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JoshW's build/upgrade thread.

16K views 83 replies 17 participants last post by  IowaFire1770 
#1 · (Edited)
FX4Josh's build/upgrade thread.

... In the beginning ...

I'm new to the forum, and a new to me 6.0 PowerStroke owner. I just picked up the truck yesterday and to my delight, it already seemed to have a few upgrades such as MBRP exhaust and a nice set of wheels and new tires. I really have no background of the truck, so I'm going to go ahead and dive in to upgrading a few things here and there. I'm certainly not going to go bonkers with modifications, etc as some folks have, but rather focus on "reliability" and "driveability" upgrades to enhance the truck overall.

First things first, some gauges are going in to see where I'm standing on boost levels, EGT temperatures, and fuel pressure as from what I've been reading, fuel pressure is a very important thing. Transmission temperature isn't of much importance right now, because I won't be towing anything (maybe a boat?) and there's a (somewhat accurate?) dash gauge for that anyway. The truck does need a little fluffing up with some general parts and maintenance. New wiper blades, a fresh oil change and a good engine cleaning are on the immediate horizon within the next week or two. The A/C also seems to need a little re-upping on 134A as it isn't as cool as it could be. Those are things I can take care of in the driveway on a weekend. I also would LIKE to do a transmission fluid and filter change.

After the gauges go in and are all functioning, I'm planning to upgrade this "blue spring" in the fuel filter housing or whatever. Forgive my ignorance, I've only read a little about this, but it seems very important to maintaining FP at WOT. Gauges first will allow me to see what/how this blue spring upgrade improves my fuel pressure.

Immediately following the blue spring, I'll likely be upgrading the factory intake elbow. It looks like a pretty inexpensive (<$200) upgrade and should help air flow a little bit, which I'm all for improving. The upgraded elbow also has ports already tapped for a clean boost line install which is another reason I want one. Sure I can drill and tap the factory one, but I'll have to remove it anyway to prevent shavings from falling in, so I might as well just upgrade for a couple benjamins and be done. I will probably hold off on an actual intake for awhile, because I need to get the oil cooler/coolant filter/EGR delete stuff taken care of ASAP as I know those are pitfalls with these engines. Thoroughbred Diesel is just up the road from my office so I'll probably just take the truck up to them for the EGR/oil cooler stuff. Not that I wouldn't LOVE to tear into the truck myself, I just don't really have the time for bigger tasks like that and would prefer to leave it to an actual diesel mechanic.

So with the purchase of a "new to me" truck, I certainly have a few chores on my to-do list and enough to keep me busy (and my wallet sucked dry) for a little while. It's all in good fun though, because I knew these things when I signed the papers yesterday. I feel I got a good deal on the truck though, with only 112,000 on the clock and a hair less than $6,000 financed.

Stay tuned for more updates and pictures. I like to take pictures, so I'll be dumping a LOT of them here. Also, if you guys have advice or words of warning, PLEASE post them. I'm new to this engine and I welcome any and all of your information. That's why I'm here, to learn, to share, and to build a reliable and fun truck that will last for years to come. I need your help!

Here's a picture of the truck in "as purchased" form.




Here's a picture of "the christening" of the rear tires yesterday.



Finally, here are some all around and under pictures of the beast.



















 
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#2 ·
Just spent about $120 on some misc goodies. An upgraded STC fitting kit and an upgraded "blue spring" fuel pressure kit that also comes with the 6.4 banjo bolts.

Also found a killer deal on some genuine Motorcraft oil filters, so I picked one of those up.
 
#4 ·
Thanks man! I'm really happy with it so far, even though I'm mindlessly throwing money at it and I've not even put 100 miles on it yet.

I just want to make it reliable and make sure all of the little 6.0 bugs are taken care of so I don't have to worry about them later. I'd rather take the whole top of the engine apart ONE time, replace the things that are prone to failure, and not have to worry about doing it again, and again, and again.

Am I throwing money at problems that don't even exist yet? Yes, I sure as heck am. But that money is buying me something, and that's peace of mind that when I'm 150 miles from home, snow is pouring, and the sun is going down, that when I turn the key my truck will start, run, and get me where I need to go.

