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More power to be installed on Saturday

P

poptopjr

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Location
Winterville, NC
Well, the time has come to install the parts I have been collecting. I purchased my truck in October 2008. From what I can tell it is stock. I have a 97 K1500, "S" engine, and .373 gears. I've been lurking on the site for about two years, mostly reading and trying to learn.

I will be installing an "F" intake, Diamond Eye exhaust, ATT, and a Kojo tune. I will try and take as many pictures I can to share the experience with everyone else.

There will be more to come next spring, but I figure this is a good starting point. Any tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
Might as well do glow plugs while you are there. The passanger side ones wll be easy to get to while the turbo and down pipe out of the way.
 
Don't forget to clean up any grounds that you hadn't seen until you started taking out parts. No better time to do them.
 
balancer replace also. have you been driving it or letting it sit since you got it?
 
Glow plugs and injectors are on the list, as well as a harmonic balancer. They will have to wait a few months, but they will be going on in the near future. Checking grounds was something I have read much about, but did not think of for Saturday, I am adding that to my list.

I have been driving the truck daily since I purchased it. I have put nearly 30K miles on it, it has only stranded me one time (batteries died). I ran it warmer than I wanted one time towing my boat (I had cruise set and the thing went WOT trying to keep up with an incline), I backed off and the temp came right back down. I have had a few codes for low boost pressure and egr stuff, I'm hoping all of that will go away with the new additions.

I think the engine is in pretty solid shape. I have had no signs of an impending doom, I'm hopeful that will continue.
 
So, how did it go? First Turbo swap I did, it took a while and you're doing grounds and adding exhaust. Hope it went well for you.
 
Well, most of the work is done. Went up to VA to get some help from my Dad. Nice to spend the day with the old man and it doesn't hurt he is the best wrencher I know. We didn't get to the computer, but I can do that on my own in the driveway. We added the 4" exhaust, upper and lower intake manifolds, and the ATT turbo. I'll post some pictures in a day or two, we were in a hurry on Saturday and I spent Sunday making it up to my wife (she was stuck at the house with two kids under three ALL day).

First, I will say this, if you have an "S" manifold set up, change it. If you take that thing off and compare it to an "F" the difference is amazing. It can't help but improve the way the truck breathes. The exhaust kit was good, Diamond Eye, only time will tell how well it holds up. When I cut the old one out I realized it had a Flowmaster welded in place and it was leaking in two places. The new exhaust mounted up well, feels very solid, and sounds great. Not real loud, but a nice low tone going down the road, it sounds like a 350 with a glass pack on it. The turbo installation was uneventful, which is a good thing. The new hoses and coupling supplied by Dennis worked very well. I trimmed each about an inch on each side. I could probably trim them up a little more, but I would rather have a little to much than not enough. Follow the directions and bolt it on, it takes a little time, but I can't imagine it gets any easier for a performance bolt on like that.

Because I changed all three things at the same time I can't say where the difference came from, but all of them working together definitely made a difference. Coolant temperature is about 10 degrees cooler which is a good thing. I will describe the performance like this, no drop off. If i'm just driving down the road, not hard, just driving, every time the transmission shifted it felt like the truck would lose momentum and take a little while to get going again, now it just pulls right through the shift and keeps going down the road.

I imagine it will get even better when I put the computer in it. All and all I'm happy. Patrick was good to deal with and Dennis was on top of everything with the Turbo. Directions weren't provided, but I found them from another forum member, so it worked out.

I am hopeful that my fuel mileage will increase as well.

I will report back once the computer is installed.
 
I apologize for the instructions, they should have been sent to your email, by Walking J. please call me so that I can discuss what happened and why you didn't get them.
 
No news, still haven't installed the new computer. We were right in the path of Irene so I've been getting ready for that. For those of you that have been in hurricane zones before you could appreciate this storm. For what that thing lacked in intensity it made up for in longevity. Sideways rain and 40+ mph winds for 14 hours. Considering it's lack of strength it did a tremendous amount of damage. We came through with out any problems, my kids lost their trampoline, but that is easily replaced.

Any tips on installing the computer? Do I just start taking things off under the dash on the passenger side or is there an easier way?

I've got vacation starting tomorrow, but company coming in from Texas, I might take a look at it if I think I can get it done before they arrive. Any estimates on time? This will be the first computer I have installed in one of these trucks, so I'm not sure how long I should set aside to complete the job.

I'm definitely looking forward to trying it out, just the exhaust, intake, and turbo have made a tremendous difference.
 
yeah, remove glove box (remove limiter wire from left side if still there, then push from sides of box so it will come through stoppers and then it should fall off)
pull computer so youll get it loose from bracket and then just take 3 connectors away.
change computer and put everything back.
difficult give time estimation for sirst time, but 2nd time goes under 5 min.
 
Computer installed. Definitely can tell a difference. Initial impressions are really good. I tried to do the TDC relearn, but I didn't have a scanner at the time so I don't know if it took or not. I'm hoping to get better fuel mileage, but I'm sure that isn't going to happen on this tank. I will be towing my boat this weekend so I will get a good test right off the bat. I will take some pictures of everything after my company leaves this weekend.

Hope everyone enjoys their holiday.

Keith
 
Everything is going good. I've been towing my boat all of the sudden so I can't say if my fuel mileage has increased or not. On flat ground, about 80 degrees, running 60 mph, and towing my boat (about 5000 pounds) I'm getting 11.9 mpg.

I made a lot of changes all at one time. I made the changes in two stages: Stage 1 included "F" intake, four inch exhaust, and ATT turbo. Stage two was the kojo computer. The biggest change came from stage 1. If it wasn't for the fact that I needed the tune to get rid of some codes and stuff I could do with out it.

I wish I had the time to make all of the additions one at a time but I didn't. The truck runs cooler, pulls harder, and drives better.

If I was giving out advice to someone thinking about this I would tell them to get an exhaust, "f" intake (if they didn't have it), and a new turbo, then make a decision on a computer.

Hats off to Dennis, great product and tremendous service.
 
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