ring that kept spewing out HPO. Just my luck that I pinched an O ring on install, but not being able to fix the leak I had to keep topping off the oil.

About 250 miles or so I was having to add 6 quarts of oil, and spewing oil all over my truck/ undercarriage which I guess is good rust prevention. After running enough clean oil through the engine I actually noticed the loud tick at highway speeds went away. Makes me wonder what kind of maintenance this truck had before even though it seemed in good shape for it's age.

The rest of the trip to Florida was pretty uneventful aside from the oil, which we found out the oil was getting onto the turbo exhaust turbine, causing smoke to rise from the hood at idle and a wonderful smell, which I sort of liked towards the end.

We finally made it to Fort Walton Beach, FL and were unable to in process and unpack. This finally gave me some time to fix the oil leak on the HPX and do another oil change, given the 3700 miles I just put it through. Not sure if it was the smell, but I wasn't totally happy with the T6 and wanted to try something different. This lead me to Schaeffer 9000 with another DBL7405 oil filter. While I was there I thought I would install the EZ drain valve for easier oil changes.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...6e7bb1812.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...2791facbc.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...cead0b483.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...fcd68a964.jpeg

This also shows how far the DBL7405 sticks out below the oil pan. It's roughly an inch, and the drain valve has been a non issue the 3 years its been on there.

Shortly after this I ended up getting rid of the S&B intake I put on there due to the fact the plexi glass cracked the the whole box didn't fit in there as well as I liked. I wish I would have went with Riff Raff's 6637 set up in the first place as I am still running that to this day, 3 years later with no complaints.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...3ee64cb1d.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ffefef5564.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...bf1b6ef936.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...8f8cbdc587.jpg


I ended up with the basic filter vs their Donaldson Blue due to availability. I am currently running the Blue 2.5 years later but didn't notice a difference with the stock 90cc AA codes and stock turbo.

Shortly after getting settled in when I pulled the intake for the new 6637 filter set up I noticed that I had a good amount of oil in my intake with a fresh set of Riff Raff boots and the cleaned up intake tube. This led me to doing the infamous CCV mod that people love and hate at the same time. I will say this, with the T6 leftover in my engine, it smelled awful, but went away a couple oil changes later.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...61c4369429.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...f111b6b9e7.jpg

Here you can see the before, with 5k miles worth of CCV oil in the intake, which for 5k miles is too much for me. After, you can see where I found a couple washers, machine screw, and nut for the delete, sealed with gray permatex. After flipping the doghouse, I ran this for 2 years with no issues and the hose exiting right at the front axle yoke.

Next up on the mod list, I wanted to drain the rear diff oil and change to the 08-10 super duty finned cover.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ebeafcf4d0.jpg

The diff oil was red and smelled burnt, I didn't take pics of it, but you could tell on the diff cover where it was getting hot.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...fdfd1f352c.jpg

Lets get that nasty boi outta here!

A few months later I decided to replace the trans cooler which was a bigger tube and fin unit with a tru cool 4921 mounted behind the front bumper. I wish I wouldn't have wasted time on this and went straight to a 6.0 cooler, but live and learn. The PO deleted the trans cooler, so I was seeing about 180-190 at any given time during the summers on I-10. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, just get some 3/8's hose, drill some holes, and run the lines.

Up to this point the truck was running great for another 1.5 years until my idle started getting weird. it seemed like the truck was hesitating, and I noticed a fuel leak draining through the valley drain hole. The following week I was driving to work and the truck hesitated and bucked hard, threw some black smoke and I thought I was going down! I got it closer to work and it ended up dying on me, and I had to have some folks help push it into a parking spot. That I day I was able to get home but decided I needed to go through the entire fuel system. I was eyeballing the Irate E fuel kit, because I liked how the whole kit mounted. The hard lines were nice, the fuel bases, nicer. I ended up purchasing the Dieselsite CPR system later that night because it was said it could be installed without removing the turbo. :rolleyes: Later I found out my truck is a ******* year (Build date 1/25/95) with the IDI radiator and a weird two piece driver side fuel fitting on the head. I ended up having to remove the turbo to get that out, and finally got the E fuel plumbed up. While I was there I decided to delete the EBPV, cap off the factory pedestal, etc.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...bdcb4db2d4.jpg

