Power increasing and fuel injector cleaners

[Wheelhouse]

I was talking to the service manager at the Ford dealership about increasing the power on my F-350 Power Stroke Diesel. He was telling me that by increasing the amount of fuel to the cylinders by way of the fuel-injectors, you are likely to burn holes in the piston. He explained that with the six jets on the injector tip spraying fuel will eventually burn through the top of the piston. The manager says he has seen many cases where that has happened. I am not a diesel mechanic, but it makes sense. Presently I am using Diesel Clean which is keeping things clean, extending the fuel filter life and giving me good performance so far. Was using Lucas before talking to a few race mechanics I camp fired with on my trip.

[halfwright]

I think he meant over-fueling to the extreme, like with black smoke bellowing out under load or acceleration. A tweak with a chip will not do that. But, the transmission might not handle the extra torque.

[mlh]

What he told you is pure BS. It sounds like you have a 6.4PSD. The 7.3 is hard to hurt. The 6.0 you haft to be careful with they are easy to stretch the head bolts on but you don't burn holes in the pistons. I'm running 210 extra rear wheel HP and over 600 flywheel HP and have been for over 3 years. We went on a 7200 mile trip last summer pulling my Monty with no holes in the pistons. There are lots of guys running the 300 horse tune without burning holes in their pistons. I can tell you what WILL burn holes in your pistons or any of these trucks with these high pressure fuel systems. If an injector gets hung open. This is a common problem with all 3 brands. Our neighbor just had it happen to his 06 D'max. His truck had less than 100000 miles on it and had never been run hard and had been well cared for. It cost him a new engine. You may be able to prevent this from happening if you have a gage to check fuel rail pressure. My fuel pressure runs about 5100 PSI at idle. Should that drop even a few pounds it would indicate a problem that may be a leaking injector but it could be several other problems.
Lynwood

[Overlord]

Wrong forum section for this discussion, but,

If your truck is stock, that guy is full of horse-puckey!!!

If you are simply trying to get better performance out of a completely stock truck with fuel additives, results are not going to be much improved and you have absolutely nothing to worry about. The biggest benefit of using most fuel additives to ultra-low sulpher diesel is, by far, preventing premature failure of the lift pump and fuel pump by
providing more lubricating properties, and upping the cetane value to lessen the risk of pre-detonation.



Burning through the top of a diesel piston is caused by pre-detonation of the fuel charge. This can be caused by different factors, one of which is the turbocharger's boost level, another is injector timing and duration, and other conditions.

Most problems occur when someone has installed a performance chip or module that increases turbo boost by too much, or does not control injector timing and duration correctly for the load conditions that the truck is experiencing at any given time. Lots of factors that must be considered,such as ambient intake air temp, exhaust gas temp, RPM, engine load, etc., etc. Some aftermarket performance modules do a better job than others of all this orchestration of the parameters to ensure that damage to the engine does not occur.




You must use common sense when towing heavy loads with a modded truck.

One is, select a reasonable amount of horsepower increase that the controller has to offer,(I use a 75HP increase) not the maximum setting that may be available.

Use a cetane booster product in your fuel to help eliminate possible pre-detonation.

Monitor exhaust gas temps with an EGT gauge. Know the max temp that you can safely run at.

On long uphill pulls with heavy loads keep your RPMs up, do not lug at low RPMs, exhaust temps will rise quickly to unsafe levels if you do, down-shift if necessary.

In any case, do not roar up the Grapevine at 75mph, in fifth or sixth gear, with 8 tons of trailer behind you, when it is 110*F outside, at a +150HP setting on your controller, .....or you might very well be melting holes in your pistons.


Edit: Yes, as mentioned, fuel rail pressure is a biggie as well.

[1retired06]

Did not catch what year your 350 diesel was, but for both my 6.0, and really now for my 6.7, stock engine provides plenty of capacity without modifications.

[Wheelhouse]

I am sorry to have forgotten to mention, it is a 2003 Ford F-350 Crew Cab Diesel Power Stroke. When the truck is running (stock) it is a power horse with the Monty in back. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it is back there. I always use the tow mode when climbing and going downhill. All of the responses have been great, ty. We just finished our 5 month around the country trip. Time for a rest, lol.

[scott-pati]

I agree with OVERLORD. You have to watch your EGT if you have a modded truck and power setting should low when towing. That service rep doesn't have a clue.

If anybody wants to add more power to their truck, the dealer IS NOT the place to ask or go to, you need to find a diesel after market shop that works on your brand. They are pretty much everywhere. Go to the diesel forums for your brand, there you can find shops in your region and reviews.

Scott

[mlh]

Be careful moding your 6.0 PSD. They won't take as much power as a 6.4 without a lot of up grades but you still not burn holes in the pistons. They have a Cat designed injector so you don't haft to worry about an injector being hung open and that burning up a piston.
Lynwood

[Hooker]

quote:Originally posted by 1retired06

Did not catch what year your 350 diesel was, but for both my 6.0, and really now for my 6.7, stock engine provides plenty of capacity without modifications.

Agree. Anybody puting any mods on any engine is taking, IMHO, an unnecessary chance on damaging the engine. These things are fine, as is.

[mlh]

The 6.4 is a more reliable engine after the proper mods are done. You get rid of the parts that are prone to break. Like the EGR when it goes bad you dump coolant in the oil, not good. I can monitor every system on my truck, transmission slip fuel rail pressure fuel temp. Just to name a few.
Lynwood

[Jewels]

A bit off topic, but was mentioned that you only use tow/haul on hills, up or down. The remainder of the time when towing the Monty are you using regular driving mode?

Thanks for the feedback!

I should mention that I have a 2013 F350 with the 6.4.

[Rainer]

quote:Originally posted by Jewels

A bit off topic, but was mentioned that you only use tow/haul on hills, up or down. The remainder of the time when towing the Monty are you using regular driving mode?

Thanks for the feedback!

I should mention that I have a 2013 F350 with the 6.4.

I have a 2012 F250 with the same 6.4 liter engine. I always use the tow/haul feature when Monte is hitched up. I did the exact same thing on my 2006 F250 with the 6.0 liter engine and my Obie travel trailer.

Once you read the manual these settings become obvious.

[Hooker]

The manual in my 07 D/A dually said to use the T/H when the GCW is 75% of the GCWR, .

[richfaa]

Good advice overloard. We do have the EGT gage and monitor all the perimeters you mention. we get a kick out of the hero's flying past us on a steep grade and we are doing 50/55 watching our EGT/Boost and other perimeters.