I'm thoroughly enjoying every moment so far, and I've done nothing but recharge the A/C a little bit, top off the washer fluid, and spend a couple hundred bucks.
 
#6 ·
Nothing wrong with A little piece of mind, it is YOUR truck after all.

I also have a habit of putting money towards problems that havn't occured yet. I like to replace things BEFORE they fail on me, I can't afford to otherwise. It's all about dependability and reliability.

Tackle the main 6.0 issues first, and I promise you will be more than satisfied in the long run.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Finished installing a CB antenna just now. Also replaced my blower motor resistor due to my fan speeds acting funky. The antenna mount is a Firestik brand stake hole mount. It's made of stainless steel and fit the bed stake pocket really nice and snug. The coax cable is ran down inside of the bed, and will be ran through the floorboard of the truck. Right now I just laid it all back over inside the bed. Dinner was almot finished so I didn't have time to get it in the cab this evening. Also, found a thread with directions on how to repair/resolder the FICM yourself. I haven't measured my FICM voltages yet, so I'm unsure of the condition of mine, but I will likely pull it and resolder anyway just for some PM.

Today is payday and all of the bills are taken care of. I plan to dump essentially my whole paycheck on some goodies including but not limited to:

- Boost/Pyro/FP Gauges
- Scangauge
- EGR Delete
- New/upgraded oil cooler
- Coolant filter kit
- New dummy plugs/standpipes

Here is a link to the thread and some pictures of the CB antenna mount.

DIY FICM repair





 
#8 · (Edited)
Santa claus is coming to town.

I've been on a shopping spree this morning buying gauges, EGR delete, upgraded oil cooler, new dummy plugs and standpipes and a coolant filter kit. Scored a killer deal on a ScanGauge too from a forum member here. My very first official purchase from the members of PowerStroke.org! Also reinstalled my FICM after touching up the solder on it as per the DIY FICM repair, and the truck started, so I must have not butchered it up too bad. (I have excellent soldering skills)

The mailman is bringing my white dash gauge kit today, so I'm waiting on that to arrive so I can get the dash back in the truck, and then I may end up mounting up my CB depending on what time it is. Photodump to come later this evening/tonight.

Update

So here's some pictures of last night and today's festivities.

We began with the FICM and doing a little solder touch up job on it. I had done a little reading and figured, eh, what the heck, it won't hurt anything. So I went about removing the FICM yesterday evening and took it apart. The directions were pretty easy to follow and I re-flowed the solder as the directions specified. I even added some new, fresh solder and put it all back together. It really wasn't a bad job - atleast the soldering wasn't. I'm sure there are guys here who are good at soldering and rather poor at turning wrenches, or guys who excel with wrenches and ratchets but don't have the nerve for a soldering iron on a sensitive circuit board. I'm certainly better at soldering. At one point I was LAYING DOWN on top of the engine trying to get the FICM plugs to "click" back in. Eventually I got the job done.

Here are a couple pictures of the FICM and what it looks like inside.





After the FICM was taken care of, I set out to make some progress on my CB radio install. I figured I'd go ahead and get the coax for the antenna ran into the cab as neatly as possible. I've owned several different vehicles in the past, and I've had CB's in ALL of them. This had to be one of the EASIEST CB install jobs I've ever done. It was so simple and everything ended up really nice. This is a picture of the hole I made just under the door sill plate to feed the coax inside.



Here's what it looks like from the bottom.



And finished. Ready to be routed under the carpet and connected to the radio. I also soldered the coax end on at this point.





By now, the mail had ran. Literally, just as I was cleaning up from the coax job. My white gauge faces had arrived! Yesterday evening after I pulled the FICM I also removed the gauges from the dash and disassembled them in prep for today. Having everything already pulled and ready made this whole little chore list MUCH easier to get done. Here are some pictures of this process.





Finally, here's everything all done and put back together. I've spent most of the day today piddling around and just took my time. Everything seemed to turn out real nice and the wife and I took a trip to town for dinner. The truck ran great, so my FICM job evidently was a success! I also was able to take a minute or two to check the CB antenna's SWR and make a small adjustment to it. An SWR of 1.4 was easily attained with minimal tuning. Having access to an antenna analyzer helps!