Here I finally got that little monster of a lift pump to unseat itself from the block.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...682d719d0d.jpg

I also decided to tackle the Diamond Eye 4" exhaust while I had the turbo removed. All I can say is that down pipe is still probably the hardest job I've had up to this point.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...841f134d1e.jpg

Notice my multiple cuts into the "Cobra head" of the downpipe.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...950cb8432a.jpg

Finally got that turd out, making room on the firewall wasn't as bad as trying to cut a pipe towards the engine...

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...1607bc24d7.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...9fb721d9d.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...2f6b3520c8.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...30a8e7f7fa.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...f6f02a1d7f.jpg


Deleted the EBPV, wasn't too hard of a job. I ended up drilling out the rivets to get the butterfly valve to come off, and the rod pulls out after that. For the pedestal, I cut off most of the rod, and left the spring and guts in there and put a sterling 10.25 bolt and a nut/ washer on the other side. I try to use whatever I have lying around, this has worked well for the last 18 months. Make sure to throw some sealant on there to make sure it's leak free.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...32ddfa7635.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...6ec8ed3c95.jpg

Back to exhaust work, I cut out the rest of the stock system, and here is a good shot of the stock OBS pancake downpipe next to the 3" round. It's easy to see why the downpipe should be one of the first mods.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...9345d77b81.jpg

Here is my pre fuel filter and fuel cooler bracket combo mounted. I have to say I still love this fuel system 18 months later as I can always see what's going on in the fuel bowl and filter, and US diesel certainly is dirty. With a 2 Micron pre filter, this is doing all the work.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...1993f33779.jpg

Here is the fuel pump and 100 micron post filter set up. For the longest time I wondered why Dieselsite ran a 2 micron pre filter and 100 micron post, when most other companies run a 40 micron pre filter and 2- something post. But since the pre filter is good for the flow and doesn't restrict anything, the 100 micron filter is really there as a safety net in the case the pump blows, or something goes wrong with the pre filter.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...6b391e503e.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...679c274815.jpg

Mounting the regulator and fuel lines. This fuel system is unique in that it feeds the rear of the D side head, crosses over to the front of the P side head, and flows to the regulator from the rear of the P side head. While most fuel kits feed the rear of both heads, this system is adequate for injectors up to 200cc and is a self purging system due to how the fuel flows.

Once I got it to fire I felt pretty darn good about myself and all this work I did.

Stay tuned for more updates tomorrow!

-Jake

z31freakify 06-07-2020 06:50 PM

Nice build thread vato. Your engine bay looks spotless.

Khan 06-08-2020 06:10 AM


Originally Posted by z31freakify (Post 19320050)
Nice build thread vato. Your engine bay looks spotless.

Thank you sir! The top half is pretty clean these days, but the rest is still caked in mud. I know it's sort of lip stick on a pig, but I always try to clean and paint up whatever I pull off before it goes back on. Eventually the whole thing will be clean. :D

Khan 06-08-2020 07:07 AM

Now that I was done with the E fuel/ exhaust, I drove it that way for a few months before pulling something apart. I liked the CPR kit, but there were a few things I didn't end up liking it about it that I changed later.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...7e4fb933c8.jpg

Here is a basic finished shot of the engine, all that was left to do was mount the down pipe.

A few months later, I believe April of 2019 (E fuel was done in January 2019) I decided to pull the valve covers and replace the UCVH and re pin the dual OBS plug to the single SD style used on the 99-03 models.

I went on Riff Raff Diesel and ordered up the correct harness pig tails, under cover wiring, and gaskets. The following information and diagram I pulled from PowerstrokeNation I believe, but it worked like a charm.

