I did well in Muncie, IN

[John DiMartino]

I went to Thunder in Muncie, Indiana on 6-3-6-6. This is a national diesel event,people come from across the country to compete,and have fun. My truck has been apart a while now over 2 weeks total.I got it running monday night,and by thursday I was towing it 11hrs to Muncie Indiana. I did a lot of the work last minute in Muncie on friday. I dynoed Saturday on diesel only at 592.6. Saturday night I did some tuning,and an injector change ,sunday at the drags after making 2 passes i did 603.5HP. I was happy to say the least. I ran twice,this is the first time with my tighter torque convertor, i bogged out of the hole to a 12.5 @109.1. Second time i fogged the timing lights with smoke, so i dont have an ET,it felt real strong,but i did run 111.5mph in that run. When i used to run nitrous i only ran 109.25,so the run should be real low 12s. ill get back to the track soon to back these numbers up. It looks like the truck is running as strong now on diesel only as it used to un nitrous.For the drag races, the trans wasnt tuned yet I didnt have time,the 2-3 shift was late.so theres room to improve these times,once tuned. Here is the link to the results, i placed #5 in HP . They messed up my name, notice im in the 600+ and the 500-599hp,since i dynoed twice. heres a link to the DTR http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45726

[JD PLOWER]

Congrats John! Those are some impressive numbers. What did you use to tow the truck to Indy?

[John DiMartino]

I used my dads 2001 Dodge 3500 .I would have driven it out like last yr but the truck was just finished and i had it running under 2 hrs, didnt want to take a chance with it. Besides Dads truck has a cap, and i loaded all the tools into it and it was nice having a place to keep everything.I got 13-14 mpg towing at 70-80 mph with Dads truck. :D

[lbgirl]

Congrats John! :grinz
You did awesome!:burnout

[John DiMartino]

Heres sundays dyno runs,notice the torque is low on paper. These runs were done quickly and started at over 2000RPM, so the numbers arent right there, if i was to dyno it, with my lockup switch on and 4 th gr switch on, i would have done about 1200 ft lbs at 2000RPM.

[gslam88]

John,

Congrats on a great showing .... and it also looks like you were able to keep the head from lifting off ... did you change the bolts finally that you were having problems with last time ...

Have you finally swarn off the gas on your truck for now??

Pete

[lola]

Congratulations!:cool:

[snowplowjay]

Looks like a great showing John.............


Congrats on your runs!!!





:burnout


Jay

[ratlover]

:rocker

[Rooster]

Way to go John!
Good luck in the future!

Rick

[Crimedog]

Nice Job Johnny! I saw your numbers on dieseltruckresource. What happened to the truck to keep it down for 2 weeks? Head problems? I am planning on making it out there next year, just to have some fun. Those are awesome numbers on #2 only! Just to let you know, you and wyldman successfully planted the bombing bug in me. I am starting with a Goerand tranny pretty soon, and hopefully injectors before summer's end:D So for the infection I am requiring a $200 check from you and wyldman every month to cover the bills:D :D

[John DiMartino]

Matt, its a long story as to why the truck was down 2 weeks. This is the quick version.I had cut fire rings into the block in december after i blew my first head gasket.In retrospect i should have just replaced the gasket,but i was trying to make it better! In the process of cutting the block for the fire rings I over cut 3 of them! The only way to fix them properly was to get the block decked taking off about .005 thousanths. So i yanked the motor thinking it will be down a week.Long story short i ended up getting a used engine, instead of repairing the one in it. This was mostly to get away from using the fire rings . The fire ring were not proving themselves as we had hoped.I also had engine damage unrelated to the bombing,and some related to the improper use of nitrous:rolleyes: . So by the time i found a clean engine got it here,and had the head off my orignal engine machined flat,and o ringed, it was over 2 weeks the truck hadnt run. i also went thru the transmission and transfer case at this time, since they both were out and i was doing a few more upgrades to the trans that werent available 3 yrs ago when i did the trans originally. Since i was in the engine already i installed a camshaft too,from Piers Diesel,which doenst add any hp at all,but it widens the powerband slightly and provides a tiny bit of EGT relief,not that i need it with twins. When i went to Muncie the truck literally hadnt even run 3 hrs since being assembled, the paint was burning off the exhaust as the truck ran on the dyno.The trans wasnt tuned at all, it needed lots of work yet. I installed the Don Morrison injectors in muncie,sine i hadnt had the time back home.

[Crimedog]

Oofta, you had the motor in and out in 2 weeks with all the extra work, huh! It would have taken me 2 weeks to decide what to do:eek: Got a couple of questions for ya: how much boost are you making with the twins? What turbos are you running, and what did the nitrous do to your motor?

[wyldman]

The nitrous was pounding out the rod bearings.The huge increase in cylinder pressure puts extreme loads on the bearings,and wears them out.It takes A LOT to beat the rod bearing out of a Cummins,they are huge.

Here is a shot of one of the damaged bearings.

[wyldman]

Another shot of some of the bearings.

[wyldman]

A shot of some of the trans internals.These are after 3 years of abuse :) . DTT (and Johnny D) builds some serious tranny stuff to hold up to that kind of abuse.

[wyldman]

A shot of the empty engine bay,while the motor was out.