These little radios are awesome. I actually have two more because I like them so much. For those who understand electronics and radio communications, these radios come factory with IRF520 MOSFET final transistors. With a mild peak and tune, they can modulate close to 25 watts! The audio quality with the little Uniden hand mic is superb too as it has a high impedance (1000 ohm) electret element that matches the radio's audio transformer quite well. I have several tuned Cobra radios, and these little plastic Unidens are every bit as loud as they are.







In a few days my gauges and other goodies should arrive, so my next upgrades will very likely be a ScanGauge and analog A-pillar gauges, wiring them in to the electrical system for power/illumination and routing the sensor harnesses into the engine bay.
 
#9 ·
It's been a few days since my last post, and I have a few more updates in the works. Last night I removed my driver's side A-pillar and spent a couple hours getting my gauges mounted to it. I'll be installing that this holiday weekend. My LED replacement clearance lights arrived and those are installed as well.

This morning I stubled upon a killer deal for some 6.0 OEM headgaskets, so I pulled the trigger on a set of those as I may very well end up doing some ARP headstuds at the time of everything else. The price was so good, I couldn't pass them up really.

Also ordered some upfitter switches and a B&M launch control solenoid. -grin-

I'll likely be posting another photodump tomorrow late or Saturday with more pictures of the past couple days' progress. Hope everyone is enjoying watching the story as it unfolds.
 
#10 ·
So I was bored..

I went ahead and installed my gauges after dinner. Everything is mounted up and in place, I just need to tap into the fuse box for power, and get the sensor cables routed through the firewall. The mosquitos were beginning to figure out where I was, so I stepped for the evening. Here are some pictures of last nights work, as well as some of my progress this evening.

Neatness counts! I am borderline OCD, so I'm taking a little extra time to make sure that everything is as close to perfection as I can make it.









Inside the truck..









 
#11 · (Edited)
Finally got the gauge sensor cables through the firewall. This proved to be quite the task. I didn't want to drill any holes in the firewall, so I chose to utilize the rubber grommet where a big slump of wires already pass through. This is some HARD rubber! It took a good thirty minutes of cutting carefully with an X-acto knife to avoid knicking any of the other wires that were in it. I finally made a hole big enough to pass everything through though, and all was well.



I didn't take the time to connect the sensors to anything though, I mainly wanted to get the cables under the hood. The final connections will come soon, and my gauges will be active.

While I was piddling around I found a great place to place my ScanGauge. There's a little cubby hole under the Pioneer stereo that came in the truck and the ScanGauge fits PERFECT here. A little velcro will keep it from moving around once it's finalized. Here I've drilled a hole in the rear of the cubby hole to route the ScanGauge plug so it will stay mostly hidden.





In addition to these chores, I installed some new Bosch wiper blades ($3.75 ea. from RockAuto!) and a steering wheel grip cover that's proven to enhance driving abilities. :)
 
#12 ·
It's been a wild past few days chasing electrical gremlins and the like. After installing the gauges, I discovered my truck would crank and TRY to fire, but it just wouldn't catch and run on it's own. So I whipped out my trusty test light and made a very unsettling discovery under the dash. A mouse had decided to chew some wires, and in the midst of routing my gauge harnesses, I guess I had bumped something and broke a couple wires loose. Soldered them back, heat shrinked the splice, and she lives again. Definately dodged a bullet and I'm glad this happened in the driveway and not miles from home. Furthermore, I'm glad it wasn't as worse as it could have been. A vehicle fire isn't exactly my idea of a good time.

Also had a chance to get some upfitter switches installed, and took a few minutes to do the High Idle/BCP mod with the purple and green wire. Initially it didn't work for me, because the Aux 3 switch I had it wired to wasn't putting out any voltage. I'm still unsure what's up with it, so I just hooked it to Aux 4 and it works. It's pretty cool - definately will come in handy this winter for a quicker warm up. After a few zip ties to neaten up the MESS behind my fuse box, I was able to re-install it and now everything sans Aux 3 is online again. The gauges light up and dim when the lights are turned on and high idle works. Those upfitters sure do look nice!

My immediate next upgrades will be to replace both tail lights as one is cracked and letting water in, remove my front license plate frame, upgrade my clearance lights with LED's, upgrade the speedometer/tach cluster lighting with LED's, and replace the seven pin trailer connector with a new one. Minor cosmetic things for the most part.