(2) Alliant pigtails part number Ap0016
(2) Alliant Gaskets Ap0014 / F81Z6584AA
(2) Injector / Glow plug harness F81Z9D930AB

So SD wiring

Pin 1,2,8,9 are glow plugs.
Pin 3,4,6,7 are injectors
Pin 5 common.

Obs wiring
Pin 1,5 are glow plugs
Pin 2,4 are injectors
Pin 3 is common.

So let's make the SD pin 1 the front pin.

Let's make the OBS front connector 1-5, front pin 1
Let's make the OBS back plug 6-10, front pin is 6.
So connect SD pins 1,2,8,9 to OBS pins 1,5,6,10
Connect SD pin 3 to OBS pin 2
SD pin 4 to OBS pin 4
SD pin 5 to OBS pin 3 and 8
SD pin 6 to OBS pin 7
SD pin 7 to OBS pin 9

Here is a diagram that I used that made this job pretty easy.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...92bc41d95f.png
With this in mind, take your time and unwrap both connectors on both sides. If 25 years of engine heat cycling has done anything, the red plastic tape has become brittle and I felt like I was destroying my hands trying to cut and rip that off.

Once I had one open, it's obvious why now was as good as time as any to replace these connections.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...009b9de2b2.jpg

All 4 connectors more or less looked like this, so it was a good time to replace them. Below you can see the original dual plug next to the single plug.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...3d2b4b41c7.jpg

Now onto the controversy of getting these new pigtails connected to the old harness. We have a few different options here, the main one being to solder the new wires into the old. This was going to be the route I was going to take, but after doing some research and seeing folks argue back and forth about how most auto manufacturers crimp these days I decided to go that route.

I wanted something more than the typical crimp connector, and ordered these heat shrink Wirefy ones after hearing folks having great success in the marine field. These are different from your regular crimp connector in that it contains glue within the heat shrink. Once you strip away the shielding and crimp using their special tool, you heat up the glue and heat shrink until the glue oozes out of the connector, creating a water tight seal. Being the skeptic I am, I tried this on some wire beforehand, and took it to work to have my co workers inspect it, yank on it, and see what they thought.




https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...c8d0f49b7.jpeg


Here is the basic crimp before heating up the glue. I wrapped one end around my foot under my boot and yanked as hard as I could (180 lbs) and it didn't so much as budge.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...5ce2f3c14.jpeg

I couldn't find any picture of the glue heated up so you guys will just have to take my word for it. Here is a picture showing the pass side done, just need to heat shrink all of them and wrap the injector lines in the foil. As you're pulling your old lines apart, you'll notice that the 2 injector wires in each plug have a foil wrapped around them to reduce emanation from the injector wires into the glow plugs, or vice versa. I assume it's to keep everything out of the injector wiring as much as possible. I saved as much as I could when I wrapped the 4 together on the single plug.

Now that one side was done, repeat for the other side. What I found interesting was that it looks like the passenger side had been replaced at some point with either an updated harness, or my guess, a generic one as the connectors to the glow plugs and injectors were different and not the typical wire hook style.

Since everything was off it was a good time to hit the VC's with some paint to freshen up the engine bay.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...8e14a10a06.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...7753059beb.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...2ffdae27d1.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ca9d5512b3.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...d4e5461f52.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...333b98090.jpeg

I decided on Duplicolor's paint match for Ford Dark Canyon Red. It's a beautiful paint but not very durable... I painted the aluminum elbow to match while I was down there.

Once everything was back together, the truck ran flawlessly. I pulled apart my harness a few weeks ago while doing injectors and all the connections still look good and tight, no signs of failing or coming loose, no cracking glue, etc.

