Any thoughts on the Air Dog or Air Dog II

[great white]

Sounds nice! Will the water not freeze in winter??? (It gets mighty cold here ) Does it have an indicator ?? So I guess a good prefilter is the way to go here..

Again thanks to all that have helped, what a great forum!

Well, if there's frozen water in the bottom of the bowl, there's frozen water in your fuel lines and tank!

I'm Canadian also so I understand the "mighty cold" part (although I'm stuck on Vancouver island right now).

Couple options for indication:

1.You visually check the bowl
2. you buy a racor water detection kit that screws into the bowl (if your bowl has the spot for one). You can get one that has a probe, amplifier and warning buzzer/light for the dash.

Or you can buy one that has an amplifier built right into the probe and wire it up to a light on the dash. This is what I did:

 

[Turbine Doc]

Racors I know for sure and probably others sell both WIF and heaters for the filter, but if you have it cold enough to ice any accumulated water in the bottom of the bowl fuel is past it's gel point also so the iced bowl is kind of a moot point, and if you have a lot of water in fuel the steel fuel tank that the fuel pickup tube is in isn't heated either so it could be iced/gelled there also.

Racor style heads & most filters pull suction from top & middle of the filter element, water being heavier will be at the bottom of the bowl so some fuel should get to the IP one would have to have gross water contamination for filter to be frozen enough to stop all fuel. Hot return fuel once engine is up & running would help with warming/thawing, wif sensor can be added, that said my Racor has run 6 years now without a WIF on it even on some darn cold days near zero F but I periodically check/drain the bowl anyway since you can see crud/water in bottom of the style of Racor I run with

 

[tightgroup]

Great stuff..

I do alot of work in the Northern regions of Quebec, in winter . I can expect to see -30 C to - 40 C in the mornings and when I get to go to Hydro's facilities , in Jan or Feb you will see mornings of -50C .. The first thing about not getting water in your tank is to remove air, hence full tanks . Now what I liked about the AirDog was that (IMHO) it was able to remove air... Again it does not negate the fact that at these cold temperatures, the fuel itself will sweat its water. From what I hear from the rig boys out there is that diesel has a penchant to absorb water or moisture.

Ideally what you want is a tank that has a drain point lower than the fuel feed , and a good filtration system.

Now for a heater would I would like is to have an electric water pump with a heater in the water jacket, thus heating the entire block , and a seperate oil heater

 

[Turbine Doc]

Now for a heater would I would like is to have an electric water pump with a heater in the water jacket, thus heating the entire block , and a seperate oil heater

Well if a warm & cozy engine is what you want hook up with Greg http://lubricationspecialist.com/front/index.aspx he sells or used to sell Espar systems for the 6.5 tell him Tim aka turbine Doc sent you some times he runs specials for forum members

 

[buddy]

I highly recommend not having the stock setup if reliability is the goal. If going with that, then better have a pressure gauge or vacuum light to warn you it has failed or gotten real weak.

I haven't heard of many Walbros failing, not like the stock type. What might be a good compromise, is getting two of one of them or one of each. So two stock pumps in series you can be reasonably assured one will keep working, and while both are working will help give you better performance under load. They are flow on fail, so no issues if one fails, other will pull or push fuel through. Or two Walbros, or one Walbro and one stock unit. With two pumps I would still use the prefilter, but I wouldnt go with a real fine filter, I would go with a 30 micron with water separator and heater in cold climates. WIF lights are more expensive and I don't think all that necessary since you already have one in the stock filter manager. The filter setup is where you should spend the money, and find reasonable pumps. Using one pump before the filter and one after.

It hasn't gotten much attention, and I dont know if any use in 6.5s yet but the Cummins replacement pump FP953 from Delphi may be a good pump, same price or even a tad less than a Walbro. Its physically bigger than the Walbro or stock unit and puts out a little more pressure, I have one, will go on some day. I just need to spend some time figuring out how to adapt the fittings.