I'm nearing completion of the easy and simple things I had planned. Soon it will be time for the engine to go under the knife and get some ARP studs, new OEM headgaskets, new oil cooler, EGR delete, and a few other goodies. I'll post some pictures of my progress in a few days. It's been raining just about every evening after work, so I've had to work in between showers and it hasn't left me with much time to get something done. A simple job that would normally take 45 minutes has to be done in bites due to time and weather constraints.

Stay tuned!
 
#13 · (Edited)
I was a little bored this evening, so here's some pictures of what I've been collecting. Most of it's OEM stuff. How many 6.0 parts can YOU name? There's a lot of money laying here in parts and goodies. This is just an appetizer of what's to come. I'm also planning on ARP studs, a Garrett PowerMax, SCT X4, and maybe, just maybeeee some injectors.

Don't let the new coolant pressure cap and head gaskets fool you. The cap was dirt cheap from RockAuto so I figured replacing it/having a spare was some cheap insurance, and I scored a deal on the OEM gaskets for my headstud plans.











 
#15 ·
90% of it is all bulletproofing stuff. I've been keeping receipts for EVERYTHING I buy, and right now I'm at just a hair over $1,200. This includes a few things you don't see here that are already in the truck, such as gauges, a Scangauge, upfitter switches, misc things. By the time I'm all said and done, I'm going to TRY to be around $4,000-$4,500. This includes upgrading to a PowerMax turbocharger.

I've found several bargains on eBay for OEM parts. I've got most of that stuff bought though. Getting ready to get into the big ticket items.

It's fun. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself.
 
#16 ·
Spent some time kicking around Mishimoto's site tonight, and I'm thinking long and hard about pulling the trigger on their 6.0 boot and charge pipe kit. I noticed the other day that one of my IC pipes is PLASTIC and that just doesn't jive with me. Plus I really like their boots and my truck does need a set of those. The OEM ones are pretty scraggly looking.

Tomorrow may end up being another shopping day with the Mishimoto kit, some ARP studs, a upgraded rear diff cover, and a new front grille. I'm still on the fence at this point. :)
 
#17 · (Edited)
It's been a long week, and it sure has been hot and humid in Kentucky. The rain gave me a break this weekend and I was able to take care of a couple things. Friday evening after work I began a rear differential service for the truck for a couple of reasons. Mostly because I didn't know if the gear oil had ever been changed, and because I picked up a 2008+ rear diff cover for about $50 and it looked to be a definate upgrade over the one that came with the truck. I did take some time to shoot it with some clearcoat to help keep the aluminum from oxidizing and it give it a neat shiny finish. I think it came out great! In all, I hit it with about five light coats so it should help protect it.







I also picked up some updated hardware from Lowes. Grade 8 allen socket bolts and grade 8 washers.





Here is the Permatex gasket silicone I used. It's made specifically for rear differentials and transfer cases. This RTV has a special additive in it to help keep friction modifiers that are commonly used in gear oil from breaking down the RTV. Black would have probably worked too.




First things first, I made sure I could get the fill plug loose. It took a 1/4" ratchet and with a tap from a rubber mallet, it broke right loose. After this, I loosened the diff cover bolts and let the gear oil drain out into a catch pan overnight. Here is a picture of the rear diff without the cover after it had drained. I took extra time to examine all of the splines and teeth on the gears for wear and/or damage, and everything looked great! I didn't notice any metal shavings either.



After cleaning the mating surface with some brake cleaner and a old rag, I crawled back out from under the truck to apply the RTV to the new cover. I did not let it skim over as some people have done. The directions on the package indicated not to, so I didn't.





Now came a challenge of getting the new cover mated up to the differential without smearing the RTV everywhere. Before the two surfaces made contact, I pushed a bolt though the top and bottom holes to help align it. This really made the job easier. Once I had found the holes, I simply hand tightened the two bolts to secure it.



Then came the other bolts and washers, all hand tight for now.



At this point the RTV started to squeeze out and this was good, this told me I had applied enough and I was getting a good seal. Now, I'm going to wait 24 hours (or maybe more) and let the RTV set up and cure before I torque the bolts on down and refill with some fresh 75W-140.