Next up on the list was something my wife was hounding me to do as I bought the parts and just never got around to installing them.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...9659a8b49.jpeg

Gauges installed! These were pretty straight forward with the supplied instructions. I ended up tapping my pyro into the up pipe instead of the manifold due to not really being able to get my drill centered well. It was much easier to slide a few inches to the right and tap into the pipe. Clay @ Riff Raff has stated there isn't a noticeable difference in EGT readings, and the pipe is much easier to replace than the manifold in the case something happens. The pipe is a little thinner as well, so it's not terrible to drill into.

Once you drill and tap the holes, make sure to run a shop vac over the holes to get as much crap out as possible.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...1f8a0d434d.jpg

Drilled and tapped the Y pipe and threw some color on it. For those tuning in, remember I can put it there because I don't have a fuel bowl in the way. The boost port will need to be higher if running the factory mechanical fuel.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...76929ac8d6.jpg

Moar paint!

The trans gauge was the easiest, just remove the test port plug and thread in the sensor.




Khan 06-08-2020 07:53 AM

The truck was running "pretty darn good" (SECAF joke about morale) So I turned my attention to painting stuff as I like to do when I start drinking and have nothing else to do around the house.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...b802009d9d.jpg

I pulled the factory skid plate and painted it with some Hammerite black. The paint comes out to be more of a charcoal gray than actual black. The hard part is getting the hammer texture to come through evenly when you're brushing it on. I ended up removing the paint on this a couple times before I said screw it and let it dry up and bolted it back on.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...8a3d2b96be.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...0f07dc229a.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...f800d7cca9.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...296f8f68c0.jpg

Here is the grill painted, and my dumb ugly hitch Ruenel bumper that PO had welded to the frame....

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ad344804ba.jpg

Finished product looks alot better than before. Who knew paint could make a difference! After a few months I decided is where the fun stuff is going to start coming in. Next up on the list is an HPOP!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...0d1969eac.jpeg

I deleted this bracket and relocated the EBP tube and sensor using the strictly diesel mount. This is I also ordered their FPR mount for the alternator and moved my regulator over there.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...9e75f0874.jpeg

Old 15* pump next to CNCFAB STG 1 17* pump. I went with this for a few reasons. The first being it came with steel threads at no added charge like the Adrenaline pump. I believe the ADR upped their price and now only offers steel threads. This pump is a high quality rebuild, and are bench tested before they are sent out.

I called a few different places about IPR interchange since Ford seceded their edge filter IPR with the usual one that the 96-03 one everyone uses. Corey called and talked to Ford and verified as well as Diesel O rings. I felt good about it and bought the cheaper one.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...9bbfe1a82.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...caa95ce16.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...626236acc.jpeg

Fresh painted reservoir housing, in the background you can see a billet reservoir spacer from Dieselsite as well. The main reason I went to this is because I wasn't sure what injector size I was going to run and wanted more oil up top in case I went with something more oil hungry as a 175/80 or similar. The added benefit is that it comes with a filter like the newer models. You can also see Corey's lines in the back as well, loomed up to match the Dieselsite CPR fuel lines.

After dealing with a very angry oil deprived truck, she eventually fired off and settled down to a smooth idle with all the air in it's system. The idle was still funky for the next couple hundred miles, to the point where I thought it was the IPR causing the issue. I rebuilt my Edge IPR and put the new solenoid on it from the brand new IPR and still had the same issue. I'm generally very gentle on my truck and drive like an old man, so I think it just took awhile to get the air out, and it eventually settled down. So currently I have the new IPR with old solenoid as a back up.

I must have lost the pictures, but at some point I pulled the Alternator bracket and converted to the 99-03 SD dual belt tensioner. The TSB instructions are pretty straight forward, you need to chop off the mounting boss and then the SD pulley drops right into the bracket and the belt now routes similar to the SD's.

This almost catches up to current day, where I had to start planning to do the injectors, chip, etc.

