Bowtie Brody's Namesake 96 454

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BNielsen

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Post roadtrip update.
Truck did great! Had a couple of issues, several I expected and several that made themselves known.

The 4 or 5 hour trip turned into 8 hours being gone, almost 7 full hours of sustained 65-70 MPH travel; filled up twice and calculated mileage going up was around 14.5, and coming back was almost 15.8! Absolutely blown away, I want to say it's because of the Amsoil fuel treatment I'm using but I'm leaning more towards sustained speeds for several hours versus the usual stop and go short distance drives I usually make.

Issues. It's an old truck, I knew it was inevitable I was going to have at least 2 or 3 problems. But none of which left me stranded so it's still a win.
Issue #1 - running hot; within the first hour and a half of the drive I noticed the temp gauge had just barely eased up a pinch over 210, and once I stopped for gas and shut the truck off, as soon as I keyed the ignition I saw the temp gauged shoot up to what I can only assume was around 240. Got the truck going and got the fan spun up so it cooled off and stayed below 210 for the rest of the trip.

Issue #2 - A/C stopped blowing cold. Not a massive issue, I had a hunch it was low on Freon and driving in the hot heat probably didn't do the whole cooling system much good. I'll test the pressure and top it up if it's indeed low.

Issue #3 - Misfire/back-fire. This is the more concerning issue, as we got closer to the destination and the heat outside began creeping up the truck would bog and stumble taking off from stop lights, coil and ICM getting too hot maybe? And on the trip back on the interstate I couldn't spin any more than 2200 or so RPMs because anything higher than that and the truck would act like it was misfiring. Which I'm fairly convinced at this point it's the dizzy gear getting worn and starting to knife-edge on the cam gear, does that sound correct for what issues I'm having?

All in all, I'm blown away with how the truck performed; even with the issues that presented themselves I'm super happy with my truck, definitely room for power upgrades though. No passing power whatsoever.
 

letitsnow

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There are many guys here that know a ton more than I do about this, but everything that you wrote makes me think - running too lean. You really only should get 12-14 mpg tops, ever.
 

JSlezak83

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I experienced both issues 1 and 2 on my 4 hour round trip this past Sunday. Ambient temps were around 90* so things were hot under the hood.

A day later, I towed my 5th wheel about 20mi, through town and on the highway, and couldn’t replicate the issue. Towing the camper again about 200mi this coming Saturday, so we’ll see if the issues rear their ugly head again. I hope not, as wife will be riding shotgun.
 

Mangonesailor

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Wall of text

Well, as far as the misfiring goes you would want to look at cylinder misfire history and see what cylinders are reportedly misfiring and their position in the firing order.

I have a 160° thermostat you can have. But you probably want to just find a 180 one and use it, unless you already have.

Really need to hook up a scanner to it and see what's being commanded and happening in real life. Sounds like you have an issue rearing its head.

Didn't you recently change your fuel filter or pump? You could be running out of fuel pressure and that's why you're misfiring under load, and overheating due to running lean.

Also, that's pretty good milage, but I don't remember us double-checking your speedo.
 

BNielsen

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There are many guys here that know a ton more than I do about this, but everything that you wrote makes me think - running too lean. You really only should get 12-14 mpg tops, ever.

Didn't think about leaning it out. I was running with the cruise set at 65 and throttling up to 70 a few points.

I experienced both issues 1 and 2 on my 4 hour round trip this past Sunday. Ambient temps were around 90* so things were hot under the hood.

A day later, I towed my 5th wheel about 20mi, through town and on the highway, and couldn’t replicate the issue. Towing the camper again about 200mi this coming Saturday, so we’ll see if the issues rear their ugly head again. I hope not, as wife will be riding shotgun.

I knew I was going to be dealing with a hot truck, anytime I was stopped for an extended period of time I popped the hood to let out all the heat. It's also not helping most of the insulation on the A/C lines is deteriorating and falling off.

Well, as far as the misfiring goes you would want to look at cylinder misfire history and see what cylinders are reportedly misfiring and their position in the firing order.

I have a 160° thermostat you can have. But you probably want to just find a 180 one and use it, unless you already have.

Really need to hook up a scanner to it and see what's being commanded and happening in real life. Sounds like you have an issue rearing its head.

Didn't you recently change your fuel filter or pump? You could be running out of fuel pressure and that's why you're misfiring under load, and overheating due to running lean.

Also, that's pretty good milage, but I don't remember us double-checking your speedo.

The speedo is off just a smidge, but I factored that in doing the math calculating my mileage.
I'm probably gonna throw a 185 in here soon, it needs a coolant flush, it's overdue for that.
And I replaced the fuel pump and filter, how would I remedy fuel pressure loss? I was going to order the RaceTronix hotwire kit for the fuel pump. Could it be FPR maybe?
 

JSlezak83

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I knew I was going to be dealing with a hot truck, anytime I was stopped for an extended period of time I popped the hood to let out all the heat. It's also not helping most of the insulation on the A/C lines is deteriorating and falling off.

...fuel pump. Could it be FPR maybe?

I never considered that as a heat source. I always thought it was to insulate the refrigerant from the heat. The lines do get pretty hot though. That being said, mines in sad shape too.

I’m pretty sure my FPR has failed internally. I’ve got a bad fuel odor under pressure, but no visible leakage. Haven’t made the time to investigate it yet.
 
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BNielsen

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I never considered that as a heat source. I always thought it was to insulate the refrigerant from the heat. The lines do get pretty hot though. That being said, mines in sad shape too.

I’m pretty sure my FPR has failed internally. I’ve got a bad fuel odor under pressure, but no visible leakage. Haven’t made the time to investigate it yet.

I do sometimes notice a raw fuel smell, I mainly connected that to the PCM running it rich or some other situation.
The lines do get hot so I think it's sort of a trade-off deal, the heat from the lines adds to the underhood temps, and the heat from the engine itself heats up the refrigerant? There's some really fancy DEI hook and loop thermal insulation that I've been meaning to order and try out.
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Here's the pig we went to the other side of Raleigh to get. 2002 Dodge Ram 3500. 24-Valve 5.9L Cummins and an auto, guy was using it for his mobile sand blasting company so it's still got some of the vinyl decals on it, we removed quite a few already. Next up for removal is going to be that ladder rack.
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Mangonesailor

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There's some really fancy DEI hook and loop thermal insulation that I've been meaning to order and try out.

This'll save a few bucks: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MXKYY3...olid=29KH3991N1SVW&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Armaflex (for HVAC refrigerant lines) is rated for 220*F temps. Probably good for use under the hood? I think GSX or GST wire (whatever the spec is) is rated for 90*C... which is something like 180-190*F. So that'd probably work too. You can get it at Home Depot for like <$10 for 6ft . Has the self-taping joint too.

Reminds me, I need some for the wife's car. Her A/C sucks bawls.

I've gone through 3-4 FPRs since I've had my truck. Almost a yearly thing. I'd REALLY like to convert it to a different setup, have a pressure sensor and gauge, and just have a machine shop fabricate a "plug" that uses the factory O-ring to seal it in the well and get rid of the damn thing. @BNielsen you need to check your fuel pressure. If it's due for the coolant to be changed definitely do it and stuff a 180 in there. The engine will like it. I have a 180 with a new radiator/WP and it runs at around 180-185*F unloaded on the highway. With a bed full of dirt on the highway it runs 185 as well. Today while driving home I logged an air intake temp of 93. You gotta keep the temps down with our big intakes to keep spark knock at bay... especially if you're towing.
 
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