After this job was finished, or as finished as I could get it for the time being, I set off to replace the factory grille. On mine, some of the "chrome" was starting to bubble and peel off and it looked horrible. I didn't like it at all, so I ordered a new grille.





Removing the grille was pretty easy. I found a YouTube video that showed me to remove the four screwes in the top and use a flat screwdriver to pry the little clips out on the bottom. It came out really easy.



While I had the grille out, I took a second to do this "zoodad mod" I keep seeing. Whether it does anything or not, who knows? But for a second of my time, any little thing to help airflow will be good.





Here's the new grille installed, sans emblem.



I know, I didn't put the emblem back on. This was intentional, because I'm mailing my emblem to a buddy of mine in Eastern Kentucky that does custom airbrushing. I have a little something special planned for the old faded emblem, so be sure to stay tuned. :)

In addition to these little chores, I received some shipments over the past few days as well.

ARP headstuds, of course.



The cherry on the cake, Mishimoto intercooler boot and piping kit!









I'm really impressed with the quality of these boots and pipes. I don't ever think I'll be having a boot blow off problem with these, especially with the size of those T-clamps! Definately going to be a nice upgrade over the factory boots and pipes that are on the truck.

Stay tuned for my next photodump which will include some pictures of a new steering stabilizer/damper install. I would have done that this morning as well, but I needed a deep well 18MM socket and I didn't have one. So I'll grab one at Lowes tonight and save that job for next weekend or one day after work. :) I'm nearing completion of about everything I can do in my driveway with my skills and tools. The task of bulletproofing is going to be handed off to a guy up in Louisville that has bulletproofed in the neighborhood of 110 6.0's. I've been speaking with people he's done work for and everyone tells me he's really good at what he does. I'm planning to ride up one weekend and visit with him, see his shop, and see if he really is the real deal.

My next purchases will likely be a Garrett PowerMax turbocharger, and a SCT X4 with some custom tunes from Innovative Diesel or Windrunner. Maybe both, since it holds ten separate tunes. I'll also be having some window tinting done soon. I want em' blacked out. :)
 
#18 ·
If it was me I'd skip the powwermax and go with either windrunners, mtw, or barder stage 1 or 2 so you have room to grow in the future.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Wow, I was beginning to wonder if anyone actually was watching my progress here! Appears it's your first post too, welcome!

For a long time I was actually considering one of the KC Turbo's "Stage 2" turbochargers and after speaking with him via a few messages, even he seemed to recommed the PowerMax for what I was going for. I'm not deadset on a PowerMax at all, and right now I'm still reading and weighing my options a little bit. I like the PowerMax in that it is an upgrade over the factory charger and that it will provide boost where I want it (up high). I know the PowerMaxxes are known for being laggy, and that's fine. Most of my driving is highway and the times I'll have the truck on the track, I want my boost in the higher end anyway. I don't tow/expect to tow with my truck much at all, so having boost down low and eliminating lag time are moot to me. I'm perfectly fine with spool time. :)

Did I also mention the fact that the PowerMax is a drop in upgrade? Ease of installation certainly catches my eye.

From what I've been reading, the PowerMax seems to get a pretty bad rep and I can only imagine it's due to the truck not being tuned correctly to account for the PowerMax and it's specific boost map. Those who have the PowerMax and have thier tune TAILORED for the PowerMax seem to be satisfied.

I'm still shopping though, and while having room to grow is nice, I certainly don't ever expect to be grown to the point I'm pushing the limits of an upgraded turbocharger. Right now, even the stock charger is enough for what fuel I've added, and that's none. I'm still putting around on the stock flash and will be for quite awhile until I get the bulletproofing finished up. The X4 and a custom tune will be the final installment, atleast until I break something by acting foolish.
 
#20 ·
Spent a few minutes this evening running the tubing for the boost gauge. I removed the intake elbow and tapped a hole in it for a quick and easy connection. My boost gauge works now, and now I need to get the pyrometer and fuel pressure gauge connected as well.

Here's some quick shots of the boost elbow while drilling and tapping.