Next up on my list was to try and finish installing my banks intercooler kit I bought a couple years ago. I tried to install it before I drove across the states, but due to having the IDI radiator I didn't feel comfortable on my short time crunch to chop into the radiator brackets and deal with that right before a big trip.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...1a2857db9c.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...62b70eaba6.jpg

Here you can see after I pulled my fan shroud and radiator is where you have to cut if you want to make the banks kit, or really any intercooler fit if you have the IDI radiator. The earlier model radiators mounted completely different, and once you chop the core support you either have to get in there with a sawzall like I did and make room, or drain the coolant and cut away at your radiator. I didn't care as much since I had the brackets and fan shroud to swap to the newer 95.5-97 style radiator with a degas bottle.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...6a3f2f4e8.jpeg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...439fe37d8.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...998df7e05.jpeg

I had to fight with the intercooler mounting, chopping away at the core support, etc until everything finally fit. Then came the fun of getting the T bolt clamps mounted down by the radiator. I learned after the fact that soapy water is a godsend for getting the clamp to fit over the boot humps and to get them into place without alot of cursing.

Months prior I decided to strip the gray paint on the CAC tubes and go with a flat black. Now they're all scratched up from being fussy going into place. I still have boost and exhaust leaks to fix, but I'm seeing about 150* cooler EGTs under higher load. Doesn't do me a whole lot of good with leaks though. T4/SXE will take care of that.... }>

This pretty much gets us caught up to the installation of the AC 160/0's, the Hydra install, Riff Raff stainless injector cups, Mishimoto radiator, new rad hoses, block heater, etc.

Stay tuned as the rest of the project will come either tonight or tomorrow.




BuddyBarnes 06-08-2020 07:55 AM

Nice write up with nice work. Could not help but notice it looks as if some one put you door hinge pin in up side down .

Khan 06-08-2020 07:59 AM


Originally Posted by BuddyBarnes (Post 19320702)
Nice write up with nice work. Could not help but notice it looks as if some one put you door hinge pin in up side down .

I honestly wouldn't be surprised. It looks like the driver side was done at some point, as the pass side still has the white paint on it. I have a new door hinge kit waiting to go in as my strikers are toast, just haven't mustered up the motivation to do it yet.

Hit Man X 06-08-2020 03:49 PM

Great start!

I want a Banks IC kit too. Fabrication is no specialty of mine.

Any pics of that Strictly Diesel EBP relocation deal? I just tied mine off for now. Really just want to remove tube and put a plug in the manifold.

red mistress 06-08-2020 04:04 PM

Looking good, I fully understand painting everything as all parts will be new eventually :)

Hair spray is even better than soapy water for getting rubber hoses on.

Khan 06-08-2020 06:53 PM


Originally Posted by Hit Man X (Post 19321574)
Great start!

I want a Banks IC kit too. Fabrication is no specialty of mine.

Any pics of that Strictly Diesel EBP relocation deal? I just tied mine off for now. Really just want to remove tube and put a plug in the manifold.

Absolutely! I went out and snapped some pics, I hope it helps.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...a72f93802b.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...a287ca5cc3.jpg

The bracket bolting to the block is rusting out now, but the whole tube/ sensor is at an angle at the very end and does not bolt to anything, just screws in the tube. I went this route over the SD set up mainly because the SD set up bolts to the HPOP cover and I wasn't a huge fan of the design.

Khan 06-08-2020 07:37 PM


Originally Posted by red mistress (Post 19321594)
Looking good, I fully understand painting everything as all parts will be new eventually :)

Hair spray is even better than soapy water for getting rubber hoses on.

Painting makes everything better! At least I know it's clean :D Good to know on the hairspray, I'll raid the wife's stuff if I can't find her stash of dawn dish soap.

Khan 06-09-2020 07:46 AM

This is pretty much the final part of the truck building saga that catches us up to present day. After talking with multiple vendors, (Rosewood, Full Force, Unlimited, CNCFAB, 1023 Diesel, Dieselsite) and a few folks here on FTE I decided to go with brand new Alliant AC 160/0 injectors. There are a few reasons I decided to go the new route.

