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remote mount fsd

C

chessie 6.5

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pennsylvania
I purchased an SS Diesel FSD heat sink before finding this site. From the problems posted, I'm going to move it to behind the coolant bottle on a mounting bracket and after some thought, I'm going to install a small 12 volt muffin fan on top of heat sink. These fans are cheap and of right size for my needs. I might even wire in a thermostat to turn it off in cooler weather. It appears that these eventually fail no matter what brand or location, just like the damn glow plug controller on the older Olds diesels. Just do a search for --Muffin fans....the site is- cheap fans.
 
Get it out of the engine bay if you want maximum life/reliability muffin fan will just be moving hot underhood air across it, and will not help for heat soak when shutdown. 5 years on 1 and 6 on another no fails thus far on both my Heath remotes, if home brewing your own, get Leroy's extension and get it out of the engine bay.
 
The above advice is the best idea you'll get, chessie. Go look on pmdcable.com for your extension cable and move that thing out into the cooler environment.
 
Listen to TurbineDoc. That is why we call him The Doc.

There are 2 sources of heat, the PMD and the engine (ambient). The fan cannot dissipate heat if the ambient (engine) is hotter than the PMD.
As a matter of fact, it will absorb the heat. In the case of heat transfer, the hot will transfer to the cold.
 
The SS heatsink is actually a really good heatsink. One of the better ones out there but mounting on the intake=bad. Put it in the front Bumper nostril. PLenty of pics around here on that.
 
I won't mount it where everyone thinks is the best location. I'll get the water and salt mixture all over it in winter and water in rain. That salt crap eats everything around here. We"ll see how it works out. Also easy to change if it does go bad.. It's not like they can't take any heat.
 
chessie 6.5 said:
I won't mount it where everyone thinks is the best location. I'll get the water and salt mixture all over it in winter and water in rain. That salt crap eats everything around here. We"ll see how it works out. Also easy to change if it does go bad.. It's not like they can't take any heat.
Click to expand...

Hey man, I'm from Canada and we have some salty winters up here and mine is doing fine... I'm not positive on the exact details but Bill Heath dunked his PMD in a pail of water and ran it for hours if not days and it never had an issue....

Point being : I'd be more scared of the engine bay than the salt... Not my money though..
 
Chessie if you buy the right kit it will have the same weather pack seals as the rest of the electrical connectors under your truck, as in trans, 4x4 sensors/activators, ABS sensors, those go for years in salt & muck.

Mine has been bumper mounted 6 years and went through submerged roads when dealing with hurricane Katrina, no amount of road chemical will hold a candle to complete immersion in brackish/saltwater that happened on my rigs.

As was said earlier, the Heath unit ran underwater immersed in a bucket of water, IIRC it was months not days but I may be remembering it incorrectly; I can't vouch for others set up, but if they used connectors meeting OEM sealing spec., on the bumper/in the grille you'll be fine.

Multiple vehicles all climates and weather running theirs in that location, IMO if yours fails after relocation to outside the engine bay it didn't fail because of the new location & more exposure to the elements, it will have failed because it operated inside the engine compartment all this time until now.

Do what you will it's your truck; but out of the engine bay is THE place to give it the best chance of surviving over the long haul.

Yes there are some mounted inside the bay & over the intake as SSD recommends it be located, but the number of surviving drivers there is a low population.

We ran a poll at old site of the ones that failed you can count on 2 hands possibly the number of new drivers mounted outside the engine compt. that have failed, I almost said 1 hand, but to err on conservatism I said 2 hands.
 
Mine is mounted between the bumper nostrils, I think very little water or salt touches it. It is never hot to the touch. When on the intake you could have fried eggs on it.
 
checked temp of heat sink at base of fins with ir gun; max 146degrees. After 20 mile drive with ac on and idling for 10 minutes after drive with hood closed. Little fan mounted real nice (same size) over top of heat sink. Mounted on rear corner behind washer reservoir about 4 inches off fender liner. Wired fan into fp fuse so it runs when engine is on. Probably have 15 bucks in fan, grille, and bracket/wiring, except fsd extension cable. We'll see how long it lasts. Fan is double ball bearing, whisper quiet (who cares with rattling diesel drowning out all other noises) and rated, I believe, at 10,000 hours.
 
Its not heat that kills the PMD. they can take heat. Its cycling the temperatures. So if its cold there and you cycle it from 0F to 140F, then let it sit and it cools back to 0F and drive it again to 140F, and you do this 4 times in a day, every day this is what causes failures. I would not be proud of 146F, mine rarely ever makes it over 130F, and its sitting on the intake. I have had a thermistor on it for a full year monitoring its temp, and the temp of the IP where there used to be a PMD. I would compare to IR occasionally and they agreed. No surprise to me, the IP was consistently about 20F hotter even with no PMD there. I have a brand new PMD and extension cable to hook up if that one fails or if I feel like it, but its been more than 2 years there now
 
I wasn't inferring to be "PROUD" of my findings. I just want to be honest and up front with my findings good or bad. Time will tell whether it works better or worse than anywhere else. Most on here experiment with one thing or another. Some things work, some don't. At least it will be easy to change and easy to move if necessary.
 
That experimentation has been done multiple times Chessie, but feel free to replicate your truck have at it,

As for the heat causing the fails or not, lets say many of us have agreed to disagree with the root cause of the fails, in my own personal experiments years ago the results that sufficient heat under hood is generated & that heat is indeed a component of the failures.

Additionally I have seen drivers get hot enough on a IP test bench to point of smoking and subsequent fail shortly there after, there is no doubt in my mind they do have the capability generate their own heat sufficient to fry components.
 
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If the PMD is sealed properly to the cooler outside elements will not hurt it. My 2000 had it on the skidplate and I plowed with that truck and nowhere in the counrty do they use worse stuff than the nuclear crap they use in New Enlgand. The stuff will literally peel paint within hours.
 
Yes, good point about heat soak, but also unit is off so not making any internal heat. Maybe it's the running heat that hurts them. Maybe they are just a piece of s### and a way for Stanadyne to hose us. I remember all those glow plug controllers on GM cars only lasting a couple of years before they quit.
 
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