 
#21 · (Edited)
The wife went swimming with some friends this morning, so I was peeking through the blinds when they left. Immediately grabbed my drill and some odds and ends and went outside to make some progress on the build.

Today's chore was to drill and tap the exhaust manifold for my pyrometer probe installation. I completed the boost gauge install a few day ago and it turned out great. However with two more gauges to get active, time was wasting and I certainly needed to get them taken care of. This job was pretty easy and straightforward. Having a cordless drill and the correct bit and tap made this a cakewalk. For anyone in the future installing a pyrometer I recommend the little bit/tap kit from GlowShift. I have thier MaxTow series gauges and the drill/tap set was perfect for the boost fitting and pyrometer fittings included with the gauges. Your fitting sizes may be different though.

Here's a picture of the tap and drill bit set.



Drilling and tapping the hole was pretty easy. I followed the pictures on Diesel Manor for installation. I first started drilling over too far and stopped in favor of drilling closer to the middle of the manifold. My thinking was I didn't want the tip of the probe touching the inner wall of the manifold and I also wanted to get it closer to the middle of the exhaust stream for a more accurate reading. After tapping the hole I gave the hole a quick suck with my shop vac to get as many of the shavings out as I could.




I don't have one of those tap "t-handle" things, so I had to improvise a little bit. I found a socket that fit the tap perfect and with some long extensions I was able to get the job done. I was trying to be extra careful with the ratchet as I knew I could apply more torque than what was needed and break something off. So I was very gentle and snugged up the probe fitting just shy of "tight".







Chicken dinner! It works!



Also, here are some shots of my steering damper upgrade from last weekend. I didn't have time to take them until today. This is a ProComp brand stabilizer that I picked up from Summit. It didn't come with the boot, I also purchased it seperately. I can tell a slight difference over the factory stabilizer that was on the truck. I initially thought I didn't have one, but I did. I just wasn't looking far enough up under the truck to see it.





All that's really left now is the fuel pressure gauge. I may very well wait on installing it, as I also have a blue spring upgrade to install as well. I'll probably wait until closer to fuel filter time to do these tasks.

Each day that ticks by is a day closer to surgery time. I have a box of goodies sitting here for the bulletproof job as well as some other fun toys. Right now I'm beginning to save my lunch money for a turbo upgrade, and then it's off to see the wizard.
 
#24 · (Edited)
A quick mid-week update!

I just spent some coin on a slightly pre-owned KC Stage 2 turbo from Charlie himself and I'm really stoked about the deal I got. He says he should be shipping it out UPS today or tomorrow, so I should have it mid next week! I was prepared to dump $1200 on a PowerMax tomorrow or early next week, so I'm really glad I scored with Charlie this morning. I feel I've purchased a whole lot better turbo for what I'm doing, and spent a couple hundred LESS than what the lesser PowerMax would have cost me.

I will also be receiving a braided fuel pressure sensor relocation hose today, so this weekend I'm thinking about getting my fuel pressure gauge finished up and putting in the blue spring kit. I'll probably hold off on changing the filters for another few weeks though. This will finalize my entire gauge installation and will make all three of my a-pillar gauges active. I probably could have gotten them all done in a day or over a weekend, but as hot as it's been here in Kentucky and as many other responsibilities as I've had, it would have been a strain. So I chose to just take it in bites.

Pictures this weekend, and MORE pictures of the pretty turbo when it arrives! Tallied up all of my receipts this morning and I'm weighing in at just over $3,500 spent so far. I still have injectors to buy, the bulletproofing to get done, and the final tuning of everything. It's slightly expensive, but man, it's fun and it's going to be worth it. Comparison shopping and shopping for a little better price here and there certainly is helping keep my wallet happy with this build.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I really just can't help myself.. Had a couple free hours this evening so why not go ahead and get started on things? I actually ended up finishing my fuel pressure gauge install, changing the fuel filter, and upgrading to the "blue spring". I more or less just piddled around and took my time. Just finished everything up about fifteen minutes ago. Check it out..

Because I ended up running my gauge harnesses around the long way under the hood, I needed a braided extension hose. I kindof wanted one anyway to isolate the fuel pressure sensor from the engine. MaxTow/GlowShift stocks this braided hose made just for this application and it worked out perfect for me. Included with the hose was two brass fittings to adapt the hose to my fuel pressure adapter on the filter housing, and another one that accepted the fuel pressure sensor. All for $20 to my door. Comparative hoses at Summit were close to $40 and didn't include the fittings.