1.) They are brand new, never been fired. This assures me that the internals are brand new. The stock AA injectors in my served this truck for 240k miles with no issues.

2.) The poppet and injector clearances are correct, and are not shimmed. The 3 builders I talked to each gave me a different answer. Jim@ Rosewood I would say was the most straight forward, saying that while most parts were gone through, there are still issues that can arise. Full Force told me the only difference between their reman and brand new were the solenoids.

3.) With all the bad stories I've seen about remans, I can't say I've read a single thread about someone being unhappy with brand new OEM injectors, whether they were AC codes, AD, etc

4.) This truck is my daily driver, and I need the best reliability I can ultimately get.

5.) I ultimately went with 160/0's due to the fact that with stock nozzles the idle was going to be the smoothest/cleanest out of the box without some tuning revisions, and that with 70cc more than my AA codes, I can't see myself needing more for a work truck/ pulling truck. Sous and other folks on the 99-03 forum have great results towing 12k+ pounds with 140cc AD's and SXE turbos.

Onto the pictures! Since I was going this far as to replace injectors, glow plugs were getting replaced, injector cups, cooling system, etc.

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OEM Block heater


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95 203* T stat

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ZD-11 glow plugs, don't buy anything else!

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Dieselsite Valve cover studs. This made it easy lining up the gasket and making sure I had a good seal.

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Dieselsite fuel line valves. Last time I took a good diesel bath because it didn't stop draining.

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new 2 micron fuel filter

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Decided to go back to the CCV mod after having it put back to stock when I did my HPOP. I couldn't stand the smoke at stop lights, but I can't stand oil in my intake more.....

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Special injector cup goop. This allows OBS trucks to run ELC red coolant!

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Expensive injector cup brush kit that I would not buy again, and we'll get into that.

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Strictly diesel T stat reinforcing ring. This thing is awesome. Aluminum paint is optional.

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New block heater cord since I trashed my old one last year.

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Look at all this stuff!

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Stainless injector cups from Riff Raff.

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These things are a work of art. Too bad they're getting buried in the heads.

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Painted T stat housing because F*** em that's why!

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Hydra selector bracket for gauge pod.

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New Gates hoses from CP Addict. I had to wipe these down a bit with tire shine and cleaners to get them somewhat decent looking.

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New Degas bottle and washer reservoir while I'm in there.

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Painted radiator brackets for the new style radiator.

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Triax 15w-40 oil and my last big Donaldson filter.
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New fan shroud to match new cooling system.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...9129c9f0a3.jpg
Mishimoto radiator is a work of art. All the welds look great.

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And the star of the show! AC code injectors!
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...9ba3019304.jpg

Khan 06-09-2020 08:19 AM

This was the first radiator I tried to purchase, which was through Klimoto on Amazon. I figured since it had good reviews I would give it a shot. The packaging was almost non existent, and the box wasn't even fully sealed.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...5c7f083f7.jpeg

Anyway, onto tear down. I had a few milestones I wanted to hit while I was doing all this work.

1.) Paint valve covers
2.) Paint and reseal intake plenums
3.) install Riff Raff OCR
4.) fuel filter change/ intall shut off valves
5.) glow plugs
6.) oil change
7.) radiator/ cooling system install
8.) injector cup reseal
9.) coolant flush
10.) injector install
11.) Hydra install
12.) route trans lines back into radiator since the PO deleted it
13.) tons of other stuff I'm sure I'll forget to include.

Tear down began Saturday, May 16th.

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Here it is the together the last time before I tear it apart...

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Turbo pulled again. I hate the OBS turbo configuration. I also pulled the engine harness to get more stuff out of the way.

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Intakes pulled. That TA-31 is some strong stuff.

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Dirt BEGONE!

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my red covers dirty from a year of driving.

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Get outta here AA codes! You're not welcome!

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Pulled all the glow plugs and injectors, I noticed there were 3 dead glow plugs that were corroding on the ends.

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Old plug next to new. This little guy takes a 1-1/8" inch socket. Same as the IPR.