[wyldman]

I'll try this pic again,of the engine bay.

[wyldman]

His turbos are an HX40,and a massive BH3TB.Here is a shot of the kit before installation.

[ratlover]

The whole bearing thing has gotten me wondering. Is this definatly caused by the N2O? Or is it just high cylinder pressures at all(like 50PSI would make high cylinder pressures I assume;) ) Did too much timing play any part? You have never ran BBQ gas have you? Cummins bearings are huge but does that really help keep the oil wedge from being driven away? If the Cummins had more cylinders at the same power out put do you think it would be as likely to pound em out? Meaning 600HP divide by 6 holes= 100hp per hole. If you had 8 that would be 75hp per hole. Less power per hole = less pressure in there right? I'm really curious what the culprit is here since if I were to get trany work it is very easy to get fuel into my motor;) air would be my limiting factor. I would really prefer to keep the stock turbo for many reasons so i am out to looking for air in other places. I though nitrous was alot safer if doen right in a diesel and was stongly looking into it....hypotheticly of course ;) So I am back to wondering if nitrous was the culprit or if it had to do with something else and if I would be safe with a bit o the funny gas

Trying to learn from the guys that have been there :notworthy

And this is of course all hypothetical :greenange

[wyldman]

I think the main cause was the nitrous,and the timing of it's injection.It's not the high cylinder pressures it creates,but when it creates them if injected to early.

Nitrous is great for spooling the turbos and getting the motor to pull hard,so a lot of guys use it at low RPM's,and low boost.When this happens at low RPM's,the extreme cylinder pressures from the nitrous enhanced diesel cause extreme piston loading,which is transfered to the rod,and then the crankshaft.At low RPM,this happens very early,even before TDC is reached,and trys to actually turn the crank the wrong way.The rod bearings are the weakest link,and wear as seen above.

It happens in a gasser too,and can actually bend rods,and snap cranks if injected to early,or at to low an RPM.

On a diesel you can add a hobbs switch to make sure you have enough boost (and enough RPM),before triggering the nitrous.

I don't think you could do that kind of damage with over advanced diesel injection timing,as #2 burns so slow it's very hard to get that much advance before it starts losing power.It would just knock and bang,but go nowhere fast. :D

[John DiMartino]

Wyldman,thanks for posting these pics and the descriptions of them. I have been real busy. Ratlover, the damage was from 2 things, one dirt, there was dirt in the intake when i got the truck,a torn intake boot does wonders for engine life:rolleyes: . You can see the dirt embedded in the main bearings in the picture. The 2nd thing is this was the first time i used nitrous on a diesel,and I learned you NEED to use a hobbs switch, ( a switch that opens at around 20psi of boost). I detonated the truck over 10X without having it.I hit the nitrous before i had enough boost, Also my brother Vinnie sled pulled with my truck last yr,and hit the nitrous way early,i got it on video, it detonated so hard the headlights rattled,) It is similar to smashing the tops of the pistons with a sledge hammer when its just off idle. I could have rolled in new rod bearings and ran it,no problem. In fact the oil pressure was 45psi hot idle, and it didnt consume any oil, i bet i could out it back together and run it another 100K easy with those bearings, I wont though. The botton line is all the guys running nitrous are going to find out that they dont last forever , it adds tremdous cyl pressure,and the extra power is awesome,but it comes at a price...... i chose to run without the nitrous now,but the truck is so strong i dont even miss it, its all over the road,and If i was to use it it would be for dynoing and pulling only,It would put me in the low 11s at the strip,easily,and i dont want to cage the truck,I feel there is a 12 flat in it now once the trans is tuned.So ill work on getting it there on diesel only. To clear up an earlier question on the boost levels. most hot single turbo cummins run 44-54PSI of boost, a twin truck usually runs 65PSI minimum, and 80psi street trucks are out there. Pulling truck see well over 100PSI of boost,some over 135psi. The general rule of thumb with a 5.9 cummisn is 1psi of boost is equal to about 10HP at the rear wheels, this is scarely accurate too. So a 40psi truck makes around 400RWHP,my truck makes about 65psi with the twins.So it isnt far off IMO.

[ratlover]

Thanks guys:cool:

Timing was in regards to if you ran BBQ gas. That effectively advances things dosnt it?

The spray would be getting used to stay away from a a turbo. I wouldnt spray right off the light at the strip and I would start rolling a bit before i sprayed durring pulling. The street would be rather pointless. I was thinking of it being activated off boost presure. Maybe a 2 stage with 2 smaller shots?

So if I spray her with some R's and I dont drive around with my air cleaner removed I should be ok as far as rod bearings right :)

Not looking for much hp.....just hit 600RWHP :burnout But when I'm not in it or driving like a fool I kinda like my little factory turbo so far, hence the spray. Running spray or wicked boost is going to do the same thing if done right though right? But atleast with the spray I would have to hop out at a light and open the bottle up, it may detur so acts of stupidity. And no i wont get a remote bottle valve, too much temptation :greenange

[gslam88]

John,

Speaking of sled pulls... .I seem to remember some time coming up soon is the fair up by you... not the orange county fair, but the other one where you did a full pull last year

Was it the Oswego county fair... ?? Are you pulling this year


Pete