I began the evening doing the blue spring upgrade and filter change. After removing the stock airbox/filter assembly, and loosening the CAC pipe I was able to access the little place where the spring resides much easier. DieselTechRon actually has a pretty sweet video on YouTube that helped with this!

Here's a shot of everything right after removing the cover.



Here's the spring that was in the truck. It was colored black and the little brass thing was nasty. I had a new one that I replaced it with!



Here's the NEW blue spring installed.



While I had the cover off and easier access, I removed the fuel pressure port with an allen key. Using an adapter I also purchased from MaxTow/Glowshift and another brass 90* fitting, I installed these into the pressure test port and snugged them tight.



Finished! Here's everything put back together with the truck running. I cycled the key 4 or 5 times to make sure that everything was primed up good, and she fired right up! I let the truck run a few minutes and I kept watching the fittings and everything and didn't notice any leaks at all. Bone dry!



60 PSI at idle!



Here's a shot of the steel braided line along with the boost gauge tubing from the elbow.



Here's the fuel pressure sensor, ziptied secure.



All in all, this was a fun little project that was certainly high on the to-do list. I honestly should have taken a fuel pressure measurement at WOT before the blue spring install, and I knew that going in. But, I didn't really want to do more work than was needed. I was going to be "in there" hooking up the fuel pressure gauge anyway, so why not go ahead and do a needed upgrade and be done.

Especially with my plans to add some 175cc injectors soon, the blue spring upgrade was a definite need to do. Now it's done, I can monitor fuel pressure, and have some confidence that I won't be starving my upgraded injectors for fuel pressure at WOT.

Now what to do this weekend, other than dream of the gorgeous turbocharger that's coming next week from Charlie at KC. :)
 
#26 · (Edited)
Took the truck out for a spin Saturday night to grab some dinner and I was very pleasantly surprised with my fuel pressure. At WOT (and I do mean on the floor for a good ten seconds WOT) the fuel pressure only dipped a couple PSI. The lowest I was ever able to make it go was 57 PSI and that was pulling a pretty good hill with it on the floor. So this was really great news. I'm still very happy with the truck and even in it's stock form it still puts a huge smile on my face when I hear the turbo spool up and it nudges you in the seat just a little bit. Gosh, it's such a lovely sound and such a lovely feeling to be behind the wheel of this thing. I can only imagine how some of you guys with more heavily modified trucks feel when you break the tires loose from a 30 roll. :)

While out, my pyrometer started acting funky again, sometimes losing it's connection to the thermocouple. It's been doing this awhile now and yesterday afternoon I was fed up. I tore into it and I THINK found my problem, the little "push to connect" termnals that connect the pyrometer harness to the gauge were loose and intermittently connecting/losing connection. So I fixed this for good by taking the connectors off completely, stripping and soldering the wires together, and finishing up with some heat shrink tubing over the connections. Done (hopefully).

My turbo should be arriving in a couple more days, and I'm beyond excited for it. Financially, it was a touch pill to swallow because I wasn't really prepared to dump so much money at once. The deal was so good though I had to, because if I didn't, I knew good and well it wouldn't be there in the next ten minutes. Do I regret the purchase? Not at all. It was just a harder lick to my pocket than I thought it would be at the time. I've been eating ramen noodles for the past three days, but it's totally worth it. I know a lot of guys were in line for that turbo and I'm totally blessed that I was able to make a deal with Charlie and secure it for my truck at a more than fair price for the both of us.

My last purchases are going to be the big ones. Injectors, bulletproofing services, and I've got my eye on a Mishimoto 6.0 intercooler now too. I really like Mishimoto's line of products for the 6.0 engine and I feel that an upgraded intercooler would be a very nice and welcome addition to my project. I'm going a little deeper in this build sooner than I had really expected to, but money now is the same as money later really. I might as well build the truck right, not cut any corners, and save money in the future when everything is finished. Afterall, it's just money, and what good is it if it's just laying around collecting dust?
 
#27 ·
I really like the gauges and new dash gauges
 
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