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90% of the harness was cleaned up and re loomed as most of it was either dirty, or cracking, or just not there anymore. I was able to clean up the injector plug part I converted last year. That really bugged me.

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Old cup next to new cup. In reality I should have left the cups alone. Cleaning the bores in the heads is not what I'd call fun, and you have to make sure they seal right or you're in for a world of hurt.

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All 8 pulled and they were fine. Again, why do I do this to myself!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ec0504bd4e.jpg
All new cups awaiting their forever home.


Khan 06-09-2020 09:16 AM

Now that I had the cups pulled, I took a break and cleaned up the AA's to be sent back to 1023 Diesel and pull the AC's out to get them ready. Ultimately I wish I would have gone through Riff Raff for the AC's, as the shipping was 167 back to Wasilla, AK where 1023 is located. I'll get more into that later. I sent the cores back on the 18th of May.

Onto injector bore cleaning. The brush kit I bought from Riff Raff is good in a sense, but it isn't aggressive enough with a handle to get anything done. Maybe if the old loctite in the bottom of the bore was picked out with a screw driver, it would have been fine. I took a different approach....The Riff Raff injector cup tool is a MUST.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...77613dccb8.jpg
I chopped that handle and chucked the thing into my drill. Now we're talking!

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Here you can see the old loctite still stuck on the right side of the bore. That is what needs to come out for the new cup to seal correctly. If it's left in there, it's not going to seal.

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Here is my vacuum mod in order to get into the holes to pull the old crap out as I'm picking it off. Worked like a charm.

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Here you can see a bore that I had not gotten to, and you can see the perfect ring of loctite still left in the bore.

These bores need to be perfect pristine clean if you expect the new cups to seal. The rear cups on each side are going to be much harder to get to, mainly because there is just no room to get to them. After going back and forth with the drill, and a screw driver I was able to get all the old loctite out. If I were to do it again, I would skip the brush kit, and get some brushes you can chuck into a right angle drill to get all of them. This would have been cheaper and more effective.

Once the bores were clean enough I wiped them out the best I could with Acetone since it flashes quick. Then onto the second part of seating the new cups.

I started on the driver side head and got the Riff Raff tool set up. On the first two I goofed up a bit and didn't set them far enough in. Thinking I was screwed, I set them all the way in and saw that green wet loctite was oozing out. I panicked and call Clay to ask his opinion. He was pretty confident that as long as the goop was still coming out wet, there wouldn't be any issues.

I got extemely lucky as my coolant level has not changed. Due to the 60+ PSI of the fuel vs the 12+ PSI of the pressurized coolant system, you'll see the coolant system level rise in your degas bottle as the fuel forces it's way past the cups into the cooling system. You can also get a coolant pressure tester on there to make sure everything is holding rock steady. I didn't have the luxury of that tool, so I had to follow my gut and press on.

Now that the cups are installed and sealed, you'll want to let them cure for a minimum of 12 hours. I cleaned up my garage and got everything ready for installation.


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I worked on getting the cooling system installed, here is a good side by side of the IDI over flow next to the PSD degas configuration. Once I got the cooling system installed, I switched gears a bit and pulled the PCM for the hydra install. At some point it looks like my PCM was refurbished because it did not want to come out, was covered in blue tape, and had a CAR-COMPUTERS.COM sticker on it. A quick google search shows that this was a Cali shop in Redding that did it. I couldn't find the 4 character hex code for it, but since this is a Federal truck, and not Cali specific, the PCM was still a DPC-202 and I ended up using the TDE1 calibration for it when I sent in my tuning form to 1023 Diesel.

