1HDT Power rod impressions..

[sailor]

Well it has been a few weeks since ATEB John sorted the power rod in my boost compensator so I thought I'd update the results in purely non scientific form...

Power- Huge increase in useable performance, particularly on the highway. Truck now pulls hills in OD that it could never before with full load of passengers and Christmas cargo. No more lunging downshifts!

Smoke- Smoke reduced across the board. Slight puff on throttle application, quickly clearing. No smoke to speak of on boost pulling hard.

Mileage- Mileage has improved slightly- like 5-8 % based upon fill up frequency.

Cost- $400 approx. Includes power rod and tune.

Value- The single best performance enhancer I have done to this truck. (and I have done a lot to this truck...)

Perceived value- Excellent return on money.

Installation- Doesn't take much time at all. John must test the truck to assure the settings on the pump are correct for the new tune.

EGT- Pre turbo egt stabilize around 1200f if you blast on it.

What you need- A Pyrometer is recommended for safety and tuning.

Synopsis- Much more power and drivability, reduced smoke and slightly improved mileage! My truck was fast when I got it but smoked like a bastard. It is now faster but with minimal smoke. I tested this on 3 round trips to the Sunshine Coast (Pender Harbour) Includes the HWY 1 cut after the 2nd narrows, the steep climb out of Langdale, blasting around slow Roberts Creekers, and the quick steep passing lanes on HWY 101 up the coast- a pretty good mix. when you bury your foot it just pulls strongly away in OD up hills etc. Even at 60 kmh and 1400 rpm up a hill!

 

[jcolvin]

Did you notice any change in fuel economy?

Do you have a boost gauge on your truck? just wondering what sort of boost you see. I have NEVER seen >13 psi on my 1991 HDJ. Not sure if this is normal or if I need to fiddle with the wastegate.

 

[sailor]

fuel economy, as noted, is slightly improved. John opines that this is due to not having to 'leg it' all the time. My truck is up at 15 lbs boost. It was at this level before the 'rod mod'. Stock boost is around 11 lbs. I found that if you meddle with the fuel screw, you can increase max boost however.

 

[Cruisin']

So what exactly is changed/done in this mod? Sounds like a worthwhile upgrade, but I'd like to know what its all about. I noticed a nice difference when I shimmed my wastegate going from a max of 11psi to about 12.5psi. This sounds like it would compliment that nicely.

 

[sailor]

This is a re-contoured aneroid rod under the boost compensator. John makes them, installs them and then tunes the pump to take advantage of the new fuel delivery. IIRC, it allows more fuel to be injected when on boost and allows earlier power delivery as well. The trick, however, as always, is the tuning. He has researched this and is able to get it right quite quickly. Lance did it to his truck as well and it is likely even faster than mine. More boost allows more fuel as well...

The difference is hard to quantify, I notice it on the highway more but there is more power around town as well. It holds hills in OD on the highway that it NEVER could do before...

 

[Cruisin']

Cool, thanks for clarifying. Sounds like $$ well spent.

 

[LanceCruiser]

John did the install before any tuning, and I ran it that way to see the gains between the stock rod and the mod, the difference is night and day. It definitely has more grunt off the line, but tends to hold third a little longer before hitting OD, I will need to adjust the kickdown cable. Once it does kick down into OD, it pulls like a freight train and the speedo starts climbing. When going up Boundary from Marine, I would watch my speed and rpm drop, and kick down a few times to get up the hill, when it was stock. Now it just climbs without dropping anything. I noticed I gained another pound of boost, bringing it from 11psi to 12psi, with foot to the floor. It was kind of fun, but not very enviro friendly. I could leave a huge smoke screen at will. I let Christian take it for a boot at the Xmas party, and couldn't get him out of my truck.

John tuned it and increased the boost to 15psi, and the smoke has decreased quite a bit. I can still draw a small stream of black cloud in OD. I have been having some fuel issues that we have been working on to pin point. With this mod it shows up a bit with the extra smoke at a certain rpm when it kicks down into OD and light throttle. My mileage is about the same, but I forget to take it easier on the peddle, so I will probably start getting more speeding tickets again. That's the downside.

 

[sailor]

Don't forget all that extra power and mileage you get from your hydrogen booster!

 

[LanceCruiser]

Don't forget all that extra power and mileage you get from your hydrogen booster!

I'm still waiting for the guy at (Hydrogen Junkie) to build me a new and improved one, so my truck is sans hydrogen right now. It would have been nice to see what type of improvements it would have, before any other power mods.

 

[asutherland]

Sailor - any chance it helped with idle smoke?

 

[sailor]

no. rebuilt injectors helped that.

 

[asutherland]

no. rebuilt injectors helped that.

Sigh. Ya... looks like I'm going to have to do it.

 

[sailor]

$950 at Fred Holmes. + re/re. I also stopped returning crankcase gas to the air filter and re checked valve clearances and compression. The idle smoke is still there, just not nearly as offensive. Funnily, it seems to come and go for no apparent reason at different times and temperatures. Just the nature of the beast, I guess... Lance and I would start up the trucks cold in the morning on the big trip and I think he will agree that my truck was rather less smoky when warming up...

 

[LanceCruiser]

Well, I can't say the same about his other exhaust, but yes his truck was cleaner.

 

[Enigma]

Well you talked me into it Sailor. I dropped it off this morning for the power rod mod and a few other little items.
Philip was also showing me Georges turbo mods they are working on, sure looks interesting and it will be fun to see how it turns out.

 

[MonsterCruiser]

Sounds like a good mod. I'll have to get ATEB to do mine too once I save up for a boost gauge and EGT gauge. Soooo tempting to go for the 3" exhaust as well....I could just keep dumping money into my truck LOL!

 

[LanceCruiser]

Yeah, I notice it doesn't smoke as much as it did before the mod, especially going up hills at night, when we were coming back from Hale Creek on New Years. I normally see a light cloud behind me, but now it doesn't happen.

 

[sailor]

Yeah Jeff- It was so worth it on my truck. I was there getting my trans fluid flushed and the front axle serviced and on a whim decided to go for it when John had a cancellation.

 

[BCR4619]

Maybe I'll stop by to look at George's truck tmrw, George told me bout this and it seemed quite intresting!

I must resist this upgrade.... For now lol.

Ryan you haven't got the 3" yet? How could you resist so long?

 

[ForealBoreal]

Sounds like a good mod. I'll have to get ATEB to do mine too once I save up for a boost gauge and EGT gauge. Soooo tempting to go for the 3" exhaust as well....I could just keep dumping money into my truck LOL!

Time to sell those aristos and that alpina. You don't need that s***!