If the Airdog actually had a lifetime warranty I would consider buying it, if it could possibly eliminate pre pump air intrusion issues, which can cause all sorts of little issues on the road. But a one year warranty is not enough for that much money.

 

[Koots]

Great stuff..

I do alot of work in the Northern regions of Quebec, in winter . I can expect to see -30 C to - 40 C in the mornings and when I get to go to Hydro's facilities , in Jan or Feb you will see mornings of -50C .. The first thing about not getting water in your tank is to remove air, hence full tanks . Now what I liked about the AirDog was that (IMHO) it was able to remove air... Again it does not negate the fact that at these cold temperatures, the fuel itself will sweat its water. From what I hear from the rig boys out there is that diesel has a penchant to absorb water or moisture.

Ideally what you want is a tank that has a drain point lower than the fuel feed , and a good filtration system.

Now for a heater would I would like is to have an electric water pump with a heater in the water jacket, thus heating the entire block , and a seperate oil heater

You must work on the Manic X's (i don't know what to call them as a collective). It's the first sign of life we see when driving out that way from Labrador. Kinda nice to have this big giant hydro dam (Manic 5) just out in the middle of nowhere after driving through windy dirty roads for hours LOL.

I don't even have a fuel heater in my truck but i think with the proper winter fuel in the pumps you should be fine. I do have to plug my truck in all the time though in these temps. But i wouldn't worry too much about heating your fuel.

 

[tractor]

I run the airdogII,Love it and it has adjustable pressure.I did away with my factory filter setup and instead of spending 40 bucks on a fuel filter I spend 12 bucks at napa.
I run duel fuelers so the factory setup will not keep up with the fueling needs.

 

[nobby]

I dunno, I ran for at least a year with a non functioning LP and it is well posted across the boards how one normally does function OK with a failed LP. It only really became an issue one day whilst high up on route 80 on PA in the middle of freaking winter when somehow my filter cap screw worked loose and she huffed air and stalled out on me. Of course no lift pump meant that priming was pretty much a no go. Luckily I carry with all my tools a mityvac so was able to vacuum prime it. Just about froze my goddam hands off though! Funnily enough right before I stalled out I was wondering why my rear window was going all blurred well it was the fuel that had run out under the truck!!!

I just stayed simple and installed a heath HO replacement for the stock unit and do not freak out about it failing as odds are in my experience as others she'll still run OK so do not carry a spare. I also travel a lot of miles so reliability is an issue to me. Furthermore I towed etc with the failed LP and never really discerned a lack of fuel and moreover with the now working LP do I really discern a substantial difference. Not saying that the increased fuel mods do not make a difference I just personally do not really feel that it is an absolute priority to do it in my experience. Rather spend dollars and time elsewhere.

If it were me and your stock LP is still working OK, I'd install the heath high output replacement and sling the removed one in the glovebox as spare.

Cheers
Nobby

 

[buddy]

I dunno, I ran for at least a year with a non functioning LP and it is well posted across the boards how one normally does function OK with a failed LP. It only really became an issue one day whilst high up on route 80 on PA in the middle of freaking winter when somehow my filter cap screw worked loose and she huffed air and stalled out on me. Of course no lift pump meant that priming was pretty much a no go. Luckily I carry with all my tools a mityvac so was able to vacuum prime it. Just about froze my goddam hands off though! Funnily enough right before I stalled out I was wondering why my rear window was going all blurred well it was the fuel that had run out under the truck!!!

I just stayed simple and installed a heath HO replacement for the stock unit and do not freak out about it failing as odds are in my experience as others she'll still run OK so do not carry a spare. I also travel a lot of miles so reliability is an issue to me. Furthermore I towed etc with the failed LP and never really discerned a lack of fuel and moreover with the now working LP do I really discern a substantial difference. Not saying that the increased fuel mods do not make a difference I just personally do not really feel that it is an absolute priority to do it in my experience. Rather spend dollars and time elsewhere.