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Once you get the PCM pulled, this is the J3 port that any TS style chip or PHP hydra will mount on. Cleaning is very straight forward. The entire board is coated in silicone, and the brass brush supplied won't hurt it, so go to town. You can use the back side of the brush to scrape the goo off between the pins as well. Once the pins are clean, lightly buff with the small scotch pad and you should be all set.
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Here is the chip seated and the cables ran. If you look closely you can see I do not have a 90* USB cable. This is why most folks recommend getting it, but if you're careful and route it well, it's a non issue.
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Here I went overboard with tape to make sure everything was in place. I mainly wanted to do this to make sure both the ribbon cable and the USB cable weren't going anywhere.

Now I usually try to give companies the benefit of the doubt, but 1023 missed the mark on multiple occasions. When I put in my order for the injectors and chip on their website, I decided to purchase the Hydra through them as they offer 6 custom tunes included in the price when you order injectors through them. I figured that was a good deal so I did it. The injectors showed up 3 or 4 days later, with no tracking number or anything supplied from 1023. This was red flag #1.

The second issue that came up, was about a week after I received the injectors, I still have seen no signs of a Hydra, or tracking number for that matter. After multiple emails and calls to Dusty about it, he assured me he would look into it. 4 Emails later I finally had a tracking number for the chip, Red flag #2

Red flag #3
happened when Dusty's shop received my $800 dollar injector cores on the 21st of May. 2 weeks go by and I still had no sign of a refund. I called up and got Dusty on the phone and he told me to send an email. This was really Red flag #4, as I immediately sent the tracking number for the cores with the order number as soon as I had it. I also up to this point had sent two emails prior to calling asking for the status. Dusty had finally responded and let me know they received the cores, and that they had been misplaced because they were moving shops. While I understand these things happen, $800 dollars worth of cores is a big deal to misplace.

Another FTE'r had told me prior to any of this purchase that they were no longer a proponent of 1023 Diesel due to customer service and the tune quality has gone down. I can't speak to the tunes, as I generally am pleased with those so far, coming from an un tuned truck, but the customer service is a big deal to me. Sure, this could have been the perfect storm due to all the COVID-19 happening, but not once was that used as an excuse, and I would generally dismiss it, but 4 different things that stood out to me, something just isn't right.

Rant over, onto the reassembly!

Khan 06-09-2020 09:37 AM

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Reassembly isn't hard, make sure to lube up the injector O rings very well with fresh clean engine oil and seat them. I used a small dead blow hammer.

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Fresh black valve covers!
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Brand new AC can't be beat!

The biggest thing that most folks I've seen skip on installation is priming the oil rails with fresh oil. When you pull the injectors, or pull the oil rail plugs under the valve covers, all that HPO ultimately drains back into pan. You have 2 options at this point:

1.) crank and crank and crank until the HPOP fills the rails
2.) Pull the ICP sensor and opposite galley plug and fill with oil.

The second is a better option for 2 reasons. The first reason being that you're not burning up your starter, and draining your batteries. The second reason is your HPOP reservoir is probably dry anyway, so instead of adding oil to the pan, you can fill the top end and save a bit of work. I bought a 5th gallon of oil for this very reason, and the top end took about 2.5 quarts of oil between filling the res and filling the rails. Normally it would be around 2 quarts, but I have a spacer for more oil.

Following this method the truck cranked and fired off the first time within 10 seconds. That's pretty amazing considering everything was bone dry.

Now that the truck was finally alive again, I needed to finish the coolant flush process. For those familiar, I used Gooch's coolant flush procedure.


Once that was done, installed the new thermostat and reinforcing ring.

Check for leaks, double check all your connections, and take the truck around the block. Immediately I noticed the throttle was touchier, but wow did it come alive. The truck has so much get up and go that I don't see a need for bigger injectors, at least for my needs. At this point I'm pretty sure I hear a boost leak, which probably means my intakes didn't seal right. I still have exhaust leaks at the up pipes and turbo, so I'm debating on leaving it for now until winter time frame for a T4 swap and Riff Raff billet plenums. Fixing one doesn't mean much if the other is still a problem, but for now she runs well and I drive like a grandpa around town anyway.

Now we're caught up to present day, the truck is running great and has come a long way from 3 years ago.

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