If it were me and your stock LP is still working OK, I'd install the heath high output replacement and sling the removed one in the glovebox as spare.

Cheers
Nobby

This might be an OK opinion with a stock setup, stock PCM, but not good advice for anyone running a high power 6.5. A non-funcitoning LP will cause an IP's early demise, and as you figured out increases chances of air intrusion. There are those with the opposite opinion all together based on their actual increase in throttle response, which you stepped around or just forgot to complete the thought in your statements. Did you get more throttle response with the functional LP?

Do you know what you LP pressure is now? Maybe you still have a problem, and you arent actually getting the correct pressure to deter from its utility. GM identifies that that DS4 needs 6-9psi to operate properly.

How do you know that your LP was not working for a year?

 

[nobby]

Knew LP was bad due to no tick on start up and no fuel from drain etc.

Not saying or recommending that one should knowingly run with a bad LP poorly worded I guess but the point being that from an as discussed reliability standpoint if your LP takes a dump you would still more than likely get home. Lets face it there are many that have discovered a bad LP because they could not prime after a filter change.

Point taken for a high power 6.5 more fuel from LP becomes an issue. I got the impression that the original poster has a stock set up. My apologies for not making those distinctions.

Nope never gauged pressure after new HO pump from Heath and did not feel the need to. I work on diesels for a living big marine diesels at that (ask TurbineDoc/look at my avatar pic) and whilst I deeply respect and rely on gauges I also operate on senses also. Stock set up with Heaths pump she feels fine and I do not run empty. As I said I did not feel a substantial difference post LP change, perhaps I got a weak LP from Heath, but to be honest I am not worried about it enough to start rigging up a gauge taped to the windscreen etc.

Cheers
Nobby

 

[buddy]

Knew LP was bad due to no tick on start up and no fuel from drain etc.

Nope never gauged pressure after new HO pump from Heath and did not feel the need to. I work on diesels for a living big marine diesels at that (ask TurbineDoc/look at my avatar pic) and whilst I deeply respect and rely on gauges I also operate on senses also. Stock set up with Heaths pump she feels fine and I do not run empty. As I said I did not feel a substantial difference post LP change, perhaps I got a weak LP from Heath, but to be honest I am not worried about it enough to start rigging up a gauge taped to the windscreen etc.

Doesn't matter to me what people work on, I would not use these experiences to form any opinion for others, its not complete maintenance. Sometimes good enough isnt correct. A system can take a lot of non-optimal conditions and live with it for a while, maybe even a long time, but still not operate like its supposed to. I will wholly agree that a dead LP isnt going to leave you stranded in most cases, but you don't know everyone's situation and it can cause stalling, and I personally felt the loss of power while watching my OPS output fail. A lot of times things feel fine, just because we never know how they are supposed to feel, when operated properly. Going from bad to not as bad isnt necessarily right.

Weak pressure isnt necessarily just from a weak LP, as other restrictions could be in play.

I am willing to say GM screwed it up to start with, not even following their own guidance. So a stock setup on stock truck isnt even how its supposed to work.

The Heath HO might work well on stock trucks, keeping it near actual optimal pressures. However, even on stock trucks, you can get better throttle response from an LP that puts pressure at the IP inlet as it was designed to have, 9psi, and minimum of 6psi under load. You can check out Matt Bachand's posts about his stock 6.5 not only getting better throttle response, but "feeling" and "sounding" so much better when he increases fuel pressure to the IP. I have had the same experience with mine using LPs that maintain higher pressure.

So where the comments may have been reliability oriented, the use of the better LP is not just to get a reliable one. I consider keeping the LP running a reliability issue though.

 

[Acesneights1]

My Tahoe ran for sometime with no LP either. I realized it when I went to change the FF. I was running a Heath v2 at the time. The only thing I noticed oddly enough was after I repaired the wire(the problem) the truck ran exactly the same but I picked up 2 mpg. Never could explain that.